VLADO KRESLIN

“… ‘the Bob Dylan of Slovenia”, � Vlado Kreslin is a Slovenian music legend, equally beloved by all…” -Brushvox

“… Slovenia’s most beloved singer/songwriter…” –John Schneider, Performance Preview, Milwaukee

Tista črna kitara

Namesto koga roža cveti

The Passenger (with R.E.M.)

Don’t Think Twice (It’s All

Right)

Allan Taylor, Vlado,, Hans TheessinkVlado at the Cankarjev Dom

Odhaja Dan Poj mi pesem

Tista Črna Kitara Namesto koga roža cveti

"Vlado Kreslin is the Slovenian 'Bob Dylan'. He is immensely popular in Slovenia. His songs have been used as the basis for novels and films. Scott McCaughey (R.E.M.) introduced me to his music, having discovered Kreslin's music when he opened for R.E.M. this past summer in Slovenia." - Chris Eckman of The Walkabouts who have recorded their own version of Vlado's song Tista črna kitara (That Black Guitar) on their album “The Train Leaves At Eight”.

“The concerts in the Cankarjev Dom in Ljubljana were a great success – 2000 seats sold out for the three nights. This is a credit to Vlado Kreslin and shows just how popular he is. This year was the twenty year celebration of having played (and filled) the concert hall every year. It was not only fun but a privilege to play and sing with my crazy, beautiful friend.” -Allan Taylor, winner of the Grand Prix du Disque de Montreaux for the best European album for his album “The Traveller”.

"Vlado Kreslin is a singer-songwriter of nearly mythical proportions in Slovenia. Some of his songs have become such classic folk standards here, their melodies so firmly entwined with this young country's emergence, that when you hear them - at weddings, campfires, parties, in schoolrooms - it's hard to believe that they didn't always exist. But Vlado Kreslin, far from being a monument, is still writing, still exploring, still filling his homeland with incredible music..." - Erica Johnson Debeljak, Author of Forbidden Bread

"Vlado Kreslin is one of the greatest poets and singers from Eastern Europe....His gentle soul and his powerful voice became a Slovenian national treasure.....His poetry moves high intellectuals as much as ordinary people...I am simply in love with his music and his outstanding performances..." -Rade Šerbedžija, Actor and Musician

"Vlado Kreslin wrote so “Marvelous…[Kreslin provides] a magic fusion of so many Mitteleuropean motifs that put me in mind of everything from the films of Emir Kusturica to the novels of Bohumil Hrabal…[Kreslin is] of such standing that everyone who comes to central Europe, from Dylan to R.E.M., plays with him…So much great modern art and writing has risen out of the polyglot world of central Europe…I realize that Kreslin’s music is entirely of his own world, and yet enlarged that world to include anyone who wished to be a part of it.” - Richard Flanagan, Best-Selling Author of Gould’s Book of Fish

“The more I listen to [Kreslin’s CD] ‘Kreslinčice’, the more I am seriously impressed.  In ‘Tista Črna Kitara’ (the only song with which I am familiar with the English words) - it seems like a little short story from someone's early life (I presume Kreslin’s) and it rings very true because of that.  The arrangements are outstanding.  When I first hear the word "cigane" - that is when the violin first enters - in Classical music, we call that "word painting" --‘Vrikanje in Jok’ has arrangements that sound a little like a merry-go-round, and ‘Spominičic’" is like a little lullaby with the cembalom.  I've only been interested in a modern popular music a short time, but the only other song writers I know of who have such a diverse range of arrangements and sound are Paul Simon and Francis Cabrel .” – Matthew Davidson, American pianist and composer

Chris Eckman (The Walkabouts), Mike Mills, Peter Buck (R.E.M.) Vlado Vlado and Michael Stipe (R.E.M.)

Bil sem še Vladek,ko so - kot vedno za praznik -prišlibrkati cigani v hišo igrat.Oče je stopil v sobo po tisto črno kitaro,ki jo je kupilza prvo plačo.

Gospod tisto kitaro še imate,gospod, tisto črno kitaro še imate?Gospod, tista bila je res dobra.

So ga spraševališe dolgo po tem,zmeraj, ko hoteli so prositi drobiž.Zmeraj, ko igrali so v vaški gostilniin hodili v pavzah do šanka.Pa njihove žene,ko prišle so pred vratapo stare obleke,so rade vprašale:

Gospod, tisto kitaro še imate,gospod, tisto črno kitaro še imate?Gospod, tista bila je res dobra.

Včasih, ko pridem domov,sedim pod kostanjiin pijem,pijem s prijat'li,ki tam še živijo.Takrat, skoraj vednopri miziza nas zaigrajoin vprašajo,otroški obrazis hripavim glasom:

Gospoud, tisto gitaro šče mate,gospoud, tisto čarno gitaro šče mate?Gospoud, tista je bijla dobra,tista je bijla dobra.

At every feastIn those early days of youth, Our home resounded with songPlayed by the mustachioed Gypsies. My father too swept the strings of that black

guitar,The one he had boughtWith his first wages.

