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Numerous collaborations - a rich collection
of the musical expressions
Through her numerous collaborations over the years,
accepting the new challenges, sometimes intrigued by the "Can I do
it?" thought - Josipa often comes in contact with the different musical
idioms. Her performance of sevdalinka songs (which is a special kind of
folk song, typical for the Muslim culture of Bosnia and Hercegovina),
"Omer beze" and "Niz polje idu, babo, sejmeni" (approximately
translated as: "Down the field, oh father, the bill are coming",
'sejmeni' being the Turkish slang word for 'police'), recorded with Ratomir
Petkovic's ensemble in Sarajevo, 1974, are well remembered until today.
During the 80-is she collaborated with the popular Serbian singer Bajaga
on the song "Mislim 300 na sat" ("I'm thinking 300 [kilometers]
per hour"). In the 90-is by joining forces with a young talented
artist Dino Dvornik she touches funky ("Rusila sam mostove od sna"
["I've been demolishing bridges made of dreams"]). Cooperation
with the group Boa results with a hit song "Kao mir" ("Like
the peace"). In 1997 we see her on the concert of the popular Croatian
rock band Prljavo Kazaliste("Dirty theatre"), with Mel Gaynor
on the drums, the symphonic orchestra and the choir of the Croatian National
Television, again conducted by maestro Kuljeric, singing "Dodji sada,
Gospode" ("Come to us now, oh, Lord"). Working together
with the Croatian Cubismo group on the remake of her song "Na, na,
na", she danced in the rhythm of salsa.
In the second part of the 90-is, through several performances of the
traditional folk songs, Josipa shows her capability to sail through the
etno waters with no trouble. We must therefore mention her interpretations
of the songs - "Vrbnice nad morem" ("The town of Vrbnik
above the sea"), (1995, accompanied by the chorus of the Croatian
National Television), after that "Vila Velebita" ("The
fairy of Velebit mountain"), (1996, on the first etno festival in
Neum, Bosnia and Hercegovina), and "Oj soncece" ("Oh, the
sunshine"), (1998, The autumn of Vinkovci town festival). Perhaps
it is not all that awkward to hear Josipa sing "Oj soncece"
or "Vehni, vehni fijolica" ("Wither, wither, oh, flower"),
both on the dialect of Medjimurje, which is one of Croatian parts. But
one would certainly not expect her in a Dalmatian song. Yet in 1999, in
"Lisinski" concert hall she joined the Croatian singer Tedi
Spalato in a freshly made remake of "Dalmatino, poviscu protrujena"
(approximately, "Dalmatia, crushed down with history").
The year 2001 brought us Josipa's first collaboration
with the Croatian jazz artist Elvis Stanic, who wrote the music and orchestrations
for the song "Paucina" ("The cobweb"), which they
both performed on Melodije Istre i Kvarnera ("The melodies of Istria
and Kvarner festival). "Paucina" was weaved with the sound of
jazz and mixed with the threads of Chakavian (that is, the one typical
for the southern part of Croatia) dialect and the Istrian key.
Josipa returned to Dalmatian melodies once again,
on the concert-tribute to maestro Dinko Fio ("Lisinski" concert
hall, 2004), her teacher in the days she spent in the children's choir,
by joining klapa (that is, a choral group, typical for Dalmatia, which
is the southern part of Croatia) "Nostalgija" ("Nostalgia")
in a song "Kanela cvite mili moj". Only a few days afterwards
on the big concert of Cubismo group in the same concert hall, we are greeted
by a new surprise - as an encore, we hear her sing the classical gypsy
song "Djelem, djelem", in a duet with a famous gypsy singer
Saban Bajramovic. Back in 1992 she recorded a full Christmas carol album,
called "Cestit Bozic" ("Merry Christmas"), together
with the choir "Ivan Goran Kovacic", maestro Sasa Britvic and
the organ virtuoso Mario Penzar, only to be found singing a song called
"Ritam grada" ("The rhythm of the town"), in late
June 2005 in Zagreb, with a Croatian rapper Marin Ivanovic Stoka. Only
a week later, we see her in Opatija, on the fifth Libutrnia Jazz festival,
as a guest to Elvis Stanic. Instead of expected jazz, the audience enjoyed
the sound of fado - Elvis with an accordion and Josipa singing in French
"La passion c'est trop court terme" ("The passion lasts
too short"). That should not be a surprise. That is Josipa. And funky,
rock, classical music, pop, singing with klapa or Christmas carols, etno
and fado songs - all this is music. And as Josipa would say - Music either
is or it is not.
Josipa returned to the rap territory after a year and a half, in December 2006, when she shone with another young aspiring artist of the Croatian rap, Shorty, in Croatian National Theatre's VIP Christmas concert, where they gave an inspiring remake to the traditional Christmas song "Kyrie Eleison". At the same time one must note yet another distinctive collaboration; this time with an international mark. On the concert of the Australian guitar virtuoso Tommy Emmanuel Josipa appeared as a special guest, with two classic songs: "Over the rainbow" and John Lennon's "Imagine".
  
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