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"The Bosnian singer sets folk songs from Serbia, Macedonia and Kosovo in classic jazz"

Hard on the heels of the Bosnian singer’s first album, Zumra, comes this follow-up. Happily, she rejects Balkanisation, setting folk songs from Serbia, Macedonia and Kosovo as well as Bosnia in instrumentation that would suit the classic jazz songbook.
Bojan Zulfikarpasic’s piano and Nenad Vasilic’s double bass leave enough space for Amira’s singing to steep itself in melancholy. - The Financial Times


"The Bosnian singer sets folk songs from Serbia, Macedonia and Kosovo in classic jazz"

Hard on the heels of the Bosnian singer’s first album, Zumra, comes this follow-up. Happily, she rejects Balkanisation, setting folk songs from Serbia, Macedonia and Kosovo as well as Bosnia in instrumentation that would suit the classic jazz songbook.
Bojan Zulfikarpasic’s piano and Nenad Vasilic’s double bass leave enough space for Amira’s singing to steep itself in melancholy. - The Financial Times


"AMIRA: "AMULETTE""

Amira’s voice is quite unlike Billie Holiday’s and the song genre she has so brilliantly revived is Balkan, not American. But the “Bosnia’s Billie Holiday” tag is not merely marketing spin.

As reviewer William Tilland observed, “while there is soul aplenty in Amira’s gorgeous voice, she consistently understates the lyric, drawing in the listener rather than delivering the overwrought sonic assault that is often associated with both fado and a wide variety of volatile, highly extroverted Balkan vocal music.”

Amira Medunjanin is from Sarajevo, which she regards as “the most beautiful city in the world, with incredibly good people who have a great soul.”

“We have”, she says, “survived very difficult times ... and still come out, after all that, as winners.”

Amira is the leading, creative singer in the revival and rejuvenation of a very haunting song genre, known as sevdah – a Bosnian word/concept of multiple meanings, but most especially yearning.

For the first time, on her new album a pianist as the singer’s primary colleague.
The French-resident Serbian known as Bojan Z – Bojan Zulfikarpašic – is not merely her accompanist.

Amira’s official site:
http://www.amira.com.ba

Interview with her:
from http://worldofsevdah.com/amira-medunjanin-exclusive-interview-with-a-legend

An earlier, more intimate interview with Amira:
http://www.bosnia.org.uk/news/news_body.cfm?newsid=2269

Bojan Z site, including biography:
http://www.bojanz.com

Information about the sevdah/ sevdahlinke:
http://sevdalinke.com/english.php

This very fine article puts everything in context:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/04/war-child-help-album-bosnia-herzegovina-charity

Video of Amira in ‘live’ duo with Armenian duduk virtouso Tigran Alexsanyan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30xe411pryk

That video is professionally shot/recorded, inside London’s St Paul’s Cathedral in June 2011

This “live” duo with Bojan Z is not so well shot, but it is a very striking, very different performance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnZ31Iet3E4 - ABC Radio National Australia


"AMIRA: "AMULETTE""

Amira’s voice is quite unlike Billie Holiday’s and the song genre she has so brilliantly revived is Balkan, not American. But the “Bosnia’s Billie Holiday” tag is not merely marketing spin.

As reviewer William Tilland observed, “while there is soul aplenty in Amira’s gorgeous voice, she consistently understates the lyric, drawing in the listener rather than delivering the overwrought sonic assault that is often associated with both fado and a wide variety of volatile, highly extroverted Balkan vocal music.”

Amira Medunjanin is from Sarajevo, which she regards as “the most beautiful city in the world, with incredibly good people who have a great soul.”

“We have”, she says, “survived very difficult times ... and still come out, after all that, as winners.”

Amira is the leading, creative singer in the revival and rejuvenation of a very haunting song genre, known as sevdah – a Bosnian word/concept of multiple meanings, but most especially yearning.

For the first time, on her new album a pianist as the singer’s primary colleague.
The French-resident Serbian known as Bojan Z – Bojan Zulfikarpašic – is not merely her accompanist.

