What a fascinating project this is. Damir Imamović is a world-renowned master of sevdah music, a form of traditional folk music from Bosnia and Herzigova. The genre blends Eastern influences from the Ottoman Empire with traditional Slavic and European melodies and is recognised as a style that evokes a sense of longing, sorrow and perseverance. Imamović was born in Sarajevo into an iconic family of Sevdah players and has since become a master of the art. For his first recording on the American label Smithsonian Folkways, Imamović has again teamed up with legendary producer Joe Boyd and Balkan music expert Andrea Goertler, who he first worked with on his acclaimed 2020 album Singer of Tales.
If all of this wasn’t juicy enough, The World and all that it Holds is a collaboration and concept album of sorts, with the music being created to exist alongside Aleksander Hemon’s magnificent, globe-trotting novel of the same name. Hemon’s book begins during the First World War and focuses on the same-sex love between a Muslim and a Sephardic Jew. A tender and sweeping work full of humour, love and loss, Imamović’s rich music is a perfect fit for the novel, and for this album, he brings together original material, Sephardic songs and sevdah classics in such a way as to make a set that shifts from mournful and slow, to high in energy, with violin lines to die for.
The set-up is quite straightforward, with Damir providing vocals and switching between tar (a waisted four-string Persian lute) and tambur (a plucked Turkish instrument). Joining him for the most part is Croatian percussionist Nenad Kovačić, Bosnian violinist Ivana Đurić and Serbian bassist Ivan Mihajlović. The band wastes no time before digging into the material and embellishing the songs, with Ivan’s bass notes prominent from the first bars of opener Sinoć (Last Night). An original piece from Damir, the intro to this is a thing of beauty, with slinky bass notes blending with the high-plucked tar to wonderful effect. Nenad’s drumming here is deliberately sparse, working with the other two instruments to allow space into a reflective tale of sorrow.
Not for the last time on the album, the introduction of Ivana’s spellbinding violin playing, coming in between verses and giving the song the dynamic of a virtuosic instrumental piece, very nearly steals the show. It’s an early indication of the skill of the players and their ability to blend so well together. Bejturan (Wormwood) is an immediately jolly piece, with a solid bass line that is happy to sit back, and more rhythmic violin and tar parts that frame a traditional Bosnian song focused on an epic hero and his journey to achieve the perfect poravne (a pre-sevdah singing style) technique.
Damir strips the sound right back for songs like Teško Je Ljubit Tajno (It’s Hard to Love in Secret), a Serbian sevdah piece written as an ode to hidden love. For this one, Damir picks up the Turkish tambur, an instrument that has a lower, more guitar-like sound than the highly strung tar. This decision immediately gives the song a more melancholy air, which Damir’s drawn-out, mournful vocal emphasises. Ivana’s violin brings a wonderful sense of sombre beauty to the piece, with notes that begin in the lower register and then gently soar before dropping behind the vocal. In a similar vein is Damir’s original Osmane, a piece written directly for the characters in Hemon’s novel. Starting with a slow percussion line, Damir’s tambur then joins with a skeletal, melodic part before the bass notes bolster the vocals. It’s simplicity itself, but the arrangement, with minimal violin bows arriving later, frames the song perfectly.
The World and all that it Holds is quite a mesmerising album, chock full of sonic riches and subtle nuances while adhering to a simple, primarily three-piece band set-up. When the arrangements shift slightly, the result can also be quite joyous: Mustafa Šantić’s accordion on Harmoniko, joined by only Damir’s vocal, is beautiful, as is his clarinet playing on final track Koliko Je Širom Svijeta (As Vast as the World). Like on Harmoniko, the only other player here is Damir, although, on this one, he brings in the sweet tambur to accompany a gorgeous and sorrowful sevdah standard that has been passed through generations of Imamovićs. Beautiful, crystal clear, unpretentious and direct, this set is a triumph and will delight on many levels. Wonderful, multicultural music that is performed with the utmost skill and soul.
The World and All That It Holds is out May 19 on CD + digital and is available to pre-order now. Vinyl is also available to pre-order, shipping this fall.
There are two UK Concert Premieres – May 21st in London’s Milton Court Barbican Centre and in Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts in Brighton on May 22nd. Details on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/damirimamovic