Detailed Reviews [Dusan Jevtovic & Vasil Hadzimanov - 2021 - "Duo"]

Prolusion. Serbian musicians Dusan Jevtovic and Vasil Hadzimanov are both well established musicians with decades long experience, with Jevtovic nurturing a solo career for the past decade or thereabouts while Hadzimanov has his own band that has been going since the late 1990's. They have worked together on previous occasions, and on the album "Duo" from the summer of 2021 they also combine their talents in a directly collaborative manner.

Analysis. Just where and how to categorize this production isn't the easiest of tasks. Experimental, improvised music may well be the best general description, but what main category of music we are dealing with here is something of an open question to me. Words such as minimalist and avant do come to mind though, and these descriptions alongside the experimental moniker is arguably a better pointer towards the material we have at hand here than any placement inside a style spectrum as such. The main instruments here are the electric guitar and the piano. Some other instruments are used for details of a more subtle character, one exception aside, but this album is all about how those two main instruments can be combined. Jevtovic provides us with textured motifs, sound surges, reverbs and various manners of quirky guitar playing, often opting for tones, timbres and movements on the less usual side of matters and using darker tones. Twisted and distorted tones are a part of the totality too. Hadzimanov's contributions come from the piano, more often than not with lighter and tighter tones, using both wandering patterns, scale movements and quirky details as well as the occasional more dramatic impact notes. These often contrasting instruments and tones are combined in gentler, melancholic and elegant manners as well as more challenging and quirky creations. Expressive instrument details can bloom in one creation and be just about totally missing in another, while on other occasions the more accessible and the more demanding passages are nicely balanced out. The material tends to be minimalist in nature and spirit, and also when some additional instruments flesh out the arrangements a bit they tend to do so in a more subtle and unobtrusive manner. The sole exception to the above descriptions comes at the very end of this production, where the concluding composition 'Gipsy' focus more on synthesizer sounds instead of the piano as the contrasting element, and the moods and atmospheres explored on this one occasion taking on more of a cosmic vibe.

Conclusion. This is an elegant, introspective and rather intimate production, with two musicians playing off each other in what sounds pretty much like an improvised manner. Possibly and probably subject to some additional studio work prior to being pressed on a CD. Niche music for a niche audience I surmise, but the people in that niche should find this to be quite the rewarding production. If the idea of minimalist, experimental and avant-oriented music mainly performed by a piano and an electric guitar sounds interesting, this album is one that should have a good chance of being found interesting and rewarding.

Progmessor: August 2021
The Rating Room