Amira’s official site:
http://www.amira.com.ba

Interview with her:
from http://worldofsevdah.com/amira-medunjanin-exclusive-interview-with-a-legend

An earlier, more intimate interview with Amira:
http://www.bosnia.org.uk/news/news_body.cfm?newsid=2269

Bojan Z site, including biography:
http://www.bojanz.com

Information about the sevdah/ sevdahlinke:
http://sevdalinke.com/english.php

This very fine article puts everything in context:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/04/war-child-help-album-bosnia-herzegovina-charity

Video of Amira in ‘live’ duo with Armenian duduk virtouso Tigran Alexsanyan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30xe411pryk

That video is professionally shot/recorded, inside London’s St Paul’s Cathedral in June 2011

This “live” duo with Bojan Z is not so well shot, but it is a very striking, very different performance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnZ31Iet3E4 - ABC Radio National Australia


"Amira Medunjanin: Amulette"

Singer Amira Medunjanin's third studio album, Amulette, consists of ten Songs from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia, all combining the beauty of cultural musical differences. She has come a long way since her debut, Rosa (Snail Records, 2005), recorded with Mostar Sevdah Reunion and her follow-up. Zumra (World Village, 2010), her collaboration with accordionist Merima Kljuco.

Unlike those first two, Amulette is edgier, with inventive arrangements and a lot of emotion. Producer/keyboardist Bojan Z (Zulfikarpasic) has truly outdone himself by successfully combining Sevdah and jazz with such elegance, focusing on Medunjanin's beautiful voice and never allowing the music to overwhelm it.

It is not easy to find a single word in English that can stand for the Bosnian concept of Sevdah, but it can easily be compared to the Portuguese Fado. Sevdah carries multiple meanings—love, hopeless love, endless love and a desire that chills; but in the end it's a way of life, and a narrative that tells the story of itself.

With Amulette, Medunjanin succeeds in doing what many of today's artists have not: to incorporate Sevdah in the 21st century, adding new contemporary elements while retaining its originality; avoiding frustration for the older audience of traditional music while, at the same time, engaging a new one. Together, with her team of musicians, she has showed that tradition, in a new setting, can and must be appreciated and taken care of.

Medunjanin was born in Sarajevo at a time when the popularity of traditional music in the former Yugoslavia was at high tide, and Sevdah held a special place for her. It was from her mother that she learned to sing sevdalinke (Sevdah songs); growing up surrounded by this tradition, she carries a very special emotion related to these songs. It is very easy to understand why she named this third album Amulette, and why the critics have also loved it.

Accompanied by bassist Nenad, "Bele ruze" (White Roses), is Medunjanin's soft introduction to an album that slowly progresses to the heartbreaking "Kafu mi draga ispeci," where Medunjanin's clear emotional voice and Z's piano arrangements demonstrate the understanding between them. The similarly playful "Omer Beze" bears close resemblance to the intro of Aram Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance," but despite its gloomy theme, this may be one of the most cheerful songs on the album.

Medunjanin had spent years searching in vain to find people who shared her ideas about Sevdah and for the best way to present it. Amulette shows that, with Bojan Z, she truly has found her musical soul mate. Her singing really tells the story—not only a theme, but the strong emotions of love, sadness, desire and Medunjanin's emotional engagement, clearly present in every note. - All about Jazz


"Amira Medunjanin: Amulette"

Singer Amira Medunjanin's third studio album, Amulette, consists of ten Songs from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia, all combining the beauty of cultural musical differences. She has come a long way since her debut, Rosa (Snail Records, 2005), recorded with Mostar Sevdah Reunion and her follow-up. Zumra (World Village, 2010), her collaboration with accordionist Merima Kljuco.

Unlike those first two, Amulette is edgier, with inventive arrangements and a lot of emotion. Producer/keyboardist Bojan Z (Zulfikarpasic) has truly outdone himself by successfully combining Sevdah and jazz with such elegance, focusing on Medunjanin's beautiful voice and never allowing the music to overwhelm it.

It is not easy to find a single word in English that can stand for the Bosnian concept of Sevdah, but it can easily be compared to the Portuguese Fado. Sevdah carries multiple meanings—love, hopeless love, endless love and a desire that chills; but in the end it's a way of life, and a narrative that tells the story of itself.

With Amulette, Medunjanin succeeds in doing what many of today's artists have not: to incorporate Sevdah in the 21st century, adding new contemporary elements while retaining its originality; avoiding frustration for the older audience of traditional music while, at the same time, engaging a new one. Together, with her team of musicians, she has showed that tradition, in a new setting, can and must be appreciated and taken care of.

