Everything about Goran Bregovi totally explained
Goran Bregović (
Serbian Cyrillic: Горан Бреговић) (born
March 22,
1950) is a
musician from
Bosnia and Herzegovina and one of the most recognizable modern
composers of the
Balkans. He declares himself as a
Yugoslav.
Composer and guitarist Goran Bregović has been a household name in the
Balkans for over three decades. Born in
Sarajevo,
Bosnia and Herzegovina (then
Yugoslavia), Bregović has composed for such varied artists as
Iggy Pop and
Cesaria Evora. He earned his fame wielding a guitar with his rock band
Bijelo dugme, a group that rose to stardom and set the groundwork for the
Yugoslav rock scene. Known internationally for his scores for
Emir Kusturica’s films (
Time of the Gypsies,
Arizona Dream,
Underground), Bregović commands an ensemble that matches his larger-than-life persona. A rowdy brass band, bagpipes, a string ensemble, a tuxedo-clad all-male choir from
Belgrade, and traditional
Bulgarian and
Roma singers make up his dynamic 40-piece band and orchestra. Bregović’s compositions, extending Balkan musical inspirations to innovative extremes, draw upon European classicism and Balkan rhythms, evoking rock’s searing power as well as the repose of
sacred sounds–all fueled by the insistent drive of brass.
Early life and career
Goran Bregović was born in
Sarajevo to a
Croat father and a
Serb mother. His father was an officer in the
Yugoslav People's Army. His parents divorced and he remained living with his mother in
Sarajevo.
Goran played
violin in a
music school, however, deemed untalented, he was thrown out during second grade. His musical education was thus reduced to what his friend taught him until Goran's mother bought him his first guitar in his early teens. Bregović wanted to enroll in a
fine arts high school, but his aunt told his mother that it was supposedly full of homosexuals, which percipitated his mother's decision to send him to a technical (traffic) school, As a compromise for not getting his way, she allowed him to grow his hair long. Upon entering high school, Goran joined the school band
Izohipse where he began on bass guitar. Soon, however, he was kicked out of that school, too (this time for misbehaviour - he crashed a school-owned
Mercedes). Bregović then entered grammar school and its school band
Beštije (again as a bass guitar player). When he was sixteen, his mother left him and moved to the coast, meaning that other than having a few relatives to rely on, he mostly had to take care of himself. He did that by playing
folk music in a bar in
Konjic, working on construction sites, and selling newspapers.
Spotting him at a Beštije gig in
1969,
Željko Bebek invited 18-year-old Bregović to play bass guitar in his band
Kodeksi, which Goran gladly accepted.
Eventually, Kodeksi shifted setup so Goran moved from
bass to
lead guitar, resulting in Kodeksi having the following line-up during summer
1970: Goran Bregović, Željko Bebek,
Zoran Redžić and
Milić Vukašinović. All of them would eventually become members of
Bijelo dugme at some point in the future. At the time, they were largely influenced by
Led Zeppelin and
Black Sabbath, which was the merit of Milić Vukašinović who "infected" them with that kind of music. In the fall of
1970 this resulted in departure of Željko Bebek who (both as
rhythm guitar player and
singer) wasn't needed anymore in the band. At the end of the year, Goran's mother and Zoran's brother arrived to Naples and took the band back to
Sarajevo.
Then in the autumn of
1971 Goran entered
university and decided to study
philosophy and
sociology. He soon quit, however. In the same time Milić Vukašinović left for
London, so Goran and Zoran started playing in a band, named
Jutro (trans. "Morning"). The band in the next few years transformed a lot and on
January 1,
1974 the band changed its name to
Bijelo dugme ("White Button").
Bijelo dugme
Bijelo dugme (
White Button) were one of the most popular bands of
SFR Yugoslavia right from their arrival on the scene during mid
1970s until their folding in late
1980s.
After Bijelo dugme
At the time Bijelo dugme was falling apart, Goran entered the world of
film music. His first project was
Emir Kusturica's
Time of the Gypsies (
1989) which turned out a great success (both the film and the music from it). Goran and Emir's collaboration continued, and Goran composed music (which was performed by
Iggy Pop) for Emir's next film
Arizona Dream (
1993). His next major project, music for
Patrice Chéreau's
Queen Margot was again a great success, and the film won two awards on the 1994
Cannes Film Festival. Next year's
Golden Palm went to
Underground, for which Goran Bregović composed the music.
Bregović's music carries both
South Slavic and
Romani themes and is a fusion of
popular music with traditional
polyphonic music from the Balkans,
tango and
brass bands. Although he's a very popular musician in
Eastern Europe, Bregović has been accused on several occasions of 'stealing' original Romani and
folk music of the Balkans and ultimately rewriting and branding it as his own creation. In
1997, he worked with Turkish singer
Sezen Aksu, on her album
Düğün ve Cenaze. After that album, he continued making composite albums with other musicians that were based on his music and singers' lyrics. He made an album with
George Dalaras in 1999 named
Thessaloniki - Yannena with Two Canvas Shoes. In 2000 Bregović recorded an album
Kayah i Bregović (Kayah and Bregović) with popular
Polish singer
Kayah which sold over 650,000 copies in Poland (6 times platinum record). In 2001 he recorded another album with another Polish singer,
Krzysztof Krawczyk, titled
Daj mi drugie życie (Give me second life).
In
2005 he took part in 3 large farewell concerts of Bijelo dugme.
A number of works by Bregović can be heard on the soundtrack to the 2006 film, most notably Đurđevdan. The itself actually features more Bregović samples than the soundtrack.
Personal
In
1993, Bregović married long-time girlfriend Dženana Sudžuka. The wedding ceremony held in
Paris featured film director
Emir Kusturica as the groom's best man and longtime Bijelo dugme backing vocal Amila Sulejmanović as the bride's maid of honour.
The couple have three daughters: Ema (born in March 1995), Una (February 2002) and Lulu (May 2004).
Bregović owns houses all over the world, but spends most of his time between
Belgrade where most of his musical collaborators reside and
Paris where his spouse lives with their three daughters.
He also has a daughter Željka (born out of wedlock from a previous relationship) who gave birth to Goran's grand daughter Bianca. He has a brother named Predrag who lives in
New York and his sister Dajana who lives in Split.
List of film scores
List of solo and movie soundtrack albums
Goran Bregović (1976, PGP RTB)
A milicija trenira strogoću (1983, Jugoton)
Dom za vjesanje (1989, Kamarad - Diskoton)
Kuduz (1989, Diskoton)
Les Temps des Gitans - Kuduz (1990, Kamarad - PolyGram - Komuna)
Arizona Dream - Soundtrack (1993, Kamarad - PolyGram - Komuna)
La reine Margot - Soundtrack (1994, Kamarad - PolyGram - Komuna)
Underground - Soundtrack (1995, Kamarad - PolyGram - Komuna)
P.S. (compilation 1996, Komuna)
Silence of the Balkans (live album 1997, Mercury Records)
Düğün ve Cenaze with Sezen Aksu (1997)
Protopsálti (Πρωτοψάλτη)- Paradéchtika (Παραδέχτηκα) (1998)
Ederlezi (compilation 1998, PolyGram
Thessaloniki - Yannena with Two Canvas Shoes with George Dalaras (1999)
Songbook (compilation 2000, Mercury Records - Universal)
Kayah i Bregović (2000)
Tales and songs from weddings and funerals (2002)
Goran Bregovic's Karmen with a Happy End (2007- Universal)
Alcohol (2008)Further Information
Get more info on 'Goran Bregovi'.
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