Sevdah Takht

Bosnian Sevdah Fusion Ensemble

After a successful solo project and a Trio of his own, Bosnian Sevdah musician Damir Imamović (b. 1978, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina) makes a new turn with his new band named: Damir Imamović Sevdah Takht. “Takht” used to be a name for small, chamber groups which travelled throughout the Mediterenean and played traditional music of the region. The word “takht” is of a Persian origin and denotes a “stage”, “throne”, “plank” and similar. In Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian it was preserved idiomatically as “tahta” which denotes a “plank”, “tahtali” which means “flat” and associates a so-called “flat song/singing” – one of the most important origins of the today’s Sevdah music genre. Damir Imamović Sevdah Takht calls upon a tradition of bands that cross the borders of actual genres and learn from different traditions. After two very successful CDs with his own Damir Imamović Trio and a couple of CDs solo, with this new band Imamović steps in a direction of understanding sevdah as a genre based on a continuous learning and research. Alongside Imamović, Sevdah Takht are: Nenad Kovačić (b. 1982, Zagreb, Croatia) – A percussionist and a rhythm student with big experience of working on rhythms from the Balkans. In Zagreb he runs a school of African rhythms which he founded after studying with some of the greatest living masters of the craft from Western Africa. He writes for theatre and film and is a regular member of bands such as Afion, Antenat, Naš mali Afro Band. Ivan Mihajlović (b. 1980, Kladovo, Serbia) – One of the most interesting young bass players and authors in the music scene of Belgrade. Regularly plays in bands such as Naked, SviNaPod, Menson Benson, Plava kuća. He spent some time learning in the USA. He writes music for film and theatre.