Vesna Pisarović Bridges Sevdah And Jazz With Soulful New Album “Poravna”

Renowned Croatian singer and composer Vesna Pisarović returns this spring with a heartfelt gift to herself and her audience — an album that reimagines the traditional Bosnian genre sevdah through the lens of jazz improvisation. Titled Poravna, the upcoming release is previewed with the hauntingly beautiful lead single “Pokraj Save bagrem drvo raste.”

A dream long in the making, Poravna is a deeply personal and poetic work consisting of 11 songs, all belonging to a lesser-known subgenre of sevdah known as “poravna” — long-breathed, rhythmically repetitive songs passed down through generations. Inspired by 1960s field recordings of ethnomusicologist Vladimir Milošević, Vesna was struck by the hypnotic melodies, evoking both the East and the West. “Some performances reminded me of Billie Holiday,” she recalls, “and that’s when the idea of combining jazz with sevdah was born.”

This genre-defying album brings together a group of internationally acclaimed musicians from Berlin and Paris, including trumpeter Axel Dörner, percussionist Tony Buck (The Necks), bassist Greg Cohen, and guitarist Noël Akchoté. Recorded live over two studio sessions in Berlin and Zagreb — interrupted only by the global pandemic — Poravna captures spontaneous improvisation guided solely by Vesna’s emotive vocals and sparse poetic direction.

“This project would not have been possible without the support of Vedran Meniga, PDV Records, and the cultural backing from Berlin,” says Vesna. “I’m especially happy that Poravna will be released on vinyl, allowing the sound to fully shine. It will resonate with jazz lovers, audiophiles, and fans of traditional sevdah alike.”

Mixing and mastering was handled by Adrian von Ripka, with recording engineers Tobias Obert and Luka Čabo, while the album’s visual identity was shaped by illustrators Ana Kuzmanić and Ana Labudović. With its rich musical textures and emotive depth, Poravna is not only an homage to tradition but a daring step forward — dreamlike, melancholic, and defiantly avant-garde.

Vesna Pisarović’s Poravna offers a soulful meeting point between sevdah and jazz, inviting listeners from both worlds to explore the emotional resonance of a sound that is timeless, yet freshly reimagined.