Goran Kuzminac
Ehi ci stai

THE REVIEW

Here's another artist unjustly forgotten by the music world. Goran Kuzminac, of Yugoslav origin, moved to Italy as a child and soon became part of the music scene, teaching himself a finger-picking guitar technique that soon led him to important connections (Francesco de Gregori, Antonello Venditti, Ron, Lucio Dalla) and to play on his colleagues' records. Highly appreciated by peers and critics for his unique instrumental style, he released his first album, indeed "Ehi ci stai", in 1980.

The album, noted for Goran's superb instrumental technique and refined vocal skills, contains several moments of absolute value that reached the general public, especially thanks to the title track, a playful and humorous attempt to woo a woman (I wonder if it ever worked?), by asking her, indeed, "Ehi, ci stai?", a song that also featured in the Festivalbar that year.
"Stasera l'aria è fresca" is a pop-rock gem of great depth, where Goran's acoustic guitar shines in all its beauty, "Margherita si sposa" is another playful and light moment, with an underlying refinement that cannot leave one indifferent, with "Marciapiedi" Kuzminac shows he can handle rock more oriented towards blues, "Tempo" is one of those songs that lovers of Italian songwriting can't do without unless they have never heard it. A sweet and sinuous piece, that goes straight to the heart and is hard to forget. The other tracks maintain a good instrumental and stylistic measure.

The following year Goran embarked on a long tour of almost a year with Ron and Ivan Graziani (with whom he wrote the track "Canzone senza inganni") and in 1982 he released "Prove di volo" (featuring his song considered the most beautiful, "Stella del nord"). Then, gradually, he detached from the significant music scene, preferring a tranquil life as an (excellent) composer of soundtracks and TV music. He retreated to Trentino and, except for some rare TV appearances in remakes ("Meteore", etc.), news of him became rare. His rare records are self-produced, and as we know, in these cases, it is difficult to get reviews and crucial pushes. One of the many ills of the Italian music industry, unfortunately.