CONTEMPORARY GUARDIANS OF CROATIAN MUSICAL TRADITION

When you listen to the lyrics: »Zdigel je casu. Spustil je nebo. Videl ju je zato kaj ima cisto srce« (He raised the glass. He lowered the sky. He saw her because his heart was pure.) from the song Kak je Stef videl Majku Bozju (How Stef saw the Mother of God) from the third album of the Croatian world music band Cinkusi, it is clear that this is something out of the ordinary, something different and definitely something that the Croatian music scene is still missing.

Even the album's title cannot be avoided, just like the Cinkusi are unavoidable whenever we speak of world music, contemporary music merged with and often fully inspired by traditional chants, melodies ad folklore in general.

We should begin by saying that world music bands in Croatia are guardians of our historical treasure. Not just music, but also written word and old customs that are slowly disappearing, because they can be seen, at least partly, in the traditional songs where they are preserved.

With their new album Cinkusi have fortified their position as one of the pole bearers of the Croatian world music scene that is not particularly rich in performers. However, since the middle of the 1990's, when this six-member band was formed, they are unavoidable in every discussion about Croatian music in general.

After the albums Zeleni kader and Domesticus vulgaris, with Spiritus Sanctus the band Cinkusi has underlined their thematic concerns. Once more they have invited the famous world music diva of Medimurje, 85-year-old Aunt Liza, who sometimes seems to be able to squeeze tears from a stone with her strong, suggestive voice. This time Aunt Liza from Donja Dubrava sings a traditional song Sedi si kraj mene in a modern arrangement accompanied by skillful playing. Once again she has proved her brilliance and the lyrics about aging, experience and a good glass of drink that reflect especially in the refrain: »Ah, toci, naj dremati, nagni, naj sparati/ ce nebus pil bude ti zal/a zutra vec morti pod zemljom bus spal« (Pour, don't sleep. Drink, don't spare it. If you don't drink it, you will be sorry. Maybe tomorrow you will find yourself under ground.) They convey the silent sorrow, the sad joy and the awareness about time that passes on the wings of the rich sound of contrabass combined with the sweet sound of mandolin and striking electrical guitar, as well as the gentle sound of vibraphone played by another guest - Bosko Petrovic.

However, the fast and rhythmical song Bratec kosi opens the album with its part-singing and convincing, harsh lead vocal. There is no shortage of similar songs on this and their previous two albums. This is exactly what gives the band Cinkusi their direction and the reason why their style was named ethno-punk ever since the early days. That is why you can almost dance pogo – a wild dance that has been attributed to punk since its beginnings as one of its major characteristics - to the song Huja Brija carried by the sound of the violin. However, head-spinning dance and trance have always been associated with folklore music as well. That is why Cinkusi have merged two seemingly different energies and molded it into their recognizable energetic style that manifests at their concerts.

Since Cinkusi have a very active concert life in all parts of Croatia, it shouldn't be difficult to catch one of their shows in your area and witness this fascinating performance. Their next performance is scheduled for September 8th in Zagreb at Amadeo urban music and theatre scene at the Museum of arts and crafts where they have already played earlier this year. On that occasion their audience fell into an ecstasy, which they would gladly try to repeat.

However, speaking of Croatian world music, we must mention the performers who have marked it, especially those who have released their albums this year. One of the youngest world music bands in Croatia Afion has released its new album Cudni svati this year. After numerous concert appearances, they will perform at the Meditereeaneo festival in Ancona on August 30th. Contrary to Cinkusi, who are entirely dedicated to traditional Croatian music, especially that of the northern region of Croatia, Afion is inspired by different sources ranging from Croatia to Macedonia. Melodious and at the same time soft voice of Lidija Dokuzovic mostly relies on the acoustic music of the band whose sound cannot leave you indifferent. Sometimes it soothes, and sometimes it raises the dead. To clarify the name of the band, Afion comes from the Macedonian word for poppy which comes form the Greek word opion.
We mustn’t forget one of the gratest Croatian musicians -Tamara Obrovac. The title of her album Necu vise jazz kantati (I will not sing jazz any more) reveals the thought on which Obrovac and her always fresh Transhistrian build their music. If Cinkusi are ethno-punk, Obrovac and her band are ethno-jazz. They rely mostly on the musical traditions of Istria and the Mediterranean. Their new album, which is a step in a different direction, with electrical instruments and elements of funk could also be defined as ethno-jazz-funk.
Their concerts are a must-see, their skill and tendency to improvise make each of their performances uniquely enjoyable. Because you never know what they will pull out of their hat and turn music in to something it should be - a wonderful and enjoyable experience. Besides that and the remarkable way in which the leader of the band rules the stage, we must mention the unavoidable humor and dialogue with audience. As far as we have seen, no member of the audience is left feeling indifferent after their performance. Among many albums they have released so far Sve pasiva, Daleko je and Transhistria are the best, apart from the one we have already mentioned.
The fact that the Croatian musical web site Muzika didn’t select a pop, rock or hip-hop performer for the best Croatian album of last year proves the significance and strength of world music. They selected the album Kocijane by the world music band Kries lead by the charismatic Mojmir Novakovic. With his former band Legen, together with Lidija Bajuk and Dunja Knebl, an artist of calmer artistic expression and rare musical beauty, he was one of the founders of world music scene in Croatia. Legen’s album Paunov ples (Peacock’s dance) was one of the first and unavoidable world music albums. As soon as it appeared, it was embraced by some members of the electronic music scene, even those that liked techno. Their concerts, just like Kries’s now, were truly memorable. Almost palpable energy that streams through your fingers and feet twirls around in a circle just like the traditional circle dance.
However, Kries is becoming recognizable through its use of electronic music, strong beats, expressive bass drum and specific men’s and women’s part singing groups deeply imbedded in our folklore in combination with traditional instruments like lijerica and cimbalo as well as chants from different parts of Croatia. Apart from this album they have also composed music for the film Konjanik (The Rider) by director Branko Ivanda, recorded one of the best Croatian world music albums Ivo i Mara inspired by the songs about mythical Slavic heroes. 

