Goran Bregović on DeBaser: reviews, key works and quick facts

The Profile

Goran Bregović is a Bosnian composer, guitarist and bandleader from Sarajevo. After rising to fame with the Yugoslav rock band Bijelo Dugme, he became internationally known for film scores such as Time of the Gypsies, Arizona Dream and Underground, and for leading his Wedding and Funeral Band.

Composer for Emir Kusturica’s films; leads the Wedding and Funeral Band; collaborations include Iggy Pop, Cesária Évora, Ofra Haza, Scott Walker and Johnny Depp.

Reviews celebrate Bregović’s genre-crossing blend of Balkan brass, choirs and rock electronics, with strong nods to his film work for Kusturica. The 2006 live set is praised as a joyous, communal explosion. Ederlezi is highlighted for choral grandeur and global collaborations. Alkohol is hailed as rousing, tavern-born fun. Karmen earns compliments for its concept and energy, with a note about missing a standout anthem.

Notable Quotes

❝ Goran Bregovic, with that rogue sidelong glance, is a showman, a storyteller, a great artist.

❝ A transposition of the theatrical work that Bregovic himself and his Wedding and Funeral Band presented on stages around the world, this “Karmen” is a reinterpretation of Bizet’s opera, which only surfaces at the beginning and the end, then it’s only Balkan madness.

❝ I never imagined that under current conditions, those unfortunate countries could express a sort of Slavic Peter Gabriel, a musician of great vision capable of reworking his people's songs with skillful electronic touches, also happily merging them with the most distant music of the world.