L I V E reviews
Ook van de Bosnische zangeres Amira werd lang niets vernomen, todat eind vorig jaar een cd verscheen die ze had gemaakt met accordeoniste Merima Kljuco.
Haar eigen nieuwe album Live markeert een terugkeer naar de onversneden sevdah, de Bosnische tegenhanger van de Portugese fado.
Werd haar debuutplaat Rosa in 2004 nog overschaduwd door Ljiljana Buttlers indrukwekkende comeback met Mostar Sevdah Reunion, inmiddels vertolkt ze haar sevdalinka (de meest weemoedige variant van het Bosnische levenslied) minstens zo doorleefd als de grande dame.
Ton Maas
In the beginning we say, again brilliant performance by Amira Medunjanin! Eight tracks and a total of more than fifty minutes of music. Amira's sumptuous talent, excellent reproduction of the accompanying band and great sound adorn this album, simply titled Live. Highly recommended.
Dino Bajramović
Z U M R A reviews
Only today, with all my available senses and from many angles and magical foggy depth, I have listened over and over again to Zumra, the album of two incredible artists, accordionist Merima Ključo and singer Amira Medunjanin. I have read earlier, mostly positive, even euphoric reviews of this musical masterpiece, and the only thing, in the majority of them, I do not like, is the conclusion that Amira and Merima "offered their specific way of interpreting sevdalinka." Incorrect. These two together presented the ONLY correct, aware and considerate model of (re) interpretation of sevdalinka!
"Tek danas svim raspoloživim čulima, iz brojnih magičnih uglova i maglovitih dubina ispreslušavah album Zumra dviju nejverovatnih umjetnica, harmonikašice Merime Ključo i pjevačice Amire Medunjanin. Pročitao sam ranije, mahom pozitivne, pa i euforične kritike ovog muzičkog remek-djela, i jedino što mi se u većini njih ne dopada jeste konstatacija da su Merima i Amira "ponudile svoj specifičan način interpretiranja sevdalinki". Netačno. Njih su dvije, zajedno iznijele JEDINI TAČAN, osviješten i promišljen model (re)interpretiranja sevdalinki!"
Senad Avdić
Mixed
...De nieuwe cd is een collaboratie met accordeoniste Merima Kljuco, afkomstig uit de wereld van de eigentijdse kunstmuziek. Mede dankzij de contrastwerking met de bij vlagen extreme toonclusters en dissonanten uit Kljuco’s accordeon, weet Amira diepere emotionele lagen aan te boren dan voorheen.
Ton Maas
Zangeres Amira verraste in 2004 met haar debuutalbum Rosa, waarop veel sevdalinka, de meest weemoedige vorm van de sevdah, het Bosnische levenslied.
Vijf jaar later blijkt ze alleen nog maar gegroeid en in staat dieper te graven.
Accordeoniste Merima Kljuco reikt daarbij de helpende hand met spannende arrangementen waarin soms ronduit avant-gardistische toonclusters.
Ton Maas
...Amira and Merima tought me how to look differently at some of the songs. They have placed them in the proper emotional framework, the one they always belonged to.
Selvedin Avdić
R O S A reviews
...The twelve songs from Rosa compromise the most fierce Bosnian musical experience in recent memory; Amira’s rich, languid voice conveys so much emotion listening to this CD can be, at times, almost overwhelming. I play Rosa again and again, sinking into the deep, carefully caressed syllables on U Djul Basci, riding the high notes to a mountaintop village on Zajdi, Zajdi, surfing the raw acoustic dissonance of Bogata Sam Iman Svega whilst imagining ‘this must be what it’s like to hide from mortar shells’.
Oh what sad, mad, beautiful music sevdah is!
Garth Cartwright, fRoots (March 2005)
... This is a fabulous record which gets even better with repeated listening...
Simon Broughton, SONGLINES (May / June 2005)
... Dieses offenbart zwölf zerbrechlich-zarte Songs, die in ihren besten Momenten so atemberaubend schön sind, dass man beim Hören herbeisehnt, die Zeit möge stehen bleiben. Eine dezent gehaltene, niemals aufdringliche Instrumentierung mit Akkordeon, Klarinette und Fidel verleihen den Stücken melancholisches Balkanflair. Vor allem aber bei den wie hingetupft wirkenden Pianosongs wünscht man sich, dass sie nie, niemals enden würden...
Frank Schuster, FOLKER (February 2005)
Records of the Year
...Anyone familiar with that timeless Portuguese emotion known as saudade will detect a similar sense of longing and nostalgia in the sevdah tradition of the Sarajevo-born singer Amira. Amid the torrent of music coming out of the Balkans in the past year or two, this session, recorded in the historic town of Mostar, stands out by virtue of its simplicity and its aura of rapt melancholia. Not that it’s entirely introspective — the clarinet and violin are capable of stirring joyous dance rhythms. But it is the more reflective pieces that bring out the full purity of the vocals. The spare ballad I Was So in Love with a Boy must be one of the most haunting performances of the year.
Clive Davis, The Sunday Times (May 2005)
Rhapsodic clarinet, searing violin and wheezing accordion sweep and swerve around Amira's beautifully modulated imprecations.
And while the rhythms occasionally kick themselves into lurching dance mode, the mood soon lapses back into epic melancholy. Amira's tone of slightly stern maternal yearning seems somehow archetypally Slav.
And if there are moments when you could wish for a touch more grain and grit, they are more than compensated for by the sheer beauty of a song such as Zajdi, Zajdi, where oriental piano and an oddly Irish-sounding flute add exquisitely to her milkily ethereal flow.
...Amirasi discosta da alcuni stereotipi ed imposta il lavoro con grande personalità. Forse lei, almeno lei, non ha pensato troppo alla commistione dei suoni ed alle diverse contaminazioni. Ha cantato, suonato e composto in piena libertà senza porsi troppi problemi e seguendo solo ed unicamente il suo istinto.
Alceste Ayroldi, Jazzitalia (September 2005)
Rosa is the debut CD by Amira (Amira Medunjanin), a young singer from Sarajevo. Bosnia & Herzegovina's own song form is as emotionally potent as Portuguese fado, Greek rebetika or the blues. It’s called sevda. Its songs – sevdalinka – are almost always erotic & tragic. Amira’s skill & passion (indeed, the very existence of a credible, young singer of sevdalinka) have amazed her compatriots...
...Tandis que les musiciens font assaut de créativité, Amira chante de toute sa fraîche âme, de cette façon qu’ont les vocalistes orientales de moduler sans cesse, en quête d’émotions justes et fortes. Elle va les chercher assez loin, au-delà des simples démonstrations de gaieté ou de tristesse. Ce n’est pas facile, ça. Mais elle trouve. De quoi offrir à ses auditeurs des heures d’écoute délectables.
Ahmed Buric, Dani (April 2005)
Senad Avdic, Slobodna Bosna (June 2005)
