Dragi Šestić (born 14 May 1966) is a

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

n music producer, sound engineer, director of music video clips and record label owner. In 1998 he founded the first Bosnian

World Music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

band,

Mostar Sevdah Reunion Mostar Sevdah Reunion is a world- fusion musical ensemble from Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina playing almost exclusively sevdalinka fused with contemporary musical styles. The band is composed of experienced musicians and often collaborates with ...

. He rediscovered almost forgotten Gypsy music legends from ex-Yugoslavia Šaban Bajramović and Ljiljana Buttler-Petrović and brought them into the spotlight of the international World Music scene. Dragi Sestic

Šestić was born in

Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre 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 situated on the Neretva Riv ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. He worked with the famous maqaam ( Maqam al-iraqi), star - Farida Ali from Iraq on her album Ishraqaat. His work involved many of the Balkan stars, including the Queen of Gyspies

Esma Redžepova Esma Redžepova-Teodosievska (, ; 8 August 1943 – 11 December 2016) was a Macedonian Romani vocalist, songwriter and humanitarian. She was nicknamed "the Queen of the Gypsies" per her contribution to Romani culture and music. She started t ...

Boban Marković Boban Marković ( sr-cyr, Бобан Марковић) is a Serbian trumpet player and brass ensemble leader from Vladičin Han. Work He is of Romani background. The Boban Marković Orkestar is a Balkan brass band from Vladičin Han, Southe ...

, Naat Veliov,

Amira Medunjanin Amira Medunjanin (; born 23 April 1972) is a Bosnian singer and interpreter of sevdalinka. She holds both citizenship of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Biography Medunjanin was born in Sarajevo and her fascination with the Music of Bosn ...

, Fulgerica, Ljubiša Stojanović

Louis Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also ...

, and many more. His work can be found on many World Music compilations, but most of it is on his

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

Snail Records A snail is a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have a co ...

, founded in 2002. He lives and works in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Discography as a music producer

# Mostar Sevdah Reunion: «Mostar Sevdah Reunion» (1999 – World Connection) # Mostar Sevdah Reunion presents Šaban Bajramović: «A Gypsy Legend» (2001 World Connection) # Ljiljana Buttler: «The Mother Of Gypsy Soul» (2002 Snail Records) # Fulgerica and The Mahala Gipsies: «Gypsy Music From The City Of Bucharest» (2002 World Connection) # Mostar Sevdah Reunion: «A Secret Gate» (2003 Snail Records) # Amira: «Rosa» (2004 Snail Records) # Branko Galoić: «Above The Roofs» (2005 Snail Records) # Farida: «Ishraqaat» (2005 Snail Records) # Mostar Sevdah Reunion and Ljiljana Buttler: «The Legends Of Life» (2005 Snail Records) # Mostar Sevdah Reunion and Šaban Bajramović: «Šaban» (2006 Snail Records) # Mostar Sevdah Reunion: «Cafe Sevdah» (2007 Snail Records) # Ljiljana Buttler: «Frozen Roses» (2009 Snail Records) # Sarr e Roma: «Sarayland» (2010 Snail Records) # Louis: «The Last King Of The Balkans» (2011 Snail Records) # Klezmofobia: «Kartushnik» (2012 Tiger Records) # Mostar Sevdah Reunion: «Tales From A Forgotten City» (2013 Snail Records/ World Connection) # Mostar Sevdah Reunion: «Kings Of Sevdah» (2016 Snail Records) # Klapa Reful Split: «Heart Of Dalmatia» (2017 Snail Records) # Mostar Sevdah Reunion presents Sreta: «The Balkan Autumn» (2018 Snail Records) # Marin Jerkunica: «Badija» (2019 Snail Records) # Mostar Sevdah Reunion: «Lady Sings The Balkan Blues» (2022 Snail Records) # Mostar Sevdah Reunion: «Live in Sarajevo» (2023 Snail Records) # Mostar Sevdah Reunion: «Bosa Mara» (2024 Snail Records) Mostar Sevdah Reunion and Dragi Sestic

Awards

* "Davorin" Bosnian Music Awards: Special Award 2002. * "Davorin" Bosnian Music Awards: The Best Ethno Album Of The Year 2003. (for "The Mother of Gypsy Soul: Ljiljana Buttler") * "Davorin" Bosnian Music Awards: The Best Album Of The Year 2004. *

Songlines (magazine) ''Songlines'' is a British magazine launched in 1999 that covers music from traditional and popular to contemporary and fusion, featuring artists from around the globe. ''Songlines'' is published 10 times a year and contains album reviews, artis ...

- TOP OF THE WORLD - album

''"Rosa"'' (May/June 2005. issue #30) *

- TOP OF THE WORLD - album Farida Mohammad Ali ''"Ishraqaat"'' (June 2007. issue #44) *

- TOP OF THE WORLD - album Saban Bajramovic and

''"Saban"'' (August/September 2008. issue #54) *

- TOP OF THE WORLD - album Ljiljana Buttler ''"Frozen Roses"'' (November/December 2009. issue #64) *

- TOP OF THE WORLD - album

''"Tales From A Forgotten City"'' (March 2014. issue #98) *"Transgloba World Music Charts" Best of Europe - album

''"Lady Sings The Balkan Blues"'' (Best of the 2022-2023. season) *

- TOP OF THE WORLD - album

''"Lady Sings The Balkan Blues"'' (March 2023. issue #185) *

- Mostar Sevdah Reunion - The Best Group 2024.

Films

* ''Mostar Sevdah Reunion'' by

Pjer Žalica Pjer Žalica (born 7 May 1964) is a Bosnians, Bosnian film director, screenwriter and a professor at the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo. His father Miodrag (1926–1992) was a noted dramaturgist and poet who scripted several TV movies. H ...

2000 * ''Sevdah the Bridge that Survived'' by Mira Erdevički 2005 * ''Šaban'' by Miloš Stojanović 2007 * ''Tales from a Forgotten City'' by Amir Grabus 2013 * Balkan Blues - documentary film ''Balkan Blues: Stories from Mostar'' by Lucio de Candia 2016 * Hocu kuci - Al Jazeera - Doprinos domovini 2018 * ''Sounds that made us – Klapa'' by Balázs Weyer 2023 https://m.imdb.com/title/tt32317380/?ref_=ttpl_rvi_i_1

References

External links

Dragi Šestić at DiscogsRecord label Snail RecordsOfficial website of MSRMostar Sevdah Reunion – Sluzbena stranicaHocu kuci - Al Jazeera - Doprinos domoviniBalkan Blues - documentary film
1966 births Musicians from Mostar Living people World music musicians Record producers Bosnia and Herzegovina record producers Audio engineers {{europe-band-stub