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| | Arts Calendar / November 5 / Concerts |
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20:00 | Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra (Serbia) |
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No Smoking was a punk-infused band established in Sarajevo, in 1980, under the Serbo-Croatian moniker "Zabranjeno Pusenje." Lead singer and songwriter Dr. Nelle Karajlic was a bit of a thorn in the side of the post-Tito government in Yugoslavia. The band's debut album "Das ist Walter" (1984), sold surprisingly well, and spawned the hit "Zenica Blues," which boasted sales of 100000. But the ruling forces weren't about to let Zabranjeno Pusenje repeat that success, hence a crackdown prevented widespread album sales and concerts appearances from taking place. At that time, filmmaker and punker Emir Kusturica joined the band as their bass player and stayed long enough to record "Pozdrav iz Zemlje Safari" in 1987. In 1994 young musicians, including Kusturica's son Stribor Kusturica (drums) joined the band and soon they released a war victims' dedication "Ja Nisam Odavle" (1997). Besides using No Smoking's compositions in the films (Black Cat White Cat, 1998), Emir Kusturica re-joined the band, this time as a guitarist. In 2000, the newly titled Emir Kusturica & the No Smoking Orchestra released "Unza Unza Tim." "Unza" refers to the unique amalgamation of sounds comprising their repertoire. In the Spring of 2004, the No Smoking Orchestra met again to promote a new film and a soundtrack "Life is a miracle." A new guitarist joined the album and the tour. Instead of Nenad Gajin who devoted completely to jazz music, came an experienced maestro Ivica Maksimovic. The number of countries where they performed increased rapidly and their performances became more explosive. And after more than 500 concerts in 30 countries (Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Israel, Latin America) Emir Kusturica and the No Smoking Orchestra planed a new project Time of the Gypsies: Punk Opera in 2007. Based on Gordan Mihić and Emir Kusturica's script for the film of the same name, it was adapted by Nenad Jankovic and is performed in the Gypsy language. The main theme of the opera is a story about youth, entering in the real world, and the band used this theme as it's the most relevant Gipsy song, and made of it a kind of purification and cathartic journey trough life. The Best of Emir Kusturica and The No Smoking Orchestra album was appeared in 2009. And the musicians play such the best songs at their concerts around the world in some last years and always make glad their fans by new compositions and covers. Read more
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