Boban Markovic Orkestar

Serbian bandleader Boban Markovic is perhaps the Balkans' finest musical ambassador, expressing the many moods of a region that has seen its share of troubles. He can make his flugelhorn horn purr, scream or do just about anything in between, from the bluest melancholy to joyous abandon. With his horn-heavy Boban Makovic Orkestar, he successfully preserves Balkan brass traditions, while giving old familiar pieces a funky new edge that's hard to resist.

As a trumpeter, Markovic's precision and technique are flawless but never so perfect as to lack feeling. And the man has done his homework: He's versed in the Turkish military brass traditions that are the root of Balkan brass, and he can play in, out and around the confines of an arrangement like a jazzman. Plus, he knows how to bring out the best in others, having teamed up with such notables as Klezmatics horn blower Frank London and violin virtuoso Felix Lajko, a fellow Serb. The Balkans' Roma vibe is clearly present in Markovic's music, as are echoes of the ethnicities and religions that have both clashed and peacefully coexisted in the region. Markovic's playing figured heavily into the soundtrack of Emir Kusturica's 1995 film Underground, perfectly matching the varied intensities of the stylized Yugoslav history depicted onscreen.

In recent years, Markovic has consistently won awards at the prestigious brass festival held annually in the central Serbian town of Guca. The Guca festival has been called the Woodstock of brass music, attracting crowds in the hundreds of thousands and even impressing the often dour Miles Davis, who said that what he saw and heard there was revelatory. Markovic has won the festival's award for best trumpeter five times, which is plenty for him. He no longer competes, strictly for the sake of giving others a chance.

The Boban Markovic Orkestar's 2002 album Live in Belgrade was an excellent sampling of how well they tear it up in concert. You'd swear there was fire shooting from the horns as they storm their way through a set of mostly traditional pieces given an extra jolt of adrenaline. The band even pump an old warhorse like "Hava Naguila" full of new life, with Markovic's arrangement giving the brass a relentless ripple that his own horn rides with a flair that seems like it could smooth out even the most jagged melody. The studio album Boban I Marko (2003) likewise undulates both hot and cool, this time featuring Markovic's teenage son Marko chiming in with some genetically accomplished blowing of his own. 2005 saw the release of The Promise, another collaboration with son, Marko.

The 2002 release, Brotherhood of Brass by Frank London's Klezmer Brass Allstars, features the elder Markovic and his crew in a supporting role along with the Hasaballa Brass Band for a summit of inspired, nonsectarian jams that bring players from Christian, Muslim and Jewish bloodlines together. —Tom Orr