Medunjanin was born in Sarajevo at a time when the popularity of traditional music in the former Yugoslavia was at high tide, and Sevdah held a special place for her. It was from her mother that she learned to sing sevdalinke (Sevdah songs); growing up surrounded by this tradition, she carries a very special emotion related to these songs. It is very easy to understand why she named this third album Amulette, and why the critics have also loved it.

Accompanied by bassist Nenad, "Bele ruze" (White Roses), is Medunjanin's soft introduction to an album that slowly progresses to the heartbreaking "Kafu mi draga ispeci," where Medunjanin's clear emotional voice and Z's piano arrangements demonstrate the understanding between them. The similarly playful "Omer Beze" bears close resemblance to the intro of Aram Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance," but despite its gloomy theme, this may be one of the most cheerful songs on the album.

Medunjanin had spent years searching in vain to find people who shared her ideas about Sevdah and for the best way to present it. Amulette shows that, with Bojan Z, she truly has found her musical soul mate. Her singing really tells the story—not only a theme, but the strong emotions of love, sadness, desire and Medunjanin's emotional engagement, clearly present in every note. - All about Jazz


"Sensitive sevdah from Central Europe"

Tim Cumming tells the story of Amira recording ‘Bele Ruže’, the Šaban Bajramovi? song that opens this album in his feature on p46. With just voice and double bass, it sets up the stripped-back and spontaneous quality that characterises this record.

Amira Medunjanin is Bosnia’s finest sevdah singer and she enjoys taking this traditional Bosnian song form in new directions. She’s recorded sevdah with a full band – Mostar Sevdah Reunion – with a contemporary accordionist, Merima Klju?o, and here with a Bosnian jazz pianist, Bojan Zulfikarpasic. I wasn’t sure I was going to like this, fearing schmaltzy sevdah lounge. But Zulfikarpasic, who helpfully calls himself by the stage name Bojan Z, has come up with arrangements and playing that suit the music perfectly: sometimes restrained (‘Zemi Me Zemi’), sometimes avant-garde (‘Grana Od Bora’), sometimes incisive (‘Oj Ti Mome’). Only in ‘Jano Mori’ do the piano arpeggios seem to become a little excessive.

The ten songs here are mostly Bosnian and Macedonian – ‘Prošeta se Jovka Kumanovka’ is in a catchy Macedonian rhythm – although there are songs from Serbia and Kosovo as well, but they are unified by a sevdah sensibility. Amira’s focused but vulnerable voice carries the emotion of the music without indulgence or exaggeration. It’s a delight.

Simon Broughton - Songlines magazine


"Sensitive sevdah from Central Europe"

Tim Cumming tells the story of Amira recording ‘Bele Ruže’, the Šaban Bajramovi? song that opens this album in his feature on p46. With just voice and double bass, it sets up the stripped-back and spontaneous quality that characterises this record.

Amira Medunjanin is Bosnia’s finest sevdah singer and she enjoys taking this traditional Bosnian song form in new directions. She’s recorded sevdah with a full band – Mostar Sevdah Reunion – with a contemporary accordionist, Merima Klju?o, and here with a Bosnian jazz pianist, Bojan Zulfikarpasic. I wasn’t sure I was going to like this, fearing schmaltzy sevdah lounge. But Zulfikarpasic, who helpfully calls himself by the stage name Bojan Z, has come up with arrangements and playing that suit the music perfectly: sometimes restrained (‘Zemi Me Zemi’), sometimes avant-garde (‘Grana Od Bora’), sometimes incisive (‘Oj Ti Mome’). Only in ‘Jano Mori’ do the piano arpeggios seem to become a little excessive.

The ten songs here are mostly Bosnian and Macedonian – ‘Prošeta se Jovka Kumanovka’ is in a catchy Macedonian rhythm – although there are songs from Serbia and Kosovo as well, but they are unified by a sevdah sensibility. Amira’s focused but vulnerable voice carries the emotion of the music without indulgence or exaggeration. It’s a delight.

