TOMI PURICH TRIO

Tomi Purich, drums
Aleš Ogrin, keyboards
Peter Smrdel, double bass

Tomi Purich, a drummer from the Slovene coast, a graduate of the Celovec/Klagenfurt Regional Conservatory, has been known to the wider audience as a head and accompanying musician of the festival group Melodies of the Sea and the Sun, as well as a member of ensembles acommpanying Slovene popular singers Jan Plestenjak, Nina Pušlar and Lea Sirk. This time around, he will be presenting a newer project – his first album, which came out at the end of last year. On it he gathered Balkan, Istrian and Oriental melodies and called it #balkanjazz.

In his trio, Tomi Purich brought together a band of outstanding musicians with a unique ethno-jazz sound, whether it’s folk songs, popular music or his own compositions. His desire to perform an amalgam of Balkan ethno music, jazz improvisation and energetic »odd« rhythms dates back to 2006, when he (still with his sextet) performed with a mixture of cover songs and his own compositions at summer festivals around Slovenia and Italy. In 2017, the musician fulfilled his desire in the sonority of the typical jazz band of drums, double bass and piano. A year later, he completed his #balkanjazz record, in which he combined traditional Balkan, Oriental and Istrian sound with the freedom of jazz improvisation in various ensembles, from a trio to a large orchestra. Contrary to the traditional ethno genre, in which we expect to hear the open modal improvisation without the structure, the music on the album #balkanjazz is formally clear, while sounding jazz-western in improvisation and sound. In January 2019, the Tomi Purich Trio presented the album at nine concerts across Slovenia. The tour included Celje, Ilirska Bistrica, Kranj, Koper, Ljubljana and Nova Gorica.