The Bosnian War ended in 1995, but like any war, its repercussions keep echoing far beyond what used to be Yugoslavia. Vocalist-lyricist Jelena Kuljić (also an actress and a member of the Münchner Kammerspiele) was born in Serbia in 1976 nd completed her studies in Jazz Singing at the Jazz Institute Berlin in 2008. and leads her bands KUU! and Z-Country Paradise. She initiated the Fundamental Interactions, using her texts and the poems by Marko Pogačar and Olja Savičević Ivančević from Croatia, Selma Asotić and Jasna Šamić from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Dragana Mladenović from Serbia. The 16 songs-poems reflect on the things that connect us and make us similar despite political, religious, and cultural differences, and explore he tension between the concepts of home, language, and identity.
Kuljić is accompanied by a brilliant, international quartet: German drummer and electronics player Christian Lillinger, Finnish guitarist Kalle Kalima (both Lillinger and Kalima play with Kuljić in the collective quartet KUU!, and Kalima also in the quintet Z-Country Paradise), Russian keyboard player Olga Reznichenko, and American bassist and electronics player Tim Dahl. Fellow American bassist Tim Lefebvre guests on one song. The album was recorded at Clouds Hill Studio in Hamburg in September 2024.
Kuljić charges these poetic songs with her charismatic, insightful delivery and her inimitable, haunting phrasing, which swings between sober urgency and touching vulnerability. She enjoys the ever-inventive, rich, and restless sonic envelope of the quartet, which moves seamlessly between free improvisation, contemporary electronic music, free jazz, prog-rock, spoken word, and the avant-garde.
Fundamental Interactions is an arresting, life-affirming, polyphonic dialogue between the poetic texts, the horrific, painful past, and hopes for a better, compassionate future, reinforced by the inclusive, genre-defying sonic vision of Kuljić and her band. It tells how the war leaves scars that may never be healed, but these scars can teach us powerful lessons about resilience, empathy, irony, and even female body image.
A brilliant, inspiring project.
Eyal Hareuveni
Jelena Kuljić (voice), Christian Lillinger (drums, electronics), Kalle Kalima (guitar), Olga Reznichenko (Rhodes, synthesizer), Tim Dahl (bass, electronics), Tim Lefebvre (bass, electronics)
