Vasil Hadzimanov Band feat. David Binney - 2016 - Alive

(72:00; Moonjune Records)

Here we have the sixth album by Serbian keyboard player and bandleader Vasil Hadžimanov, although it was his first international release. Recorded in front of a very appreciative audience in Belgrade in 2014, he and his band Branko Trijic (guitar), Miroslav Tovirac (bass), Bojan Ivkovic (percussion, vocals) and Pedja Milutinovic (drums) were joined by American guest saxophonist David Binney. I must confess I don’t know if much of this is scored, but only three of the songs are credited to the band with the rest against individuals, so it is quite possible that the rest was rehearsed. The result is complex jazz and fusion with progressive elements and plenty of excursions into the avant garde, pushing the boundaries and providing the support to each other which is required when music is as complex as this.

With both a drummer and percussionist one might expect it to be driven more fully from the back, but even though they are working hard, they tie in with bass to create a curtain of complex layered sounds for the soloists to work against. There are times when Binney is not involved at all, letting the band develop their own sound, with even Trijic taking a back seat to ensure that Hadžimanov is allowed to show what he can do. With each musician being a master of their instrument they fully understand that overplaying is as much an issue as underplaying, so even though the music being played is massively complex and with interweaving threads, there is also a huge sense of space, and one feels as if we are being invited into the web as opposed to having curtains of sound thrown at us. Multiple genres and musical styles are at play here, and it is something which does require multiple plays to get most out of it, yet for those who enjoy the music to be a little more adventurous and away from the norm then this is for you.

Kev Rowland, May 2023

Links:
https://www.vhband.com/
https://moonjune.com/