Do you still have that guitar, Sir?Sir, do you still play that black guitar?That, sir, was the greatest of all.

Years on, When they would pass and reach out for a coin

or two,They'd ask him about the guitar.Years on, as they stole away to the bar,Far from their resting instruments,Which enchanted the guests through the

night.Their women too, As they knocked on our door,To plead for our garments, tattered and worn,Would ask, eyes gleaming:

Do you still have that guitar, Sir?Sir, do you still play that black guitar?That, sir, was the greatest of all.

Once in a while, when back at my home,

I empty a few glasses, Embraced by the shade of our chestnut tree, I drink with my friends, Whose lives are still bound to that land. Then, strings by the table, the Gypsies would never miss a chance to play up the crowd, and ask once again, with their childish eyes and voices deep and

coarse:

Do you still have that guitar, Sir?Sir, do you still play that black guitar?That, sir, was the greatest of all, Indeed, the greatest of all.

Vlado and Allan TaylorVlado in Prekmurje, 1989

Kakšno noč, ko pri štorkljah prespimpod visečo meglotiho, sam, med njimi stojimle noge nad vodo.

Ko pa žarek pregrize temo,prebudimo se iz sanj,močvirje novih željabo odletelo v nebo.

Namesto koga roža cveti,namesto koga sem jaz,katera koža najbolj diši,čigava pesem rabi moj glas?

Če pa trava nad mojo zemljobo pognala kak cvet,enim tiho kapljo v oko,drugim dal bo med.

Namesto koga roža cveti,namesto koga sem jaz,katera koža najbolj diši,čigava pesem rabi moj glas?

On a night when I share the vast skies with the storks,

Beneath the floating screen of haze, Alone and silent, I mingle with them, Feet upon the rain-scented grass.

As the first sunbeam eats through the dark,

We are drawn from the pool of our dreams,

And new desires, once tied to the sheltering moor,

Now vanish, as they sail into the heavenly blue.

Instead of whom does the flower bloom, Instead of whose does my heart pound, What skin smells sweetest of all, And what song needs my voice to strike

the stars.

Should the grasses bloom above me, Some eyes will melt in tears, While others will see only a flower.

Instead of whom does the flower bloom, Instead of whose does my heart pound, What skin smells sweetest of all, And what song calls for my voice.

Vlado and Hans Theessink

Vlado 2010

Warm, personable, relaxed... Vlado Kreslin is Slovenia’s most beloved and renowned musician. Drawing on his folk and ethnic heritage for inspiration, he occupies a unique place in the Slovenian music scene. Folk, blues, pop, jazz-- he does it all, and with his guitar and his honey-graveled voice he draws listeners into his romantic and strangely familiar world.

 Considered an ethno-revivalist for his modernization of Slovenian folk songs, Kreslin’s annual concerts at Cankar Hall in Ljubljana are a traditional event in the city's cultural calendar. He’s performed worldwide, including shows in Adelaide, Australia; Barcelona, Spain; and New York City, shared the stage with R.E.M., the Dubliners, Allan Taylor, Hans Theessink, Vlatko Stefanovski, and the Walkabouts, and has opened for R.E.M., Rory Gallagher, and Bob Dylan. In addition to performing songs in Slovenian, Kreslin's repertoire also includes songs sung in English, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, Italian, and Judaeo-Spanish as well as folk songs sung in the various dialects of Slovenia, including his mother tongue from Prekmurje.

 Kreslin’s songs and poems have been the basis for books and films, most notably Namesto Koga Roža Cveti, which inspired Feri Laišček's award winning book of the same name and in turn was the basis for the movie Halgato. He has also been an actor in several movies, including Halgato and Slavic Angel, and the play Three Other Sisters in Milwaukee, WS.

 In 2009 Kreslin was honored by Yale University at a Master's Tea where he was awarded the honorary title of Quincey Porter Fellow. His poems have been published in Poetry in Translation and Confrontation, and in 2012 Guernica Editions will publish his book of poems, Instead of Whom Does the Flower Bloom.

Iztok Cergol, Vlado, and Štefan Banko

Vlado, Cankarjev Dom, Ljubljana, December 2011

Twenty years and fifty concerts at the Cankarjev Dom

Kreslin’s music is nearest in style to Bruce Springsteen, a mixture of thoughtful folk music, multi-instrumental rock, and traditional folk tunes borrowing styles and influences from throughout the former Yugoslavia. This made something of a political statement after the war in Sarajevo, when Kreslin performed one of the earliest post-war concerts, and overtly called for unity by bringing together musicians from rival ethnic groups to perform one another’s folk ballads. Kreslin’s lyrics are evocative and intelligent, and he politicizes without being overtly political. He uses music to unify politically, and his songs bridge generations—teenagers know his oeuvre as well as their parents do.

