Lilli Buttler & Mostar Sevdah ReunionThe story of Ljiljana Buttler & the MSR is a that of a success against better judgment. In the war-ridden Mostar of 1999 Dragi Sestic, a Bosnian sound engineer and radio producer, assembled a multi-ethnical group of men – Croats, Serbs, Bosniacs. A foolhardy enterprise which in the beginning raised suspicion rather than interest, but the band soon proved that their music was of durable validity: Mostar Sevdah Reunion possesses an overwhelmig force which makes it literally impossible to remain seated at their concerts – during the fast dance tunes as well as during the rhapsodical ballads. Sevdah is derived from Sevdalinke, the Bosnian blues recited in Iljaz Delic’ matchless vibrato. Liljana Buttler, the charismatic diva with the dark voice, had fled to Germany and met her old friend Delic only 20 years later for this common project: the reckless guys with the "mother of gypsy soul".
Ljiljana ButtlerLjiljana Buttler was born in Belgrade, her father was an accordion virtuoso and her mother a Croatian singer. But her father left soon after she was born and her mother had to support herself and her child, singing in bars. They settled in Bijeljina, a small town in Bosnia, but one night her mother fell ill and Ljiljana went to the café and said “My mother can’t come tonight, she’s sick. Please let me sing.” She was only 12 but had learned at her mother’s side. A year later her mother left and Ljiljana was on her own – she continued singing in cafes to support herself through school. Then she headed for Belgrade. “I started singing in bars in Skadalia (the famous restaurant quarter, a sort of Balkan Montmartre)”, she remembers. “The atmosphere was fantastic. The people laughed and cried during the music. That always inspired me – that and strong slivovice (plum brandy), lots of sad loves and lots of emotion and romance. Sometimes we made recordings for Radio Belgrade. They simply came to the cafes, listened to the music and if they liked it, asked the musicians back to the radio to record”.
From 1980 Ljiljana started doing concerts and became well-known on TV until the political and musical mood started changing with so-called turbo-folk providing the soundtrack for the Milosevic era. “Even before the war, I realised that somehow the joy had vanished and the Balkan men were no longer interested in love stories. Suddenly it became important to wear a short skirt and flash your cleavage. The shorter the skirt, the better singer you were thought to be. I realised my time was over. It was a time for weapons and hatred. It affected me terribly and the war that followed has left scars that will last forever.”In Mostar, they are attempting to heal one of those scars. The bridge is being rebuilt. Whether it can ever be the same as it was, who knows? But Mostar Sevdah Reunion, the group that symbolises the artistic and the ethnic values of Bosnia more than any other, is intending to celebrate it. When it re-opens next year, Ljiljana is keen to be a part of it: “We have survived this dreadful war and good songs endure. What I can see in Mostar now is an enduring humanity and while it’s there, it’s possible to make music. There’s an old Serbian Gypsy song which says “There’s a song in the soul of every Gypsy as long as they’re alive.” Well, that’s how it is with me.” (courtesy of Simon Broughton, Songlines 2002) In 1987 she vanished from the Balkan music scene in which she played such a dominant role, leaving music lovers wondering about her mysterious disappearance. In 2002 she decided to return to her homeland and record a new album on the Connecting Cultures label. Her vocal abilities on “Mother of Gypsy Soul” lead us to the depths of Gypsy and Balkan soul. At the age of 58 she sings better then ever; what she is presenting to us now is a pure handbook of Balkan Blues. The astonishing reappearance of this lost legend is something to be more than grateful for.
Mostar Sevdah ReunionMostar Sevdah Reunion is exquisite group of Artists sharing the same passion. Some might say that they live for Sevdah and that could be the only cause of their existence. To decode and to represent traditional music from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sevdah is more than 400 years old, in a best light, was and still is difficult task to cope with. Despite all obstacles, MSR kept going.
The story begins in 1993 when Dragi Sestic, Producer and former of the band, recorded an audiocassette with a couple of tracks that was distributed in limited edition amoung their friends. Those were the times of war in Balkans and the reason for recording was just a getaway episode to forget for a one single moment all atrocities and suffering. Then, they gave promise that "the whole world will know about Sevdah" one day when war comes to an end. They fulfilled the promise and recorded their first album in 1998. Since, the album CD "Mostar Sevdah Reunion" was recorded in Mostar, they did not stop fascinating the audience wherever they go. Diversity in musical backgrounds and individual virtuosity in a collective that never performed two identical gigs in a row makes them unique on the World Music scene. Working and recording with Saban Bajramovic and Ljiljana Buttler "Mother of Gypsy soul" were recorded to show variety of Balkans music an to give a respect to the finest and uncompromised authors of genuine Gypsy music. This year will also bring new and fresh ideas from the MSR manufacture.
http://www.mostarsevdahreunion.com/ Press
"...Ljiljana Buttler is one of the great re-discovered voices of Eastern Europe. Deep, dark and distinctive." "...a master piece in every aspects." In concert
|
 Artistes World/Jazz |
