Eastern Blok

Combining Eastern European folk tunes with jazz-influenced compositions, Eastern Blok’s Balkan fusion has successfully been packing venues throughout the country since the release of their debut album in 2005.

“Goran Ivanovic from Croatia is a talented jazz guitarist. A solid bandleader who surrounds himself with American musicians, Ivanovic embraces his traditional Balkan folk music overtly. He plays hot. The Goran Ivanovic Group offers up fire rather than ice, and the guitarist’s amalgamation of flamenco, Balkan, classical, blues, and jazz keeps his band pushing forward almost all of the time on his eponymous album…Ivanovic’s group interacts on a heady and passionate musical plane...the ensemble playing is often breakneck and consistently challenging. The Group’s repertoire is loaded with dynamics, and they move from soft contemplative interludes to wholly original, speed-driven Balkan jazz.” –Downbeat Magazine, June 2006

Goran Ivanovic, a guitar virtuoso noted for his lightning-fingered finesse and his complex interpretations of even the simplest melodies, has teamed up with Doug Rosenberg on saxophone, Matthew Ulery on bass, and Michael Caskey on drums. Together, they take a fluid, cohesive approach to their compositions and consistently create beautiful music without borders. The Los Angeles Times considers their music “relentlessly innovative work.” Time Out calls the Group “an agile Bela Fleck in Croatia, a simile not as crazy as you’d imagine—Ivanovic was born there.”