The Paris Balkan Quartet - A Trace of Grace (by Michel Godard)

VASKO ATANASOVSKI (Slovenia) – saxophone, flute
VASIL HADZIMANOV (Serbia) – piano, keyboard
MICHEL GODARD (France) – serpent, bass
ALEKSANDAR PETROV (North Macedonia) – tapan, drums

Recorded in Millennium Church at Timisoara Jazz Festival 2022, Romania by Ovi Novac, Radio Timisoara.

Thanks to Marius Giura

The band of internationally acknowledged musician gathered together for the first time at the Timisoara Jazz Festival 2022. They perform their own compositions in a quite unique instrumentation with saxophone, flute, piano, serpent (a medieval instrument) and tapan, percussion usually used in Balkan folk music. Three virtuous musicians are coming from the Balkan region (Slovenia, Serbia, North Macedonia) joining with the magnificent Michel Godard from Paris, France.
Vasko Atanasovski is a Slovenian composer who has a long line of original albums, last published for the New York MoonJune Records, which he recorded also with Michel Godard, Simone Zanchini, Bodek Janke and his son Ariel Vei Atanasovski. He is working in various music fields from classical, world, jazz and rock music, composes music for theatre, film, orchestras and choirs and has crossed stages with Tommy Emanuel, Hindi Zahra, Living Colour, Marc Ribot (USA), Simone Zanchini (IT), Glen Velez (USA), Bojan Z (F)… and has also worked for years with the legendary guitar player Vlatko Stefanovski.
Vasil Hadzimanov, pianist, composer, arranger and pedagogue, is an indispensable member of Serbian jazz from the end of the 20th century. He is a person bound by the genetic lineage of his ancestors, each of whom left their mark on Balkan music and cultural heritage in their own way. From the first lessons, which were given to him by Vojin Draskoci - a world-renowned bassist and composer - Hadzimanov followed his world of colours and sounds. Hadzimanov, who was educated at Berklee College of Music, returned to Serbia, where he founded the Vasil Hadzimanov Band, that has been playing around in various clubs and festivals since the early 90s.
The serpent, tuba and el. bass player, Michel Godard, hails from France. Michel has enjoyed a distinguished career: one which has seen him work with many great artists, including Kenny Wheeler, Ray Anderson, Michel Portal, Louis Sclavis, Henry Texier, Enrico Rava, Michael Riessler, Rabih Abou-Khalil and many others. Godard has also collaborated with Vasko for many years; including a performance at the 2019 Maribor Festival with the Slovenian Philharmonic String Chamber Orchestra and recording an album “Phoenix” together in 2020. He is constantly touring all major jazz festivals around the world, running his projects, composing and also promoting serpent with various workshops.
Percussionist & composer Aleksandar Petrov from Skopje, North Macedonia, graduated at CNR Paris in classical percussion, but his first choice was a traditional percussion instrument called tapan which he spontaneously started to use in new contexts by working with jazz musicians, contemporary dance and in other different settings and performances. Aleksandar Petrov composes and plays music in innovative and interesting way. He is constantly performing and recording with major musicians such as Bojan Z, G. Marais, Julien Lourau, Maxime Delpierre, Julien Charlet, Tony Kitanovski, Marcel Khalife, Vasilisa, Slonovski Bal, Krassen Lutzkanov, Jasko Ramic, Nedim Nalbantoglu, Leo Genovese and many more.