Goran and I followed up yesterday by visiting the pazar (open market) and carsija (pedestrian street with closed shops). First we stopped off at the Gievski instrument shop, where we rendevoused wit Bajsa. Dimitar Gievski was working there, and had several tamburas hanging on his walls. I have referred many folks to his shop, not that he knew me or anything. So, I took a picture, and it was nice to finally see the shop.
Next we went to a cafe and had a meeting with Bajsa to discuss the possibility of her being part of a tour with the Alackis, Stefce, and Dragi. I had already talked to her about this in Berovo, and this was more discussion. We shall see where this all leads.
Zeljo joined us at noon. He had wanted me to come to his home for lunch, but circumstances precluded this, unfortunately. There was also still some confusion on his part about details with his CD. My guess is that his business model is very different than mine, and that no matter how clear the contract, or Goran and Bajsa’s conversations with him have been, this model, and his own experiences with others in the past have led to difficulties. I hope they will get cleared up eventually. I especially hope that I can at some point break even on his CD expenses, so that I can start giving him payment. Hey, you can help!
http://www.izvormusic.com/cds/zeljocds.html
We said goodbye to Zeljo, and then walked around. The market was definitely alive, with the pazar being quite crowded and more old world feeling. Muslim women with scarves and coats looked over gaudy jewelry in packs, or examined the most outrageous spike-heeled, green plastic shoes. I eventually found what I was looking for, something for Sandra.
Back home to a long afternoon of just taking it easy, catching up on mail and news, with a lunch of Adrijana’s delicious pindzur. Goran had a business meeting, and afterward, we went to see Gorgi. He’s a little fried with his new kid (now 5 days old) and his other son’s jealousy and behavior issues, but we managed to chat anyway. More on their CD. It’s a fusion of Gorgi’s electronic ideas and folk themes They test ran it a few weeks ago, and told me it was well-received. I don’t know how American audiences would respond, but we hammered out some ideas for me not to have to pay anything but distribute it. Since the National Bank of David is in receivership, this is the only way I can really help out at the moment.
Before we left, I heard a singer from Croatia named Severina (?) giving a rendition of her latest Roma-influenced hit. She apparently decided to give her career a boost by appearing in a 1-minute porn film. The clip has been downloaded zillions of times, and there she was on the radio, so I guess it worked. I’ll have to work on a different option…
