Miloš Petrović (composer)

Miloš Petrović was born in 1952 in Belgrade municipality Zemun.[1] He graduated from the piano department of the Belgrade Faculty of Music in 1974.[1] During the same year, he started his career playing in the jazz group Interaction, led by saxophonist Paul Pignon.[1] He performed with Interaction until 1980.[1]

In 1980, Petrović formed the jazz band Jazzy with bassist Rade Bulatović and percussionist Nenad Jelić.[1] With Jazzy, he recorded two albums, Jazzy (1983) and Wake Up and Jazzy (1986).[1] A number of musicians from Belgrade worked with Jazzy during the nine years of its activity.[1] The group split up in 1989.[1]

Simultaneously with his work in Jazzy, Petrović was a member of the rock band Jakarta.[1] He joined Jakarta in 1983,[1] recording two albums with them, the synth-funk oriented Maske za dvoje (Masks for Two, 1984), which brought them nationwide popularity, and power pop-oriented Bomba u grudima (Bomb in the Chest, 1986).[2] He remained the member of Jakarta until its dissolution in 1988.[2]

Petrović started his solo career in 1985, with the album Dela Baha i Ramoa (The Works of Bach and Rameau), on which he played harpsichord.[1] During the same year, with violinist Nenad Milošević, flutist Svetlana Tošić and cellist Tešman Živanović he recorded the album Baroque Trio Sonatas, featuring pieces by Vivaldi, Telemann, Loeillet and Bach.[3] Three years later, he gained magister degree from the Belgrade Faculty of Music.[1]

In 1991, he released the album Istorija Vizantije No.1 (History of Byzantine Empire No.1), which featured his compositions for prepared piano inspired by Byzantine music.[1] The album inner sleeve featured accompanying short stories written by Petrović.[1] In 1993, with percussionist Veljko Nikolić, better known by his stage name Papa Nick, he released the avant-garde jazz album Levantinci (Levantines).[4] In 1994, he released the ethnic jazz album Istorija Vizantije 2, which featured numerous guest musicians: Rade Bulatović (bass), Vladeta Kandić (accordion), Bata Božanić (bass), Luka Bošković (drums), Nenad Petrović (saxophone), Papa Nick (percussion), and others.[1] In 1996, he published the double album Srpska muzika za čembalo (Serbian Music for Harpsichord), with harpsichord pieces inspired by traditional music of Serbia.[1] During the same year, with Papa Nick and Greek musician Floros Floridis he recorded the album Syrtis Major.[5] In 1998, he released two albums with the band Južni kvartet (South Quartet), The Past Continuous and Around Balkan Midnight.[1] At the end of 1990s, he participated in the Levant Music project, consisting of him, Papa Nick, bassist Mihajlo "Miša" Blam and vocalist Vladana Marković. They released the album Rolling Sun (2000), recorded on their concert in Belgrade Ethnographic Museum.[1] In 2001, he released his last album, Levantino, which he recorded with the Bertollino string quartet, consisting of Katarina Milenković (violine), Aleksandar Gajić (violine), Đorđe Pantelić (viola) and Tešman Živanović (cello). The album featured material composed by Petrović and Gajić.[1]

Petrović taught harpsichord and chamber music at the Belgrade Faculty of Music.[1]

He published two novels, Žitije Mardarija Monaha (Life of Mardarije the Monk, 1992) and Mihajlo iz Peći (Mihajlo from Peć, 1997), and a book of short stories Levant nad Levantom (Levant over Levant, 1996).[1] In 2010, just several weeks before his death, his book of essays on jazz entitled Dlanom o stopalo (Palm across the Foot) was published.[6]

Petrović died in Belgrade on November 13, 2010, after long illness.[6]

• Jazzy (1983)
• Wake Up and Jazzy

• Maske za dvoje (1984)
• Bomba u grudima (1986)

• "Amerika" / "Put u bajano" (1983)
• "Spiritus" / "Problem" (1984)
• "Osvojiću svet" / "Osvojiću svet – Instrumental" (1985)

• Dela Baha i Ramoa (1985)
• Baroque Trio Sonatas (1985)
• Istorija Vizantije No.1 (1991)
• Levantinci (1993)
• Istorija Vizantije 2 (1994)
• Srpska muzika za čembalo (1996)
• Syrtis Major (1996)
• Levantino (2001)

• Istorija Vizantije 1 i 2 (2019)

• The Past Continuous (1998)
• Around Balkan Midnight (1998)

• Rolling Sun (2000)