alto & sop. sax, voice; Goran Penic, accordion; Vukasin Miskovic,
classical guitar; Milos Matic, doublebass, tamburitza; Istvan Cik,
drums & percussion; guests: Tajj String Q., Bogdan Rankovic, bass
clarinet) – Piranha Musik CD-PIR 1997, 52:37 ****:
Now this is world music with a vengeance. Kovac (sorry for ignoring all
the accents in these names – just too many to deal with) is from the
Vojvodina part of Yugoslavia (also known as Pannonia) and calls the
music of this particular band of his “A Pannonian-Mediterranean
Round-Trip.” It is just one of many different musical and theatrical
organizations in which he is involved; he has performed in a hundred
festivals of new music and contemporary theater in 30 different
countries.
The music is a mix of romances, elegies and ballads. There are tangos,
waltzes, marches, klezmer, swing tunes – often alternating wildly
between sad and joyful. Kovac’s location must be remembered in trying
to understand this music. The composer of all but two of these 11
tracks says, “…the world is no longer a nice place for living, but
it’s no good crying…one should play music while the world is
collapsing.” A UK writer dubs Kovac “king of apocalyptical cabaret.”
Kovac narrates a spoken part over a couple of the tunes. Much of the
music sounds like a soundtrack to a sad Eastern European art film. For
me the very best thing about this disc is the name of the record label:
Piranha Musik – described in the notes as “Swimming among sharks since
1987.” Here’s a guy who clearly knows the truth about the music
industry!
Tracks: An intro Trip, Latina, To Entertain You, Limping Waltz, Malena,
Crazy Love Waltz, Dukeland in Your Heart, Beguine Again, Argentina, Dur
AA, Triesta.
– John Henry
