Hi Joel, I’m glad you liked Fish in Oil (and Jasna Jovićević)! I don’t think you need to know “what it’s like to be in the Serbian jazz scene” in order to write about someone’s music and understand it—the local context can be felt in the titles of songs and albums, but the music speaks for itself. In fact, I really enjoy reading someone who has no connection to the scene, because that kind of distance is healthy.
I’m probably too close to the Serbian jazz scene myself—I’ve seen some of these bands live 20 or 30 times or more, I’ve known them personally for 15–20 years, and so on. At that point, it becomes difficult to step back and hear them with fresh ears. What do they actually sound like to someone “neutral”? How good is it, really?
Part of my enjoyment also comes from watching how a Serbian band develops and grows—from those first uncertain steps toward something more fully formed. When I listen to bands from other countries, I rarely follow them from the very beginning; usually I encounter them once they’ve released an album on a bigger label, after already being active for five or ten years. And so on... it's a complex relationship :) But I do like every band and musician I've mentioned. I would never recommend Serbian band just for "patriotic reasons" if it's not to my taste.
Nikola — thank you for this. The distance point is well taken and I came to Fish in Oil with no history, no expectations, just your recommendation and fresh ears. That's probably exactly why it landed the way it did.
But your comment got me thinking. On one hand you're completely right — I listen to all sorts of music without fully understanding its cultural context and it moves me anyway. The music speaks for itself. On the other hand, I can't help wondering if having that context — the political soil, the scene, the history — might make it resonate in a deeper or different way. Not better necessarily. Just differently.
Maybe that's the next step. I'll keep following Eurojazzist.
Hi Joel, I’m glad you liked Fish in Oil (and Jasna Jovićević)! I don’t think you need to know “what it’s like to be in the Serbian jazz scene” in order to write about someone’s music and understand it—the local context can be felt in the titles of songs and albums, but the music speaks for itself. In fact, I really enjoy reading someone who has no connection to the scene, because that kind of distance is healthy.
I’m probably too close to the Serbian jazz scene myself—I’ve seen some of these bands live 20 or 30 times or more, I’ve known them personally for 15–20 years, and so on. At that point, it becomes difficult to step back and hear them with fresh ears. What do they actually sound like to someone “neutral”? How good is it, really?
Part of my enjoyment also comes from watching how a Serbian band develops and grows—from those first uncertain steps toward something more fully formed. When I listen to bands from other countries, I rarely follow them from the very beginning; usually I encounter them once they’ve released an album on a bigger label, after already being active for five or ten years. And so on... it's a complex relationship :) But I do like every band and musician I've mentioned. I would never recommend Serbian band just for "patriotic reasons" if it's not to my taste.
Nikola — thank you for this. The distance point is well taken and I came to Fish in Oil with no history, no expectations, just your recommendation and fresh ears. That's probably exactly why it landed the way it did.
But your comment got me thinking. On one hand you're completely right — I listen to all sorts of music without fully understanding its cultural context and it moves me anyway. The music speaks for itself. On the other hand, I can't help wondering if having that context — the political soil, the scene, the history — might make it resonate in a deeper or different way. Not better necessarily. Just differently.
Maybe that's the next step. I'll keep following Eurojazzist.