In the Balkans, people from the Čačak area enjoy a peculiar reputation, partly explained by Zarko Jovasevic as “folkloristic madness”: a very special form of insanity, which he recently imported to west Europe. Moving to Berlin a few years ago, Žarko Jovašević was very impressed by the creative and international music scene he found there. Being born in Čačak ,just a stone’s throw away from the legendary “Guca Trumpet Festival”, he was surrounded by the local music traditions that found a way to his heart. After relocating he decided to form a band in Berlin and started to compose his own songs based on the Balkan sound. The compositions however dwell on the musical ocean, leaving behind the borders of folkloristic traditions.

He presents his show on stage with brilliant musicians from Bulgaria, Russia, Romania, Turkey and USA, who also came to multicultural Berlin in search of compelling music projects. Being the composer and band founder, Žarko Jovašević was the godfather of the band's name “Mr Žarko”. The debut album “Electric Gypsy Disco Noise” from 2013 has surprised Balkan music lovers, as well as many fans outside that scene with energetic songs and catchy tunes, including pumping Balkan rhythms and poetic but subtle lyrics in English. In the following year the band invited well known DJ’s to produce remixes of the songs from the debut album. Versions of DJ Click, DJ Ipek, DJ Kosta Kostov and many others can be heard on the album „Electric Gypsy Disco Noise – The Remixes“, which got high recognition worldwide from DJ’s and radio shows dedicated to global beats.

Recently, the musicians dedicated themselves to the roots of Roma brass music in Southern Serbia. For the new album “Balkan Herbal Clinic”, Mr Žarko included the unique and characteristic sound of such an orchestra for some songs. Therefore the musicians including Producer Philipp Bernhardt travelled to the Serbian town of Vladičin Han, not far from Macedonia, Bulgaria and Kosovo, to record with the local Bojan Krstić Orkestar. Bojan and his virtuosos have a lot of fans in their home region as well as abroad. They won several awards in the annual competitions in famous  Guča brass competition , among them main prices like the “Golden Trumpet” in 2015 or the “Best Orchestra” on 2017.

The Vladicin Han recording sessions immediately led to an inevitable outcome. An explosive stage show with both bands playing together Mr Žarko´s compositions was born. The collaboration between the two bands turned into an exclusive show fusing 15 unique musicians on stage: MR ZARKO featuring Bojan Krstic Orkestar.

Lineup:

Murat Denizkusu (percussion)