Zavrzlama

Divanhana are a fine Bosnian sevdah band that have been in existence for more than a decade. Well-known at home and in former Yugoslavia but, despite releases on ARC Music and Kalan Muzik, they not as known as they should be elsewhere, which is why they were one of the bands picked by MOST Music and featured on the November 2020 issue’s (#162) bonus CD.

This is their sixth album, but they’re working with the young female singer Šejla Grgić – good luck radio presenters – for the first time. She’s a real asset, but so are the arrangements of original and existing songs from a variety of composers. A real highlight is ‘Peno’, by the late Šaban Bajramović, one of Yugoslavia’s larger than life Roma composers. More surprising is the sassy Latin style of ‘Opa, Opa’, by Serbian composer Radivoje Radivojević with Cuban-style piano and horns. And then there’s the beautiful original song ‘Voće Rodilo’ by piano player Neven Tunjić, which features superb Balkan accordion playing by Nedžad Mušović. Definitely one of the best sevdah albums in years.