Vojislav Đonović (November 18, 1921 – January 5, 2008), nicknamed Vojkan, was a famous

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

- soloist, member of the

Belgrade Jazz Trio The Belgrade Jazz Trio () was a jazz trio founded in Belgrade, Serbia, then Yugoslavia. Its members were Milenko Stefanović - clarinet, Vojislav Đonović - guitar and Aleksandar Nećak - bass. External links * at the Second Yugoslavian Jaz ...

and Jazz Orchestra of the

Radio Belgrade Radio Belgrade (, ) is a state-owned and operated radio station in Belgrade, Serbia. It has four different programs (Radio Belgrade 1, Radio Belgrade 2, Radio Belgrade 3, and Radio Belgrade 202), a precious archive of several hundreds of thousa ...

. He was also a

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

Early life and education

Đonović was born in Belgrade into a prominent family; his father Jovan was a diplomat involved in political opposition activities prior to World War II. He grew up in the

Vračar Vračar ( sr-Cyrl, Врачар, ) is an affluent urban area and Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality of the city of Belgrade known as the location of many embassies and museums. According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has a popul ...

district and became interested in jazz after hearing Serbian guitarist Mirko Marković. A self-taught musician, Đonović received his first guitar in the late 1930s, a high-quality custom instrument made by Belgrade luthier Lajoš Bocan. He was performing in public within two years. During World War II, he served in the military. His family faced persecution under the postwar communist government after his father and brother emigrated to the United States.

Career

In 1948, Đonović was the first in Serbia to obtain an electric

guitar amplifier A guitar amplifier (or amp) is an electronic amplifier, electronic device or system that strengthens the electrical signal from a Pickup (music technology), pickup on an electric guitar, bass guitar, or acoustic guitar so that it can produce so ...

. That same year, he joined the newly formed Jazz Orchestra of Radio Belgrade under the direction of Mladen "Bubiša" Simić. He remained with the ensemble as a soloist, arranger, and composer until 1958. From 1959 to 1962, he played as a soloist with Ilija Baćko Genić’s Grand Revue Orchestra. He then retired from performance and worked as an editor at the PGP record label until his retirement in 1977. In 1998, he made a rare public appearance during the 50th anniversary concert of the Jazz Orchestra of Radio Belgrade at Kolarac Hall, performing with

Duško Gojković Duško Gojković ( sr-Cyrl, Душко Гојковић; 14 October 1931 – 5 April 2023) was a Serbian jazz trumpeter, composer, and arranger. Biography Gojković was born on 14 October 1931, in Jajce, Bosnia and Herzegovina, at the time part ...

Bora Roković Bora may refer to: Geography * Bora (Australian), the site of an initiation ceremony in Australian aboriginal culture, sometimes known as Bora rings * Bora, India, a village in Punjab, India * Borá, a city in the São Paulo state in Brazil * Bo ...

Stjepko Gut Stjepko Gut (also known as Stepko, ''Steve Gut'', born 15 December 1950 in Ruma) is a Belgrade-based jazz musician. Biography Gut studied jazz trumpet at the Swiss Jazz School in Bern, Switzerland, and at the Berklee College of Music in Boston ...

, and other jazz musicians. Đonović died in Belgrade on January 5, 2008.IN MEMORIAM
Danas, January 17, 2008

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donovic, Vojislav 1921 births 2008 deaths Serbian jazz guitarists Yugoslav musicians 20th-century guitarists Serbian composers