Simon Broughton - Songlines magazine


"VANAF DE ALLEREERSTE INZET WEET HET ALBUM TE BETOVEREN"

Het is en blijft een mysterie hoe sommige muzikanten vanaf de allereerste inzet weten te betoveren. Iemand die deze wonderlijke gave bezit, is de Bosnische zangeres Amira (Medunjanin). In dit geval is haar stem ook letterlijk het allereerste geluid dat te horen is, op de voet gevolgd door de sonore klank van contrabassist Nenad Vasilic en op gepaste afstand het sobere toetsenwerk van de in jazzkringen vermaarde Bojan Zulfikarpasic, die op Amira's nieuwe cd niet alleen de rol van pianist vervult, maar ook die van arrangeur en producer.

Duidelijke jazzinvloeden dus, maar ook qua repertoirekeuze slaat Amira haar vleugels verder uit dan gebruikelijk. Naast sevdalinka (de weemoedigste variant van het Bosnische levenslied) zingt ze op Amulette traditionele liederen uit Servië, Macedonië en Kosovo. Het indringende openingsnummer Bele Ruze is opgedragen aan een van Amira's persoonlijke helden, de enkele jaren geleden overleden romazanger Saban Bajramovic. - Volkskrant


"VANAF DE ALLEREERSTE INZET WEET HET ALBUM TE BETOVEREN"

Het is en blijft een mysterie hoe sommige muzikanten vanaf de allereerste inzet weten te betoveren. Iemand die deze wonderlijke gave bezit, is de Bosnische zangeres Amira (Medunjanin). In dit geval is haar stem ook letterlijk het allereerste geluid dat te horen is, op de voet gevolgd door de sonore klank van contrabassist Nenad Vasilic en op gepaste afstand het sobere toetsenwerk van de in jazzkringen vermaarde Bojan Zulfikarpasic, die op Amira's nieuwe cd niet alleen de rol van pianist vervult, maar ook die van arrangeur en producer.

Duidelijke jazzinvloeden dus, maar ook qua repertoirekeuze slaat Amira haar vleugels verder uit dan gebruikelijk. Naast sevdalinka (de weemoedigste variant van het Bosnische levenslied) zingt ze op Amulette traditionele liederen uit Servië, Macedonië en Kosovo. Het indringende openingsnummer Bele Ruze is opgedragen aan een van Amira's persoonlijke helden, de enkele jaren geleden overleden romazanger Saban Bajramovic. - Volkskrant


"Amira, “Amulette” By William Tilland"

The subtlety and silky finesse of this recording is such that it can float right past the listener, which would be a shame given its extraordinary quality. One theoretical problem is the language barrier. Amira is a Bosnian originally from Sarajevo who sings in her native tongue, and for those who require the literal understanding of a lyric for maximum appreciation, something may be lacking. However, the voice can be appreciated as just another (albeit very expressive) instrument, so this is obviously a matter of personal preference and taste. The ten traditional songs on the program, all dealing with various aspects of love and personal relationships, are from Serbian, Macedonian and Bosnian sources. They are not given literal translations in the CD liner notes but good summaries of each lyric are provided, along with the original text. The program is divided almost equally between ballads and mid-tempo numbers.
The two things that make this CD exception are Amira and her backing band. Amira’s singing style is known as “sevdah” (loosely translated as “yearning”), which aligns it with the “duende” (i.e., soul) of Portuguese fado or Cape Verdean morna. But while there is soul aplenty in Amira’s gorgeous voice, she consistently understates the lyric, drawing in the listener rather than delivering the overwrought sonic assault that is often associated with both fado and a wide variety of volatile, highly extroverted Balkan vocal music. The heart-on-sleeve (or sometime, the heart-being-ripped-from-the-body) anguish of much of this music undoubted has its appeal, but Amira’s purity of tone and her restraint are much easier on the ears (and emotions) without ever degenerating into blandness. She has been called “Bosnia’s Billie Holiday,” and while her voice is not at all similar to Holiday’s, the comparison is clearly apt in relation to her ability to inhabit a lyric with taste and nuanced sensitivity.
The other half of this impressive musical equation is supplied by producer, arranger and pianist Bojan Zulfickarpasic, otherwise known as Bojan Z, who was born in Belgrade and has a considerable reputation as a jazz artist, especially in France, where he has won numerous honors. To say that Bojan Z and his trio (assisted by guitar and accordion on several tracks) gives these traditional songs a jazz “treatment” would be a gross oversimplification. Nowhere on the CD is there a sense of the music being altered to conform to a jazz template. Instead, Bojan Z’s arrangements work with the traditional melodies, modes and rhythms, with piano, bass and percussion embellishing and improvising within a prescribed framework. Bojan Z’s own playing is the pianistic equivalent of Amira’s vocals – understated and highly sophisticated.
The opening track, Bele ruze, has Amira supported only by Nenad Vasilic’s lyrical double bass. Several other tracks use hand percussion to accentuate ethnicity. The production uses just a touch of a synth wash on several pieces and on “Grana od bora,” prepared piano is introduced for a bit of an experimental edge. “Omer beze” has Amira warbling modally against the classic Balkan umpah, umpah, umpah beat, with Bojan Z improvising with a playful, almost boppish figure during the instrumental break. It’s just one of many delightful little touches on this uniformly elegant and fully realized CD.
World Village
10/10
- Foxy Digitalis


