the trio

Milan formed his trio in 2009 choosing Milan Nikolić on bass and Andjelko Stupar on drums as already established and proved rhythm section. He met Milan and Andjelko in Graz and started to work with them on his original songs, shaping his musical ideas and expressions, trying to find most intimate way to reach the listeners emotions. Their first album Awakening (Celinka, 2011) was very well received by both Slovenian jazz audience and international critics. Jerry D’ Souza from All About Jazz wrote: 

“Milan evokes intimacy of a trio to set up some evocative images on his debut CD. The pianist has his vision and his focus in clear perspective.”

On his latest CD Soundquest (Barnette Records, 2015), Milan continues to explore possibilities of a piano trio. Their journey to unique trio sound is continued through various musical forms and moods, going from rhythmical Old School through peaceful Down to Earth to meditative Quiet Mountain. Tina Lešničar, a columnist from the newspaper Delo noticed:

“Milan takes time to evolve his lyrical themes, creating multiple expressions scoping from hesitation and expectation of the unknown to hope, curiosity, determination...His voicings create a new atmosphere here, grasping the essence of emotional states in an utmost articulate way.”

This trio has performed on various festival and concert stages both at home and abroad.

the quintet

This band was formed together during the process of creation of Milan’s third album Eastern Star (Klopotec, 2020). Milan has chosen his colleagues with whom he had collaborated in the past. Also their friendship dates back to the early 2000’s. They have a lot of their original projects and recorded cd’s and they are representing leading instrumentalist on Slovenian and Serbian jazz scene. Most of them are settled in Ljubljana, except drummer Pedja Milutinović, who lives in Belgrade. This closeness enables them to work together on rehearsals more often and to create a unique band sound. That was one of the main reasons why Milan has chosen Igor Matković on trumpet, Boštjan Simon on tenor saxophone, Nikola Matošič on double bass and Predrag Milutinović on drums. 

This band has opportunity to play on some of the leading festivals in a region, 35. Belgrade Jazz Festival, Novi Sad Jazz Festival 2019, Max Jazz Fest in Velenje, Slovenia. Artistic director of Belgrade Jazz Festival, Vojislav Pantić wrote about this band and their latest album Eastern Star:

“ The Eastern Star album represents the natural evolution of Stanisavljević's artistic essence, following the trio's path through the mainstream of modern jazz, but with new wind instrument colors that give the artist space to express his arranging skills, and to cross over his playing skills with those of other soloists in the band. Eastern Star is an exciting musical trip that confirms great expertise of musicians from this region, and, in particular, Milan Stanisavljević, in all aspects of creative action. “

jadranka juras jazz quartet

JJJQ is project led by renowned Slovenian vocalist Jadranka Juras. She gained her reputation by recording two pop/soul/r’n’b albums and winning Slovenian popular song contest “Slovenska popevka” (2002). Her albums Anima (2006) and Sakura (2009) were widely accepted including radio hits like Ko bi le vedel, Drugače ne znam, Še vedno verjamem. 

Her jazz project presents carefully chosen vocal jazz repertoire. You must belive in spring, The night we called it a day, Paris (Fritz Pauer), Water Mandala (Jadranka Juras) are some of the songs that can be heard in live performance and also on her latest album called Paris Honey (2015). Most of the songs has been arranged by pianist Milan Stanisavljević. Robert Jukič on double bass and Kristijan Kranjčan on drums enrich the album by sharing their musical experiences. 

They have been performed at festivals and numerous concert stages in country and abroad: Jazz Ravne; Džjezz festival Celje; Festival Lent, Maribor; Poletje v stari Ljubljani; Festival Poleti v NUK; Jazz Kamp Kranj; KD Krško; Cvetličarna; Kino Šiška; Lokal Patriot, Novo Mesto; Poletni utrip, Piran; Alpe Adria Jazz Festival, Klagenfurt; Sally Bowles, Art Cafe Berlin...

femi temowo & milan stanisavljevic

Milan’s collaboration with Femi Temowo started in 2012 with an invitation of a friend Dominik Bagola (singer/songwriter) who joined these two musicians and helped organizing concerts across Slovenia. The idea was to present music from Femi’s first two albums Quiet Storm and Orin Meta. His music combined modern straight ahead jazz with West African rhythms and melodies coming from Femi’s African roots. Femi was born in Nigeria. Later he moved to UK (London). Early benchmarks in Femi’s career include collaboration with critically acclaimed jazz saxophonist and Hip Hop artist Soweto Kinch including nomination for the Mercury Music Prize and BBC Jazz award for best new group and several MOBO awards. Femi’s slick and melodic guitar sound has earned him a place besides many great musicians. He worked also as a music director for late, great soul singer Amy Winehouse.

Their first tour in Slovenia was successful. Musical and personal understanding between the two musicians, together with Robert Jukič on bass and Andjelko Stupar on drums, was genuine and inspiring, so they decided to continue playing together. They rearranged some of Milan’s original songs form his first album Awakening and added them to the repertoire. Milan Stanisavljević Trio feat. Femi Temowo performed a few concerts in Slovenia in 2013, including concert at Max klub Jazz Festival in Velenje.

adam & sandra klemm

Milan started to play with Adam (regular member of RTV Slovenia Big Band) in 2010. They have worked together in different formations from small jam sessions to big concert stages (Novi Sad Jazz Festival, Serbia; 22.JazzTime Festival, Rijeka, Croatia). Adam is known for his big and beautiful sound on tenor saxophone. He is also very skillful as a composer and arranger as well. He arranged cd “Nostalgija” (Celinka, 2015) for his wife and singer Sandra Klemm. For her latest project she decided to do homage to bosnian traditional folk songs known as “sevdalinka”,  as well as for some of the most popular former Yugoslavian pop songs. Žute dunje, Što te nema, Sve moje jeseni su tužne are some of the known melodies that can be heard on her latest cd.

xass

This band covers popular songs from various music genres. Original arrangements written mostly by guitarist Miha Koretič and personal music skills of acknowledged Slovenian musicians make this “party band” sounds fun and interesting for wide audience.

Aleksandra Čermelj - vocal

Lenart Krečič - t. sax

Miha Koretič - guitar

Milan Stanisavljević - keyboards

Miha Koren - bass

Janez Gabrič - drums