Although our intention was not to name all the performers, we have to add another blues performer from Podravina Miroslav Evačić with two albums and stylistically ever changing Livio Morosin with his Istrian roots. If we were to search for the reason why this music isn’t present on our radio and television stations as much as it should be, we will find it in the fact that quality music is always obscured by the commercial and undemanding in every respect, which means hollow, unimaginative and without any real roots.
World music has that which is the most important – strong roots that you can lean on. Fortunately for the Croatian culture, there is no shortage of those who perform it as sure as we have more than enough musical treasure we inherited from our ancestors. Therefore, we should take care of it with the help of these guardians who are able to blow away the dust, polish it and adapt it. This is why we should give them credit, raise a glass in their honor and take our hat off to them.

Cinkus means a bell
The world music band Cinkusi has also composed the music for the award winning animated films Ciganjska and Silencijum by the authors Davor Medurecan and Marko Mestrovic (the band’s drum player) based on the literary works of Miroslav Krleza. It should be mentioned that Cinkusi are often inspired by the works of this great Croatian writer. Just to clarify the name of the band - in the kajkavian tradition cinkus means the bell that follows people from birth till death.

Bozidar Trkulja , VJESNIK

Jasna Gabric , DOP MAGAZIN

Midhat Ajanovic, ZAREZ, 01.07.2004

Gordana Kolanović, VIPMOVIES, 16.03.2004.

CINKUSI – MUSIC THAT GIVES YOU AN X-RAY PICTURE OF THE SPIRIT OF MAĐIMURJE AND ZAGORJE

Zeleni kader album by Cinkusi (Croatia Records) counts among that kind of records which offer us hope that good old-fashioned folk party has not yet been extinct in these times of electronically-intensified mass media’s virtual entertainment’s rule, as well as that it is possible from positions which include grey brain cells, the streetwise oriented ones. Cinkusi’s music is of completely opposite sign from the unwitty ‘’hoppings’’ for dancing on the table, which is an even greater success since it is primarily about a non-fiddled merrymaking ‘’with balls’’.
With a help from Darko Pecotić from Legen, the sound picture of the Zeleni kader album is a good example of a quality hi-fi merchandise, while the music itself is a pure and relentless enjoyment, a sort of a mouth-breathing of the atrophied local Estrada which in this overflow of pseudo-folk musicians forgot what a real folk music sounds like.
By combining traditional songs into a somewhat of an x-ray picture featuring state of mind of this climate between Medjimurje and Zagorje, playing on the acoustic instruments provides an opportunity for boundless ’’ungirtidness’’, while textually speaking, it is about a successful proportion of funny and elegiac themes. With an exception of the guitar player Mirko Radusic’s Meknite se gore and Ivica Percl’s Stari Pjer, we find only traditional ‘’drmesi’’ and songs like U divljaka luk i strijela (with a legendary verse Nek nam živi živi rad inserted within), but their ‘’handcrafted songs’’ are more a product of intuition than of a rigid working principles and so the album Zeleni kader as not so many discography editions, if we look back a couple of years, authentically witnesses the mentality which does not use a ‘’remote control’’. Without sugarcoating that seems to come naturally with the ‘’new-composed’’ entertainers with the last (in the best case penultimate) intentions, Zeleni kader is an example of a full-blooded ’’ungirtidness’’ which in a manner of an authentic folk strategy breaks down the barriers between performers and the audience. The performance in the Zagreb’s KSET on Tuesday the 1st of February is a chance to verify performer’s profile which, logically, functions the best when experienced ‘’live’’.

Hrvoje Horvat, VJESNIK

Cinkusi evidently show that quality ethno-music doesn’t necessary have to be serious, gentle, hollow or even irritating to some groups of listeners. Halfway between Legen and Dreletronic, with a strong resemblance to Pogues, Cinkusi represent personification of a Jozice Zgubidana’s band from the novel U registraturi. Joyous, perky, with a violin and a mandolin in their instrumentation, they did a fine job rearranging traditional songs, mostly from Medjimurje and Zagorje region. With the exception of a hellish rearrangement of a Partisan hit Da nam zivi, zivi rad (here entitled U divljaka luk i strijela), great cover Stari Pjer by Novkovic and Percl and the original Meknite se si gore ending with a verse "big balls of Vinko Pintaric". With this kind of repertoire, Cinkusi have good chances of becoming a great live band.

For the band Cinkusi, one can say that they emerged out of expected development of the local ethno-scene, stimulated and greatly helped by members of the Legen band. By rearranging 11 folk songs of the Medjimurje and Zagorje region, and the good old hit Stari Pjer by Djordje Novkovic, through their quite specific arrangements varying from rock and jazz to Irish folk, they have created one exceptional album, but most importantly, very pleasant for listening. Unusual, but intelligent arrangements, made out of unknown (or sometimes known quite well) folk songs, a sequence of potential hits for everyday broadcasting. Unusual, but unusually good album highly recommended and definitely above the average of the local offer.

Dubravko Jagatic, SLOBODNA DALMACIJA