Vasil Hadžimanov Band: Alive

The Vasil Hadžimanov Band is an ethnic fusion outfit from Serbia. The band has six albums to their credit with Alive being their latest and first international release. The album was recorded while on their Serbian tour in October, 2014.

This fine group of musicians include Vasil Hadžimanov (piano, keyboards), Miroslav Tovirac (bass), Reda Milutinović (drums), Branko Trijić (guitar, percussion), Bojan Ivković (percussion, voice) and David Binney (alto sax).

The band hits full stride right of the bat with the ethnic and proggy fusion of "Nocturnal Joy" where melodic piano and keys meet wonderful sax in what turns out to be an all-out jam session when the music really starts to heat up. On "Zulu" the groove is heavy and funky before the music gets softer, almost ambient in nature and the keyboards more atmospheric. Before too long the faster tempo ensues with some amazing sax work from Binney. With "Dolazim" the sound is more experimental, especially the percussion infused beginning where chaos is the clear path. Can't say I'm a big fan of the first three minutes although some nice guitar rhythms do settle in and the keyboards are quite nice and fairly adventurous. On the laid back fusion of "Odlazim" the guitar is more languid setting a leisurely pace and laying down an excellent melody with a tinge of southern rock while Hadžimanov gets some great sounds out of his keyboards. The band is at their best when in full jam mode and as some of these songs are over ten minutes in length there is ample opportunity for all the band members to show their stuff. That said, one of the prettiest tracks has to be "Razbolje" featuring lovely piano and sax.

The album is also immaculately recorded, especially for a live album. Crowd noise is kept to a minimum which might be good or bad depending on your taste. Personally, I like it.

Throughout the concert the band is as tight as can be, totally locked into their performance. If you enjoy ethnic and fusion music Alive should be a great addition to your collection. A Moonjune Records release.

Track Listing:
1. Nocturnal Joy (11:21)
2. Zulu (10:23)
3. Dolazim (7:45)
4. Odlazim (9:51)
5. Tovirafro (5:13)
6. Razbolje (6:35)
7. Uaiya (6:57)
8. Otkriće snova (12:31)

Added: May 3rd 2016
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Artist's Official Site
Hits: 1452
Language: english

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