Ibrahim "Ibrica" Jusić (born 15 December 1944) is Croatian

chanson A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any lyric-driven French song, though it most often refers to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music. The genre had origins in the monophonic s ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

, pop and

sevdalinka Sevdalinka (), also known as Sevdah music, is a traditional Musical genre, genre of folk music originating from Bosnia and Herzegovina. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sevdalinka is an integral part of the Bosniak culture, but is also spread across th ...

singer-songwriter and musician.

Early life and career beginnings

Ibrica Jusić was born as Ibrahim Jusić in the Croatian city of

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...

into a family with seven children. His parents family originates from

Mostar Mostar (, ; sr-Cyrl, Мостар, ) is a city and the administrative center of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is sit ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

and he grew up listening to

and Italian

canzone Literally "song" in Italian, a ''canzone'' (, plural: ''canzoni''; cognate with English ''to chant'') is an Italian or Provençal song or ballad. It is also used to describe a type of lyric which resembles a madrigal. Sometimes a composition w ...

music. Under the direction of his older brother Đelo Jusić (born as Đevalhudin Jusić), who was the leader of the group Dubrovački trubaduri (''Dubrovnik

Troubadours A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a ''trobairit ...

''), Ibrica learned to play the

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

. He performed acoustical music and

chansons A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any lyric-driven French song, though it most often refers to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music. The genre had origins in the monophonic so ...

all over Dubrovnik, before officially starting his professional career in 1965 in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

, after being invited by composer Pero Gotovac.

Career

His song "Celuloidni pajac" (''Celluloid Clown'') was the winner of first place in the 1968 Zagreb Festival. He won the first prize at the same festival the following two years as well: in 1969 with the song "Osobenjak" (''Eccentric'') and in 1970 with the song "Mačka" (''Cat''.) Jusić had a few more successful singles following the festival wins before moving to Paris, saying that he found Zagreb to be "too small." He lived in Paris for three years and performed in

cabarets Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or ...

, returning to Dubrovnik only during the summers, during which he held outdoors evening concerts on the steps of the Dominican Monastery. By using his summer travels to Dubrovnik he started to cooperate with Dubrovačke ljetne igre (''Dubrovnik Summer Festival'') in 1971. With the songs of composer Pero Gotovac, he sang on several of the Festival shows, one of them being

Miroslav Krleža Miroslav Krleža (; 7 July 1893 – 29 December 1981) was a Yugoslav and Croatian writer who is widely considered to be the greatest Croatian writer of the 20th century. He wrote notable works in all the literary genres, including poetry (''Ba ...

's '' Aretej''. He composed music and sang in the show ''Životopis Miha Pracata'' (''Biography of Miho Pracat'') in 1977. In the same year he recited in the Knežev dvor. In 1974, Jusić became one of the first Yugoslav singers to record songs on an

LP record The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...

on a record label

Jugoton Jugoton was the largest record label and chain record store in the former Yugoslavia based in Zagreb, SR Croatia. History Jugoton was formed in 1947. It is notable for releasing some of the most important former Yugoslav pop and rock records ...

. He was one of the first persons who did solo-concert in Lisinski Theater in 1975. In next years he sang in almost all worldwide popular places, such as the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

in New York City, the China Theatre in Stockholm. He composed music for works of writers and poets Luko Paljetak,

Dobriša Cesarić Dobriša Cesarić (; 10 January 1902 – 18 December 1980) was a Croatian poet and translator born in Požega. Cesarić is considered one of the greatest Croatian poets of the 20th century.Aleksa Šantić Aleksa Šantić ( sr-Cyrl, Алекса Шантић, (); 27 May 1868 – 2 February 1924) was a poet from Bosnia and Herzegovina. His poetry reflecting both the urban culture of the region. The most common themes of his poems are social injus ...

, Mika Antić,

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

and Drago Britvić, among others. Throughout the remaining years of the 1970s, he released several more singles, LP's and albums including ''Emina'' (1977), which featured his cover of the Bosnian

'' Emina'', written by poet

Aleksa Šantić Aleksa Šantić ( sr-Cyrl, Алекса Шантић, (); 27 May 1868 – 2 February 1924) was a poet from Bosnia and Herzegovina. His poetry reflecting both the urban culture of the region. The most common themes of his poems are social injus ...

in 1902. He released a self-titled symphony album, ''Ibrica'', on 26 February 1981. Ibrica's older brother, maestro Đelo Jusić, worked with him on the songs. The album was done in rich Mediterranean arrangements. It contained songs such as "Šalom Sara" (''Shalom Sara''), "U svakom slučaju te volim" (''In Every Case, I Love You''), "Na Stradunu" (''On the Stradun'') and others. Jusić returned to France in 1980 upon receiving an invitation by the famous French show '' Le Grand Échiquier''. He got one more invitation from the same show on Christmas Eve, but this time, the guests also were stars like

Charles Aznavour Charles Aznavour ( , ; born Shahnour Vaghinag Aznavourian, hy, Շահնուր Վաղինակ Ազնավուրեան, ; 22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018) was a French-Armenian singer, lyricist, actor and diplomat. Aznavour was known for his dist ...

