Bozo Vreco, Voice
Edin Karamazov, Lute.
Music by Petar Konjovic; Text by Osman Djikic. Arrangement by Dusan Bogdanovic, 2021. Published by https://www.singidunumusic.com/scores/
Ašik osta' na te oči Ašik osta’ na te oči, na te dvije tamne noći. "Oj, kaduno, kono moja, ne ishodi na pendžere. Ne ishodi, ne prkosi, nemoj, da te šejtan nosi!” "Jes’, tako mi Ramazana, biće bruke jednog dana, u dvor ću ti uskočiti, sto ću čuda načiniti, dok odaju nadjem tvoju, i u njojzi, kono, tebe, ljubav moju. Izgrist’ ću ti usne rujne, i obraze tvoje bujne, ispiću ti oka oba, bićeš moja, sve do groba!" by Osman Djikic
Translated to English: I fell in love with your eyes I fell in love with your eyes, on those two dark nights. “Ah, my lady, don’t stand at your window, don’t stand there, don’t tease me, don’t play with the devil!” “I swear by Ramadan, I’ll make a scandal one day, I’ll sneak to your place, I’ll perform hundred wonders, till I find your room, and you in it, my love. I’ll bite your sweet lips, and your crimson cheeks, I’ll kiss your both eyes, and then you’ll be mine till I die!”
This is one of the most wonderful settings of a song I've heard in a long time. Spectacular, the use of the lute by a modern composer, the way the accompaniment matches and expands the voice without stepping in the way. AND THAT VOICE AND HOW IT'S USED!
I'd never heard of any Bozo Vreco, a real artist who I wish I'd found out about earlier in the day because I'm liable to stay awake looking for more work and thinking about . . . well, here's what it says in this one article.
Sevdah, Bosnia’s traditional music which sings of loss, sadness, and heartache, has been experiencing a resurgence in popularity since the civil war of the 1990s. With figures such as Amira Medunjanin and Damir Imamović taking sevdah to the world stage, the genre has moved out of bars and kafanas and earned the status of a high art form. Recently, a new face of sevdah has been rapidly gaining popularity all over the Balkans – the band Halka, and their dazzling frontman Božo Vrećo. Dubbed a ‘new European musical phenomenon’ by one Slovenian newspaper, Halka has been touring the region to amazing success, sold out performances, and glowing reviews. Most of the media attention is focused on Vrećo and his beautiful tenor, suited perfectly to sevdah’s long, drawn out melismas. Vrećo put out his own solo album last year, which features 17 acapella versions of sevdalinke, including two that he penned himself.
And then there’s Vrećo’s daringly queer aesthetic. He often appears in dark eye makeup and winged eyeliner, sometimes beardless and boyish in a tailored suit, sometimes glamorous in a backless gown and curled locks, sometimes in a black, dervish-like kaftan and topknot. His garments swirl around him as he dances to his band’s enchanting music. His personal interviews and posts on social media reveal a similar aesthetic – he appears bearded, with coquettish black curls and flowing black robes, or posts photographs of his hair in curlers, bearded and smiling. The New York Times recently branded Vreco a ‘cross-dresser’ – not only an outdated and transphobic term, but inaccurate, given that Vreco does not dress ‘as a woman’ but as himself. He sings, unusually, sevdalinke which are written for the voices of both men and women, from the perspectives of both genders. All in all, Vrećo is breaking boundaries when it comes to the genre.
At first this seems somewhat puzzling. An undeniably beautiful, talented singer who plays with gender not only onstage but offstage as well, who is discernibly queer, who sings not pop but traditional, serious sevdah music – is incredibly popular all over Bosnia?
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