On 14 October, ticket sales for the gala concert titled The World Jazz Scene Greats for Duško Gojković – SOUL CONNECTION begin

The unique event, the RTS Big Band's New Year's concert, is an opportunity for the audience to share the most beautiful musical moments with selected guests from all over the world who, together with the Big Band of the Radio and Television of Serbia, will dedicate this special evening to Duško Gojković, the jazz great.

Secure your place starting tomorrow! Tickets on sale via Tickets.rs

At the gala concert called SOUL CONNECTION, in the Great Hall of the Kolarac Endowment, on 28 December, starting at 8 p.m., the RTS Big Band, alongside its chief conductor and trumpeter Stjepko Gut, will be joined by a special guest, the legendary American drummer Alvin Queen, top soloists, trumpeters Nemanja Jovanović and Claus Reichstaller, saxophonist Fulvio Albano, pianists Uroš Perić and Claus Reible as well as double bassist Martin Gjakonovski.    

The idea for the concert was to gather Duško Gojković's associates and friends on stage alongside the RTS Big Band, in order to once again express their respect for the great artist, playing his most important compositions and big band arrangements.

It is well known that Gojković started his professional career in jazz music as a member of the RTB Big Band, which he always emphasized in his biography. After leaving for Germany, he became a member and soloist of Kurt Edelhagen's Jazz Orchestra, one of the leading ensembles of that era, entering all important encyclopedias dedicated to jazz music ever since. During his entire career, and especially in the last fifteen years, he collaborated with the RTS Big Band with great enthusiasm, performing at numerous festivals and concerts. One of the highlights of the joint collaboration was the CD Latin Haze, which he recorded with the RTS Big Band, and it was released by PGP RTS for the Serbian market. The CD also had a worldwide release by Enja Records from Munich as well as a special release for the Japanese market.   

Duško Gojković always pointed out that Stjepko Gut was an outstanding jazz trumpet player. Their acquaintance, which dates back to the early 70s, resulted in numerous joint performances, and in an interview, Gut stated: ‘Duško is the reason why I started playing the trumpet.’

All participants of the Soul Connection concert emphasize that they are proud of their collaboration with Duško Gojković. Trumpeter Nemanja Jovanović, a former member of the RTS Big Band, played the first trumpet in the Dusko Goycovich Munich Big Band. Claus Reichstaller, the director and lecturer of the Jazz Institute at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich was Gojković's longtime collaborator, as was Claus Reible, whom Gojković said was the most beloved European pianist. Saxophonist Fulvio Albano, artistic director of Due Laghi Jazz Festival and Jazz Club Torino, often performed with him and recorded several albums, and Gojković also played as a guest on the album of vocal soloist and pianist Uroš Perić. Many recordings with the famous trumpeter were made by Martin Gjakonovski, a Macedonian double bass player, who has been living and working in Cologne for many years. Alvin Queen, the former drummer of Oscar Peterson and many other important names in jazz music, will be performing that evening as a long-time friend and collaborator of Duško Gojković, with whom he played for a time in a joint quintet and recorded many albums starting in the early seventies.

The concert was realized in cooperation with RTS Music Production, the Belgrade Festivals Centre (CEBEF) and the Duško Gojković Jazz Initiative Association.