Ustrajan, sveprisutan, glazbenik beskrajne radne energije i muzikalnosti, Vasil Hadžimanov – pijanist, skladatelj, aranžer i pedagog – nezaobilazna je i povezujuća karika srpskog jazza s kraja dvadesetog stoljeća i početka novog milenija, osobnost koja u sebi nosi obvezujući niz gena svojih predaka koji su, svaki na svoj način, obilježili glazbeni prostor Balkana u neprekinutom nizu čuvara, interpretatora i novih tumača tradicije. Nakon školovanja na Berklee College of Music, toj jedinstvenoj instituciji jazz glazbe, Hadžimanov donosi odluku da se vrati u domovinu, gdje ubrzo osniva svoj Vasil Hadžimanov Band s kojim već ranih devedesetih nastupa po klubovima i, danas kultnom, a ugašenom mjestu Plato na Filozofskom fakultetu u Beogradu.
Od prve postave (koju su, među ostalima, činili Igor Malešević, Vlada Samardžić, Goran Đorđević Sole, Branko Trijić, Bojan Ivković) pa sve do danas, ovaj Hadžimanovljev sastav prošao je kroz nekoliko zvučnih i organizacijskih transformacija, ostajući vjeran krilatici prema kojoj je svakom članu benda pružena puna podrška za samostalni izraz – bilo da je riječ o izboru repertoara ili solo nastupu.
Tijekom svoje dugogodišnje karijere, Vasil Hadžimanov Band izdao je osam albuma, od kojih su mnogi ostvarili zavidne naklade i brojne pozitivne kritike diljem svijeta, unatoč općem padu diskografske industrije u području klasične, jazz i umjetničke glazbe općenito. Osim snimanja za domaće diskografske kuće sa svojim matičnim sastavom, Hadžimanov se posvetio i izdanju tri albuma u formi trija: El Raval (2011.) i Melody Rhymes (2021.).
U Vasilovu zvuku, u kojem se jasno čita i težnja prema sjećanju na ono što je u mladosti čuo od legendarnog pijanista Joea Zawinula, ponajprije je uočljiva stalna želja za fuzijama i unošenjem inovacija koje proizlaze – kako i sam kaže – iz „korištenja balkanskih motiva na neposredan i iskren način“, izvan dotadašnjih, klišejiziranih spojeva narodne glazbe i jazz izraza.
Uz brojne koncerte i nastupe diljem prostora bivše Jugoslavije, ali i predan međunarodni angažman, Hadžimanov se bavi i skladanjem filmske glazbe za niz dokumentarnih, igranih filmova i televizijskih serija.
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A tireless and omnipresent musician of extreme capacity for work and great musicality. He is the vital link in Serbia’s jazz music of late 20th/early 21st century, a person that has inherited a binding set of genes from his predecessors, each of which have, in their own way, left a recognizable impact in the music of Balkans as a continuous sequence of guardians, interpreters and reinterpreters of tradition. Since the first lessons about jazz that he was patiently and selflessly given by the renowned double bass player and composer Vojin Drašicki, Hadžimanov has been true to his own world of unique colours and sounds. After getting jazz education at Berklee College of Music, Hadžimanov decided to return to his native country, and very soon formed his Vasil Hadžimanov Band and began performing with them in clubs the early 1990s.
The band has been through several transformations in its sound and organization since the first lineup (including Igor Malešević, Vlada Samardžić, Goran Đorđević Sole, Branko Trijić, Bojan Ivković, among others), but one thing has not changed until present day: every band member gets full support for their independent expression, either in the selection of repertoire, or in solo performance. From their first album (11 razloga za in 2001), through Can You Dig It? (2013), to Lines in Sand (2019), and to Keyf (2023), Vasil Hadžimanov has shown great sense for keeping up with modern trends, progressive sound, and successful fusion of different music styles into what we today could call world music.
Vasil Hadžmanov Band has released eight albums, many of which have seen impressive sales and numerous positive reviews from critics all over the world, and at a time of generally declining album sales in the genres of classical music and jazz. Apart from recording for local labels with his own band, Hadžimanov has also made two albums with his trio: El Raval (2011) and Melody Rhymes (2021).
When it comes to Vasil’s sound, it certainly contains a memory of what he heard as a young musician from the famous keyboardist Joe Zawinul, but his predominant tendency is striving for fusion and novelty, which has taken him to the “use of Balkan motifs in a direct and honest way”, avoiding the standard cliches of weaving traditional music into the jazz fabric.
When he is not busy giving concerts and performing across former Yugoslavia, and beyond, Hadžimanov writes music for feature and documentary films and TV series.
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