Amira Medunjanin is a Bosnian Sevdah singer from Sarajevo. She is often referred to as an ambassador of Sevdah music. Sevdah is a folk music genre belonging primarily to Bonia, but also to parts of southern Serbia and Macedonia. Rising rapidly due to her extremely expressive type of Sevdah, she has already been referred to as the “Billie Holliday of the Balkans” by music journalist and world music expert Garth Cartwright.
Amira was born in 1972 in Sarajevo, in the former Yugoslavia of Tito. Yugoslavian folk music could be heard everywhere at the time and as a young girl, Amira learned to sing the folk songs from her mother. She was particularly touched by the Sevdah songs, which were centuries old in part and were an integral part of Bosnian culture. The songs accompanied her throughout her adolescence and as a young adult, her wish to be a Sevdah singer gradually came to be, although this was difficult since listening habits in her homeland had changed and Sevdah was viewed as antiquated and old-fashioned. She heard about Mostar Sevdah Reunion (MSR) who reinterpreted Sevdah songs in a contemporary way and had already become very successful with their music abroad. She thus decided, as a completely unknown singer, to travel to Mostar in 2002 and convince the musicians of MSR to record an album with her. At first, the musicians were sceptical, but after hearing Amira sing, no doubt remained. Rather, the MSR musicians could hardly believe that such an outstanding and talented singer could have remained undiscovered for so long and Amira’s career took off.
Amira Medunjanin first came to the attention of a wider audience in 2003 on Mostar Sevdah Reunion’s album “A Secret Gate”. On the song “Mujo djogu po mejdanu voda”, she took over the vocals, causing quite a stir on the international world music scene. This was followed in 2005 by her acclaimed debut album “Rosa” on the Dutch label Snail Records, which made her international breakthrough. The album was produced by Dragi Sestic of Mostar Sevdah Reunion. Almost all the Mostar Sevdah Reunion members were involved in the music production of the album. Apart from the MSR musicians, British jazz pianist, Balkan specialist and former Working Week member Kim Burton can be heard on several tracks on “Rosa”.
The album was recorded in Mostar with minimal financial means in just five days with a total of 72 studio hours and is now a classic of contemporary Sevdah music. After “Rosa” was produced, there was unfortunately no further cooperation between Amira and Mostar Sevdah Reunion.
The album was recorded in Mostar with minimal financial means in just five days with a total of 72 studio hours and is now a classic of contemporary Sevdah music. After “Rosa” was produced, there was unfortunately no further cooperation between Amira and Mostar Sevdah Reunion.
The album “Zumra”, which she recorded together with Bosnian accordionist and composer Merima Kljuco, was released in 2009. The majority of the songs released are original compositions written by Kljuco. That same year, a live album came out entitled “Amira Live @ the Jazz Fest Sarajevo” with a recording of her concert on November 9, 2008 at the 12th International Jazz Fest Sarajevo.Amiras third studio album was released in 2011 under the title "Amulette". On the album Amira tried intensively to merge Sevdah music and jazz. The Serbian jazz pianist Bojan Z (Bojan Zulfikarpasic), who also produced and arranged the album, was largely responsible for the musical realisation. Beside him, the double bassist Nenad Vasiliv from Nis (Serbia) and the Lebanese percussionist Bachar Khalife can be heard.
In 2012, Amira won the coveted award "La belle voix feminine plue 2012" (Best Female Vocalist in 2012), which is awarded annually in France by the Orange Foundation.
The album "Silk & Stone"was released in 2014. Bojan Z was again commissioned to perform the music. In addition to the strongly reduced sound guest ethics that already distinguished "amulets", this album has increasingly focused on an oriental coloration with instruments such as Oud and Kanun. In 2016 another album with the title "Damar" followed.
"Sevdah, also called Sevdalinka, originated some 500 years ago in the area of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina and is characteristic of the Bosnian tradition and its folklore. The word Sevdah means “love” in Turkish but in Arabic “black bile”. The lyrics of Sevdah songs often talk of passion and unrequited love. Amira herself describes the music as “feverish longing”. And that is exactly what Amira’s music sounds like!"
Discographie:
2005 Rosa (Snail Records)
2009 Amira Live @ the Jazz Fest Sarajevo (Gramofon)
2009 Zumra (World Village/Harmonia Mundi)
2011 Amulette (World Village/Harmonia Mundi)
2014 Solk & Stone (World Village/Harmonia Mundi)
2016 Damar (Aquqrius Records)
Web:
amiramedunjanin.ba
facebook.com/pages/Amira
Text: Robert Lippuner / Gypsy Music Network
Translation: Jamie Davies