Every December, Kreslin and his band (he performs with a traditional octogenarian band, Beltinska Banda, as well as a band of thirty-somethings, Mali Bogovi, the Little Gods, on the same stage) perform a series of three sold-out concerts at Cankarjev Dom, the main cultural center of Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana. My wife (she’s Slovene) and I have attended many of these concerts (and full disclosure, Kreslin is a friend of ours, and my wife is the translator of his soon-to-be-released poetry collection), including the climactic concert this past Wednesday.

Attending one of Kreslin’s concerts is something to add to your life’s to-do list.

There is a charisma, a calm channeled passion, to truly great performers, be they stage actors, movie stars, rhetoricians, or musicians. It combines an absolute comfort with the material, with an un-teachable aura that surrounds the performer and spreads out to the audience. I’ve seen it on stage with great actors like Michael Gambon and John Hurt. They step on stage and the theater quivers. Kreslin has a similar presence and his riotous, moving three-hour concerts harness that energy.

A woman from Dallas, Texas once stumbled across Kreslin’s music and, not understanding a word, was nevertheless mesmerized. She booked a flight to Slovenia to attend a concert, but the concert was suddenly cancelled. She contacted Kreslin and he arranged for her and her husband to dine at his home, where he gave them a free, impromptu private concert in lieu of the cancelled gig. She’s now writing Kreslin’s biography. Hard to imagine Bruce Springsteen inviting a Slovenian fan to his house for dinner and a private concert if a big gig were cancelled—that says nothing negative about The Boss, but it does speak well of Kreslin. If he can so inspire a Texan on first listen that she hops on a plane and decides to pen his biography, then surely he’s worth a listen.

Vlado Kreslin is Slovenia’s most popular folk-rock musician. While that might sound for a moment like calling someone the biggest star in Litchfield County, Connecticut, the fact that Kreslin is from a tiny central-European nation of two million tucked between Venice, Vienna, and Zagreb has not impeded his popularity, over decades, throughout the Balkans and at an international scale. Kreslin has over a dozen albums to his name, and is a well-respected published poet (a collection of his poetry will be published in English for the first time by Guernica Editions in 2012). The great poet Charles Simic wrote admiringly in The New York Review of Books of Kreslin’s performances during a recent poetry festival in Bosnia that they both attended. He was made an honorary fellow at Yale University in 2009. Michael Stipe of R.E.M. was pleased to share a stage with Kreslin, who has also performed several times with Bob Dylan. The fact that he has achieved such acclaim while based in a little-known country is that much more impressive.`

The Secret History of ArtNoah Charney on Art Crimes and Art Historical MysteriesDecember 16, 2011, 5:10 am

The Greatest Rock Star You’ve Never Heard Of: Vlado Kreslin

CONCERTS 2012

Contact information:

Izletniška 13, Ljubljana 1231 SloveniaT: +386.1.5616.730F: +386.1.5612.098zalozba@kreslin.comwww.vladokreslin.com

Photo credits: Polona Eržen, Sonja Garnitschnig,

Miro Majcen, Egon Kaše, Gašper Furman, Nejc Höstl,

Aleš Rosa

januar 1. januar ob 17.15 - TV Slovenija, 1. program - Tista črna kitara, posnetek koncerta (75 minut) - Cankarjev dom, 13.12.2011 7. januar - Sobotna noč, TV Slovenija, 1. program - Tista črna kitara, celotni posnetek koncerta - Cankarjev dom, 13.12.2011 17. januar ob 18. uri - Slovenj Gradec - Knjigarna Mladinske knjige, Pesmarica - predstavitev knjige 18. januar ob 18. uri - Celje - Knjigarna Mladinske knjige - Pesmarica - predstavitev knjige 19. januar ob 18. uri - Maribor - Knjigarna Mladinske knjige - Pesmarica - predstavitev knjige 26. januar ob 19. uri - Koper - Knjigarna Mladinske knjige - Pesmarica - predstavitev knjige 27. januar ob 22. uri - Tvornica, Zagreb- Mary Coughlan &Vlado Kreslin - prenos v živo februar 11.februar - Ptuj - Vlado Kreslin in Mali bogovi 21.februar - Cerkev Sv. Cirila (St.Cyril's Roman Catholic Church, 62 St. Mark's Place), New York NY, USA-Vlado Kreslin - POJEZIJE marec 9.marec - Ljutomer - Vlado Kreslin, Mali bogovi in Beltinška banda 10.marec - Kranjska gora - Vlado Kreslin in Mali bogovi 7.marec - Leipzig(Nemčija),UT Connewitz - Vlado Kreslin junij 8.junij - Križevci pri Ljutomeru - Vlado Kreslin in Mali bogovi julij 1.julij - Lent, Maribor, Veliki oder - Vlado Kreslin, Mali bogovi in Beltinška banda avgust 28.avgust - Križanke (Festival Ljubljana), Ljubljana - Vlado Kreslin, Mali bogovi in Beltinška banda oktober 5.oktober - Drama SNG Maribor, Three Other Sisters-Theatre Gigante, Milwaukee, USA-gledališka predstava, Vlado Kreslin vloga mornarja in glasba

Vlado, Cankarjev Dom, Ljubljana, December 2011

Hvala lepa – - Thank you very much