kev rowland As is implied by the title, this live album was recorded at the Decije Pozorište in Dušan’s home city of Kragujevac in Serbia. While the rhythm section of Pera Krstajić (bass) and Pedja Milutinović (drums) keep everything nice and tight, it is the interplay between guitarist Dušan and keyboard player Vasil Hadžimanov which really set this album alight. Each of them are content to sit back and let the other take the spotlight, or to provide harmonies or full interplay as the need arises. The result is nothing short of colossal, as while fusion is at the very heart of what they are performing, it moves into many different territories including progressive, RIO, avant garde, post rock and so many others. Self-produced, a decision has been made to only have audience noise between the songs, keeping the music front and centre with no distractions and the sound that has been captured is quite superb.

Dušan creates many different moods and styles and can be dark and heavy, while Vasil uses much lighter piano and keyboard sounds to create a magical counterpoint so that the heavier music sounds even darker, with the lightness being refreshing and invigorating. This is music to get lost inside, something that really demands the use of headphones so that there are no external distractions. It is not easy music to listen to, but is intensely rewarding throughout, organic and real, a breathing living beast that isn’t going to be tamed and is always at the boundaries of what is acceptable, and never what is expected. So very good, in so many different ways, this is well worth exploring

js Its hard to know what to expect from a Dusan Jevtovic album, his music has veered from heavy noisy post rock to more fleet-fingered jazz fusion, depending on which album you are listening to. On his new live opus, “Live at Home”, Dusan brings all his different influences together and presents his strongest and most coherent musical statement yet. He is joined again by keyboardist Vasil Hadzimanov, who trades in the ivories on the last album for a funky Fender Rhodes which meshes better with Jevtovic’s distorted guitar sound. The rhythm section of bassist Pera Krstajic and drummer Pedja Milutinovic are first timers in the Dusan army, but they prove themselves up for the variety of fusion to rock rhythms. Vasil is also given more solo space this time around as he and Dusan share equally, and sometimes play duo solos.

“No Answer” from the previous album of the same name opens things and right off the bat you can hear this live version both rocks and swings better than the original, it really sounds like Jevtovik and his band are hitting their mark. The rest of the album doesn’t let up as there is plenty of free fusion with intense solos from both Dusan and Vasil, plus some rockin numbers too. Of the rockers, “Babe” sounds like an outtake from a mid-70s King Crimson album, and “New Pop” sounds like one of those good times 70s Jeff Beck numbers. Most of the rest of the album deals with freer jazz-fusion rhythms and solos, often with a Middle-Eastern or East-European influence. There is a short vocal love song that is kind of a surprise and no one is credited with vocals on the liner notes either.

This is Dusan Jevtovic’s best album yet. There are plenty of excellent jazz fusion solos backed by a very elastic and interesting rhythm section, plus there is also Dusan’s dark heavy psychedelic sounds too. Looks like he has found a way to balance his different interests.

js On Dustan Jevtovic’s previous album, “Am I Walking Wrong?”, he served up noisy guitar textures backed by a muscular jazz rock rhythm section. If you were expecting more of the same on his follow up album, “No Answer”, you may be in for a surprise as Dusan has decided to change up direction quite a bit. The heavy fusion drum and bass rhythm duo of the previous album is gone, and in their place on this new CD is a more swingin jazzy fusion drummer in Asaf Sirkis, plus the romantic classical meets post bop keyboard work of Vasil Hadzimanov. Dusan has also changed his approach to the guitar on “No Answer” as well. Whereas on “Walking Wrong” he veered away from solos per se and concentrated more on dissonant sounds and metallic textures, on “No Answer”, he provides scorching jazz fusion rides and plenty of fleet fretboard work. The combination of Dusan’s heavy guitar and Vasil’s fluid acoustic piano might seem like an odd match, but they make it work while they produce a sound that is quite different from anyone else.

Lots of interesting cuts on here, “Lifetime” is the rockin number, and possibly it is a tribute to the Tony Williams group of the same name. On “Yo Sin Mi” they almost sound like vintage Pat Metheney and Lyle Mays, only darker and less pastoral. Title cut, “No Answer“, features dramatic Eastern Europe piano chords topped with a snarling guitar solo, and “Prayer” sounds like its name in a Middle Eastern tonality. There’s even a taste of post bop swing on “El Oro”. Throughout this CD there is often a East European and/or Middle Eastern flavor to the melodies, while the sound production reflects a modern darkness and somber ambience.

kev rowland t must be said that I wasn’t the world’s biggest fan of Dušan’s last release, 2013’s ‘Am I Walking Wrong’, and I think it was probably the first time I had ever given a Moonjune album a poor review, but I just didn’t get it. So, when this arrived in the post one day I wasn’t immediately over-enamoured, but I opened the digipak and realised that the drummer was none other than Asaf Sirkis, someone whose work I highly admire. The line-up was completed by Vasil Hadzimanov on acoustic piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano and Mini Moog bass, and I was immediately intrigued. Further investigation led to the discovery that the album was recorded in just two days last February, and knowing that they had toured together in different incarnations, as opposed to being put together for a studio project, made me think that this could be quite a special album indeed.

I put aside any preconceived ideas, and as soon as the first notes came out of the speakers I was transfixed. Here were wonderful guitar lines, perfectly accompanied by different keyboards with both lightness and strong bottom end, and then there was Asaf who was playing as if he was the lead player in the band. There are many times during this album where Vasil is valiantly managing to keep it all together, as both Dušan and Asaf attempt to be the main in charge. This is simply a wonderful album, full not only of wonderful melodies but great interplay between all those involved. Ideas bounce between the trio, and there are so many thing son here to enjoy, from brightness and sparks to reflective and delicate, such as on the emotional “Yo Sin Mi”. Dušan’s guitarwork is exemplary throughout, as he switches styles and tones, yet there is always clarity and finesse. This is not a guitarist who feels the need to prove his skills by playing five thousand notes to the bar, but instead shows it every time he uses sustain.

This is one of the most interesting and enjoyable instrumental albums I’ve come across in 2017.

kev rowland Originally from Serbia, Dušan has established himself as an accomplished, articulate guitarist in Barcelona, Spain. This album was recorded mostly live with just bassist Bernat Hernández and drummer Marko Djordjević, and there is no doubt that all three are consummate musicians, but to be honest I don’t really ‘get’ most of this album. They are being experimental and trying to extend the boundaries of jazz and prog but for the most part I felt that it often sounded as if they didn’t know where they were going. That in itself isn’t generally an issue in improvisational music as long as they find their path in the end, but for most of the time that just isn’t the case here. It is a wonderfully presented album with a fold-out digipak and interesting notes but for the first nine songs this became an abrasive hard edged album that I was listening to because I had to, not because I wanted to.

So, the last song on the album “If You See Me Again” was a complete shock to me as it is totally different, in every aspect, to what had gone before. Here was something that was constructed around an acoustic guitar with beautiful fretless bass that just took me in and held me close. If the whole album had featured material like this then I know that I would be raving about it, but as it is then it isn’t one to which I will often be returning.