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Radovan Jovićević ( sr-Cyrl, Радован Јовићевић) is a
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hung ...
n pop-rock/ folk music composer, producer and band leader. Born in Belgrade on 31 January 1956, he has lived in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
since 1999.


Balkan Years

Radovan’s career began at the end of the seventies, when he established Zana, the first
Balkan The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
band that successfully combined new wave sound with commercial pop. Helped by keyboardist Zoran Živanović, singer Zana Nimani (his high school girlfriend) and Marina Tucaković (the most successful lyricist in Yugoslav pop/folk music), Radovan paved the way of commercial success for many other young new wave bands in
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...
. Although Zana’s first album ''Loše vesti uz rege za pivsku flašu'' was experimental with sound, the second, ''Dodirni mi kolena'', was pop-oriented and sold in over 500,000 copies. Songs from this album are still being covered by contemporary pop-rock bands in the Balkans. Their third album ''Natrag na voz'' was another success thanks to the song that topped the charts – "Jabuke i vino": a duo by Zana Nimani and Željko Bebek (singer of
Bijelo dugme Bijelo Dugme (trans. ''White Button'') was a Yugoslav rock band, formed in Sarajevo, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1974. Bijelo Dugme is widely considered to have been the most popular band ever to exist in the former Socialist Federal Republic ...
). After Zana Nimani left the band for a solo career in the mid-eighties, Jovićević and Živanović changed a few female singers, but continued in the same musical directions, adding Balkan ethno elements to their songs. In "Vejte snegovi" (1987) they collaborated with a legendary folk clarinetist, Boki Milošević. As a multi-talented artist, together with music composing/producing, Jovićević got involved in the production of Zana’s music videos. He also composed for the most popular Serbian folk singers and had top chart hits.


New York Years

Distracted by the Yugoslav political/economic crisis in the nineties and challenged by his international career Jovićević, his wife Gordana, and their son, Nikola, left for
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
in 1999. His American career started in the field of
computer animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images ( moving images), while computer animation re ...
/
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further developing into a movie soundtrack production. Until then, he had composed music for ''Bought and Sold'' (2003), ''The Meeting'' (2005), ''Recalled'' (2006), ''
And Then Came Love ''And Then Came Love'' is a 2007 romantic comedy film directed by Richard Schenkman. It premiered at the Urban Film Series Festival in Washington, D.C. in June 2007, with a limited theatrical release in Ridgewood, New Jersey beginning in that sam ...
'' (2007). Working in the movie industry, in 2005 he met actor/musician Manu Narayan. Realizing that they share similar musical ideas, Jovićević and Narayan formed the du
Darunam
and soon after published CD ''All That’s Beautiful Must Die'' (2007). Darunam’s music can be defined as a blend of modern pop sounds and world beats. In their 2010 studio release, Jovićević and Narayan joined forces with Serbian/
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
clarinet virtuoso Milan Milošević on the world music/theatrical project ''The Last Angel on Earth''. Created mostly in
cyberspace Cyberspace is a concept describing a widespread interconnected digital technology. "The expression dates back from the first decade of the diffusion of the internet. It refers to the online world as a world 'apart', as distinct from everyday re ...
from different sides of the continent (Milošević lives in
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...
), songs are inspired by/dedicated to angels and deities originated from the world’s major religions. In a year-long creative process, Jovićević draw skeletons for the
eclectic music In music theory and music criticism, eclecticism refers to the use of diverse styles, either distinct from the background of an artist using them, or from culturally bygone eras and movements. The term can be used to describe the music of composers ...
al pieces in his NYC studio, while Milošević and Narayan have given them wings by sending their sound parts through the Internet.. Currently, Jovicevic is working with Narayan and Playwright
Aditi Kapil Aditi Brennan Kapil is an American playwright and screenwriter. Kapil has had plays commissioned from Yale Repertory Theatre (''Imogen Says Nothing''), La Jolla Playhouse (''Brahman/i''), South Coast Repertory Theatre (''Orange''), Mixed Bloo ...
on a new theatre project with music. The collaborators were selected and took part in the June 201
Berkeley Repertory Theatre's
GroundFloor Writer's Retreat.


References


See also

* Popular music in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia {{DEFAULTSORT:Jovicevic, Radovan Living people 1956 births Serbian composers Musicians from Belgrade Serbian emigrants to the United States