"Amira, “Amulette” By William Tilland"

The subtlety and silky finesse of this recording is such that it can float right past the listener, which would be a shame given its extraordinary quality. One theoretical problem is the language barrier. Amira is a Bosnian originally from Sarajevo who sings in her native tongue, and for those who require the literal understanding of a lyric for maximum appreciation, something may be lacking. However, the voice can be appreciated as just another (albeit very expressive) instrument, so this is obviously a matter of personal preference and taste. The ten traditional songs on the program, all dealing with various aspects of love and personal relationships, are from Serbian, Macedonian and Bosnian sources. They are not given literal translations in the CD liner notes but good summaries of each lyric are provided, along with the original text. The program is divided almost equally between ballads and mid-tempo numbers.
The two things that make this CD exception are Amira and her backing band. Amira’s singing style is known as “sevdah” (loosely translated as “yearning”), which aligns it with the “duende” (i.e., soul) of Portuguese fado or Cape Verdean morna. But while there is soul aplenty in Amira’s gorgeous voice, she consistently understates the lyric, drawing in the listener rather than delivering the overwrought sonic assault that is often associated with both fado and a wide variety of volatile, highly extroverted Balkan vocal music. The heart-on-sleeve (or sometime, the heart-being-ripped-from-the-body) anguish of much of this music undoubted has its appeal, but Amira’s purity of tone and her restraint are much easier on the ears (and emotions) without ever degenerating into blandness. She has been called “Bosnia’s Billie Holiday,” and while her voice is not at all similar to Holiday’s, the comparison is clearly apt in relation to her ability to inhabit a lyric with taste and nuanced sensitivity.
The other half of this impressive musical equation is supplied by producer, arranger and pianist Bojan Zulfickarpasic, otherwise known as Bojan Z, who was born in Belgrade and has a considerable reputation as a jazz artist, especially in France, where he has won numerous honors. To say that Bojan Z and his trio (assisted by guitar and accordion on several tracks) gives these traditional songs a jazz “treatment” would be a gross oversimplification. Nowhere on the CD is there a sense of the music being altered to conform to a jazz template. Instead, Bojan Z’s arrangements work with the traditional melodies, modes and rhythms, with piano, bass and percussion embellishing and improvising within a prescribed framework. Bojan Z’s own playing is the pianistic equivalent of Amira’s vocals – understated and highly sophisticated.
The opening track, Bele ruze, has Amira supported only by Nenad Vasilic’s lyrical double bass. Several other tracks use hand percussion to accentuate ethnicity. The production uses just a touch of a synth wash on several pieces and on “Grana od bora,” prepared piano is introduced for a bit of an experimental edge. “Omer beze” has Amira warbling modally against the classic Balkan umpah, umpah, umpah beat, with Bojan Z improvising with a playful, almost boppish figure during the instrumental break. It’s just one of many delightful little touches on this uniformly elegant and fully realized CD.
World Village
10/10
- Foxy Digitalis


"Amira: Amulette – review"

Amira Medunjanin – better known by her stage name Amira – is one of Europe's finest and most soulful singers. Born in Sarajevo, she is one of the greatest exponents of Bosnian sevdah, a mostly slow, sad and passionate style that is the Balkan answer to the blues or Cape Verdean morna; no surprise then that she has already been compared to Billie Holiday and Cesaria Evora. This new set certainly proves she has the potential to become a global success, and also that she is willing to experiment. In the past, she has been backed by a band, the Mostar Sevdah Reunion, and by accordion, but here she is joined by a jazz trio, led by pianist Bojan Z. The songs are all traditional, mostly from Bosnia but also from Macedonia and Kosovo, and most are sad-edged love ballads, with just one stomping comic piece added in. Bojan often sounds desperate to break away to show off his rapid-fire jazz work, and there are adventurous sections where the piano and guitar solos contrast strongly with the vocals, or where echoing effects are added in. But Amira's exquisite, clear and pained singing holds the set together. - The Guardian


