Dunja Knebl (born 1946,

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

) is an acoustic

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and ethno music singer/performer and translator from

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. Knebl was born in

, SFR Yugoslavia and lived in

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, Belgrade, Karlovac, but has also lived in

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and Jakarta. After completing her studies of English and Russian she spent most of her life working as a translator and language teacher, in her free time she sang folk songs to her friends. She began performing professionally in 1993, and released her first solo album in 1994, an MC with 12 songs collected by Florijan Andrašec, one of the people she mentions as having a great influence on her music. In 1997 she was nominated for the music award Porin, the Croatian equivalent of a Grammy, in the Best singer category. she released eleven albums and appeared on five other compilations. The majority of the songs she sings are from Croatia (especially from the region Međimurje), but also from the

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, Macedonia and

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. She is quoted as saying that her greatest achievement is the inclusion of her album ''Iz globline srca'' in the London-based ''A Rough Guide to World Music'' where she is recommended as an introduction to ethno-music from Croatia. Additionally, she translated several Croatian cook-books into English, and the biographical monodrama ''Why I became a singer at the age of 47 or the fear of cloning'' was performed by the singer over two dozen times since 1997. Knebl is most noted for her crystal-clear voice and very simple music arrangements, often only with improvised instruments or even without any. The songs she sings are slow, mellow and often sad and melancholic. Most of all she likes to record songs she has never heard. Recent collaboration with Roko Margeta for '''Svilarica Svilu Prede with songs from

Slavonia Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baran ...

was featured on Transglobal World Music Chart for January 2021. Album ''Songbook Songs'' was in top 20 of Balkan World Music Chart 2021, and reviewed by Marija Vitas of World Music Association of Serbia as: '''... impressive album, with each song approached differently, with a lot of care and sense for detail. In the same time,the whole concept is crystal clear, and exceptionally coherent as a whole.

Discography

#Čuješ, golob, čuješ (MC, 1994) #...Jer bez tebe nema mene (CD/MC, 1996) #Croatian folk songs from Međimurje (MC, 1998) #Iz globline srca (CD/MC, 1998) #Četiri frtalji (CD/MC, 2000) #Da sam barem guska (CD/MC, 2002) #Polje široko, nebo visoko (CD/MC, 2005) #Kite i kitice (CD/MC, 2007) #Dođe Božić oj, koledo! (CD/MC, 2008) #Spevala mi papiga (CD/MC, 2009) #Jelen pase (2010) #33 balade (3x CD, 2019) with Hrvoje Nikšić #Tamo gori (2020) #Svilarica svilu prede (2019) with Roko Margeta #Songbook Songs/Pjesme iz knjiga-pjesmarica (2020) with Roko Margeta

References

External links

Official web siteBandcamp profileYouTube channelMyspace profile2005 interview for DOP Magazine2007 article: Dunja Knebl, knigt of Croatian traditional music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knebl, Dunja 20th-century Croatian women singers 1946 births Living people Musicians from Zagreb Croatian folk musicians 21st-century Croatian women singers