The three instrumentalists are pulling off an effervescent and sparkling performance that casts a spell over the listener; ever open-minded, they inimitably combine the most diverse musical topics whilst drawing from the broad stock of jazz history. Playing with all kinds of styles and never forgetting their respective– Balkan – roots, they follow the composed piece as well as leaving room for artful improvisations.

The sound created by Esad Halilović and his partners is full of thrilling melodies, boldly virtuoso solos, surprise twists and breaks, unconventional experiments and electrifying build-ups. The mood pendulum swings between loud and muted, intimate and exotic, the mysterious – and outrageous nonchalance.

The trio has sparked great attention with their first album MERAK. The CD presentation was in the renowned jazz club Porgy & Bess in Vienna and subsequently they performed at some well-known jazz festivals (such as Jazz Plaza International Festival of Havana, RARA Festival in Italy, One Jazz Festival in Romania, Petrovac Jazz Fest and Jazz by Herceg Novi in Montenegro, Hongkong Jazz Festival, Beishan Jazz Festival in China…….).

 

 

Esad Halilović

Esad Halilović, born in Belgrade, Serbia, lives and works as a drummer, composer and educator in Vienna.
Leader of Dusha Connection Jazz Trio

2017 CD MERAK redPmusic
(…) With “Merak”, Esad Halilović has released an album that proves that classic jazz can sound timeless and anything but old and gray. The songs of the trio have a kick. They are filled with an unconventionally fresh wind that leaves you wanting more.

 

Urs Hager

Urs Hager was born 1996 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany) and began playing the piano at the age of six, as a student of Bulgarian pianist Venelin Filipov. Being inspired by a concert of McCoy Tyner in his hometown, where his father took him to, his love for jazz and improvisation came out, which was leading to jazz-piano and composition lessons with Leonhard Schilde in Munich to bundle his youthful energy on the keys.

In 2014 he moved to Graz (Austria) to study Jazz-Piano at Kunstuniversität Graz with German pianist Olaf Polziehn, as well as composition and arrangement with Ed Partyka and Michael Abene.