"Amira: Amulette – review"

Amira Medunjanin – better known by her stage name Amira – is one of Europe's finest and most soulful singers. Born in Sarajevo, she is one of the greatest exponents of Bosnian sevdah, a mostly slow, sad and passionate style that is the Balkan answer to the blues or Cape Verdean morna; no surprise then that she has already been compared to Billie Holiday and Cesaria Evora. This new set certainly proves she has the potential to become a global success, and also that she is willing to experiment. In the past, she has been backed by a band, the Mostar Sevdah Reunion, and by accordion, but here she is joined by a jazz trio, led by pianist Bojan Z. The songs are all traditional, mostly from Bosnia but also from Macedonia and Kosovo, and most are sad-edged love ballads, with just one stomping comic piece added in. Bojan often sounds desperate to break away to show off his rapid-fire jazz work, and there are adventurous sections where the piano and guitar solos contrast strongly with the vocals, or where echoing effects are added in. But Amira's exquisite, clear and pained singing holds the set together. - The Guardian


"Amira's cool, creamy voice does the Balkan classics justice on Amulette."

Stylish Bosnian chanteuse Amira Medunjanin makes sevdah, the Sarajevo café blues, sound like the most languorous, meditative kind of show tune on this beautifully understated collaboration with Serbian jazz pianist Bojan Z. The songs here are all classics, a sort of Great Balkan Songbook, with her cool, creamy and surprisingly unoriental voice wringing many layers of feeling from their dark, bittersweet melodies. - The Telegraph


"Amira's cool, creamy voice does the Balkan classics justice on Amulette."

Stylish Bosnian chanteuse Amira Medunjanin makes sevdah, the Sarajevo café blues, sound like the most languorous, meditative kind of show tune on this beautifully understated collaboration with Serbian jazz pianist Bojan Z. The songs here are all classics, a sort of Great Balkan Songbook, with her cool, creamy and surprisingly unoriental voice wringing many layers of feeling from their dark, bittersweet melodies. - The Telegraph


Discography

A Secret Gate (Snail Records, 2003)
Rosa (Snail Records, 2005)
Live from Jazz Fest Sarajevo (Gramofon 2009)
Zumra (Harmonia Mundi / World Village 2010)
Amulette (Harmonia Mundi / World Village 2011)

Photos

Bio

AMIRA was born in Sarajevo at the time when the popularity of traditional music in the former Yugoslavia was at the high tide, and sevdah held a special place for her. The sevdalinke (sevdah songs) she learned from her mother were the most beautiful of songs. Her fascination with the oral tradition of Bosnia and Herzegovina led her to devote herself to creating a unique voice within sevdah to explore its expressive capacity to the full. She had spent years searching in vain for to find people who shared her ideas about sevdah, and for the best way to present it.

Dubbed "Bosnia's Billie Holiday" by music journalist and author Garth Cartwright, the comparison reflects the way in which Amira turns sevdah inside out, finding new contexts and forms within a tradition that is hundreds of years old.

After guesting on Mostar Sevdah Reunion's album A Secret Gate in 2003, Amira recorded her debut album, Rosa, (Snail Records, 2005), which garnered great reviews in the UK and across Europe, featuring in several "Album of the Year" lists.
In April 2009 Amira released Live album, a recording of a concert held at the Jazz Fest Sarajevo in 2008. At the same time, in April 2009, Amira released the album named Zumra. The album represents the innovative approach to the musical tradition of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Macedonia by fusing contemporary accordion and arrangements to the traditional melody, lyrics and vocal styling. Zumra was released in March 2010 by Harmonia Mundi / World Village. Her latest album Amulette, has also been released by Harmonia Mundi / World Village on October 3rd 2011.
Synergy that is achieved is completely refreshing and it contributed to the development and popularisation of two diametrically opposite musical genres. Unique musical style and virtuosity of Bojan Z set new boundaries and provided a unique stamp on the treatment of compositions that are hundreds of years old.