and the Gold Gate Quartet. Over the following two years, he was featured in the shows of the same producer. As a result of his experiences in Paris, he recorded a French-language album ''La vie'' (''The Life'') in 1985. He spent the second half of the 1980s living in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, which inspired his 1988 album ''Hodaju ljudi'' (''People Walk''). He said it was a result of impact of his many years of residence in Sweden. Jusić returned to Croatia in 1991, just as the Croatian War was beginning and Yugoslavia was breaking up. At the end of 1993, he wrote music for "Velika magija" (''Great Magic'') in the

Gavella Drama Theatre Gavella Drama Theatre ( hr, Gradsko dramsko kazalište Gavella) is a Croatian theatre which is situated in Zagreb, in Frankopanska Street. The theatre opened on October 30, 1954 as the successor of "Helios" cinema which was founded and financed by ...

, where he played and sang. His return to domestic waters resulted in retrospective compilation issued in

Croatia Records Croatia Records is the largest major record label in Croatia, based in Zagreb ( Dubrava). Summary Croatia Records d.d. is a joint-stock company currently led by the chief executive officer Želimir Babogredac, a notable sound engineer. It releases ...

in 1994. In 1997, he entered to the newly founded

Dancing Bear A tame bear, often called a dancing bear, is a wild bear captured when young, or born and bred in captivity, and used to entertain people in streets or taverns. Dancing bears were commonplace throughout Europe and Asia from the Middle Ages to the ...

record label and published a

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...

, ''Dan prije'' (''The Day Before''.) The material was recorded live at a concert held on 24 May 1997 in ZeKaeM. The CD's name comes from the fact that the day before his concert, in the same place, the ceiling collapsed. In 2001 he recorded ''Hazarder (A Tribute to

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

)'' (''Hustler''), a

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

, with twelve translations of poems of legendary Canadian

chansonnier A chansonnier ( ca, cançoner, oc, cançonièr, Galician and pt, cancioneiro, it, canzoniere or ''canzoniéro'', es, cancionero) is a manuscript or printed book which contains a collection of chansons, or polyphonic and monophonic settings o ...

. ''Amanet'' (2003), contained all classic

songs, which Ibrica Jusić dedicated to the spiritual homeland and the country of his parents,

, by recording the new, modern arrangements of a number of beautiful Bosnian sevdalinkas. In 2004, he became the first Croatian singer who was officially invited to Switzerland's

Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annual ...

, one of the largest jazz festivals. That same year, he performed on Etno World Festival,

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. In 2008, he released ''Amanet 2'', a follow-up to his 2003 sevdalinka album. It contained 13 original Bosnian sevdalinka songs recorded in the studio Liburnia Jazz Mozart, with the sounds of the

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

virtuoso Omar Pobrica and

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

maestro Sasha Olenjuk. Jusić marked his jubilee 45 years since the start of his career in 2009. Since his music has a mixture of Italian, French, Croatian and Bosnian influences, 2009 marked a number of concerts titled ''Od Šekspira do sevdaha'' (''From

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Sevdah Sevdalinka (), also known as Sevdah music, is a traditional genre of folk music originating from Bosnia and Herzegovina. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sevdalinka is an integral part of the Bosniak culture, but is also spread across the ex-Yugoslavi ...

''.)

Discography

;

Extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

s *''Celuloidni Pajac'' (1968) ;

Singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

*''To su djeca / Človek ki ga ni'' (1969) with

Majda Sepe Majda Sepe, born Majda Bernard, (2 July 1937 – 11 April 2006) was one of the most successful and well recognized Slovenian singers in the time of Yugoslavia and was one of the most renowned singers of the Golden Age of Slovenian folk music. Bi ...

*''Još uvijek ne znam neke važne stvari / Mala kavana'' (1969) *''Mačka'' (1970) *''Nemoj ići'' (1970) *''Zašto san sritan / Leila'' (1971) *''Kutija koja pokazuje kakvo će biti vrijeme / Svi smo mi jedno...'' (1974) *''Bezimenoj / Pjesma o ruži'' (1974) *'' Emina / Na trgu ispod sata'' (1978) *''Šalom Sara / U svakom slučaju te volim'' (1980) *''Još samo ovaj put'' (2004) ;Studio albums *''Skaline od sudbine'' (1975) *''Nostromo'' (1976) *''Emina'' (1977) *''Ne dajte da vas zavedu'' (1978) *''Čovjek bez kafića'' (1980) *''Ibrica'' (1981) *''Ibrica Jusić + Pas soba 501 osoba dvije'' (1983) *''La vie'' (1985) *''Hodaju ljudi'' (1988) *''Retrospektiva'' (1994) *''Dan prije'' (1998) *''Hazarder (A Tribute to

)'' (1999) *''Amanet'' (2003) *''Kavana Mediteran'' (2006) *''Amanet 2'' (2008) ;Compilation alums *''Ibrica Jusić'' (1973)

References

Official biography of Ibrica Jusić
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jusic, Ibrica 1944 births Living people People from Dubrovnik Bosniaks of Croatia 20th-century Croatian male singers 21st-century Croatian male singers Croatian singer-songwriters