Kalemegdan Disk - ROCK FROM EASTERN EUROPE

Croatia Records Release Information

The cult album of the Zagreb Jazz Quartet in a remastered edition released on CD, soon also on vinyl

In October 1984, the 25th anniversary of the Zagreb Jazz Quartet was celebrated in the Gavella drama theater in Zagreb. On that occasion a concert was held, which was recorded and then released on vinyl by Jugoton. Today, more than 35 years later, the album is released in a remastered edition on CD while next year it will also be available on vinyl.

“That concert relegated thoughts about the too long period of non-performance and the separation of the members of the Zagreb Jazz Kvartet to a completely different level. The old, recognizable atmosphere of the space helped, as well as familiar, once regularly present faces that, seen from the stage or during meetings in the corridors and the lobby of the former Zagreb Drama Theatre, stimulated thoughts about the past quarter of a century. They have now been joined by a young audience who may not have been born at the time of the Zagreb Jazz Kvartet’s creation, and who now listen to and accept the group from a different perspective”, wrote producer Mladen Mazur in the booklet of the original edition.

“The Zagreb Jazz Quartet is the successor of Boško Petrović’s quartet, founded on the occasion of the Zagreb Jazz Review in the autumn of 1959 at the Croatian Music Institute”, adds Dubravko Majnarić, the editor-in-chief of Jugoton at the time, and emphasizes that the Zagreb Jazz Kvartet practically broke up in 1966 with the departure of the drummer Silvio Glojnarić and performed only on the occasion of anniversaries, such as the twenty-fifth, which was recorded and published. In the booklet of the reissue, Majnarić concludes, and many jazz lovers and experts will agree, “The Zagreb Jazz Quartet is one of the best chamber ensembles in the history of Yugoslavian and Croatian jazz, well recognized in the world of jazz fans”.

Precisely thanks to the Zagreb Jazz Kvartet, but also to all the individual members of the ensemble, the jazz map of Yugoslavia and Croatia has changed a lot, moreover, this region has been put on the world map of the most important hotspots of top jazz musicians and jazz music in general. It is an album that can be classified at the very top of Yugoslavian jazz, and beyond, as was witnessed by the arrival of the legendary American jazz commentator Willis Conover, whose opening speech was recorded at the beginning of the concert itself.

The album was remastered from the original tapes by Goran Martinac at the Croatia Records Studio, and the sound recorder of the original recording was Franjo Berber.

Full album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8C6moL3QFM

Tracklist

1. Opening Speech 2:19
2. With Pain I Was Born 7:45
3. Valse for Jazz Mama 7:39
4. Intima 5:00
5. Ornaments 7:10
6. Eftertanke 6:06