Ilija Pejovski (Macedonian: Илија Пејовски) (born 1947) [1] is a Macedonian composer, arranger and pianist. One of the Macedonian composers who began to treat jazz professionally and evolve the genre of Macedonian Jazz, [2] he has a broad portfolio of original music. A large part of his works were reserved for the big band ensembles, but he has also written symphonic and solo piano music as well as film music.
He initially studied music in Ljubljana and at the Faculty of Music in Skopje. In 1977, he graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston. [3] His background includes performances and collaborations with jazz musicians Thad Jones, Herb Pomeroy, Stan Getz, and Milcho Leviev. He has organized lectures and workshops in harmony, arranging and orchestration for students in Greece, Switzerland, Italy and the Republic of Macedonia and is the author of The Basics of Jazz Harmony (ProArts, 2004). [2] [4]
Pejovski was given the 2009 Trajko Prokopiev Award for lifetime achievement by the Macedonian Composers' Association (SOKOM). [5]
John Scofield is an American guitarist and composer. His music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention as part of the band of Miles Davis; he has toured and recorded with many prominent jazz artists including saxophonists Eddie Harris, Dave Liebman, Joe Henderson, and Joe Lovano; keyboardists George Duke, Joey DeFrancesco, Herbie Hancock, Larry Goldings, and Robert Glasper; fellow guitarists Pat Metheny, John Abercrombie, Pat Martino, and Bill Frisell; bassists Marc Johnson and Jaco Pastorius; and drummers Billy Cobham and Dennis Chambers. Outside the world of jazz, he has collaborated with Phil Lesh, Mavis Staples, John Mayer, Medeski Martin & Wood, and Gov't Mule.
Stephen James Rochinski is an American jazz guitarist, composer, arranger, recording artist, author, and educator(Professor Emeritus)
The Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including rock, hip hop, reggae, salsa, heavy metal and bluegrass.
Toshiko Akiyoshi is an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader.
Arif Mardin was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco and country. He worked at Atlantic Records for over 30 years, as producer, arranger, studio manager, and vice president, before moving to EMI and serving as vice president and general manager of Manhattan Records.
Patrice Louise Rushen is an American jazz pianist, R&B singer, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and music director.
Thomas Oboe Lee is a Chinese American composer.
Danilo Pérez is a Panamanian pianist, composer, educator, and a social activist.
Phillips Elder Wilson, Jr. is a jazz trombonist, arranger, and teacher. He has taught at the Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy and New England Conservatory.
Macedonia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with the song "Life" written by Jovan Jovanov and Ilija Nikolovski. The song was performed by Toše Proeski, who was internally selected by the Macedonian broadcaster Macedonian Radio Television (MRT) to compete for Macedonia at the 2004 contest in Istanbul, Turkey. MRT returned to the Eurovision Song Contest after a one-year absence following their relegation from 2003 as one of the bottom five countries in the 2002 contest. Toše Proeski's appointment as the Macedonian representative was announced on 7 June 2003, while MRT organised Skopje Fest 2004 in order to select his song. Eight songs competed in the competition on 14 February 2004 where "Angel si ti" was selected following the combination of votes from an eleven-member jury panel, Proeski himself and a public televote. The song was later translated from Macedonian to English for the Eurovision Song Contest and was titled "Life".
Franck Amsallem is a French-American jazz pianist, arranger, composer, singer and educator. He was born in 1961 in Oran, French Algeria, but grew up in Nice, France.
Toni Kitanovski is a Macedonian jazz guitarist.
Slavko Avsenik Jr. is a Slovenian composer and pianist. He is also the author of numerous children's songs. He is the son of Slavko Avsenik.
Richard Niles is an American composer, arranger, record producer, guitarist, broadcaster, and journalist.
Vladimir Četkar is a Macedonian recording artist, composer, arranger, producer, guitarist and vocalist who is based in New York City. He was born in Ohrid, Republic of Macedonia where, in his childhood, he played the violin. He was greatly influenced by such jazz, funk, soul and disco bands and musicians as Change, Chic, Earth Wind and Fire, Patrice Rushen, Cameo, The Brothers Johnson, Wes Montgomery, George Benson, Quincy Jones, Jamiroquai and many more. Later in life, Vladimir came to the United States to attend Berklee College of Music. There, he focused on contemporary writing and production with the jazz guitar as his main instrument.
Robert Lyndel Lewis is an American music arranger, music composer, record producer, musical director, film composer, musician, entrepreneur, and impresario. Lewis has worked on several Grammy Award winning singles and albums, and his production, songs, and arrangements have been featured on #1 albums, gold and platinum albums, films, live productions, and television shows.
Božilak is the sixth studio album by the Macedonian singer Toše Proeski, released in Macedonian. The album comprises fourteen traditional Macedonian songs sung with a new arrangement. It was released in Macedonia by Award and subsequently in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia by City Records.
Boban Apostolov is a Macedonian composer, songwriter, arranger and record producer.
Roque Baños López is a Spanish music composer. Baños graduated from Boston's Berklee College of Music in 1995 and has since scored both Spanish and English-language films. He has received numerous awards for his compositional work, including the Spanish Goya Award for Best Original Score in both 2008 and 2009.
Simon Kiselicki is a Macedonian jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He is considered "one of the most important personalities of the Macedonian jazz scene", as a solo musician and as a member of “The Simon Kiselicki Group”, “Klerzo”, and “La Colonie Volvox”. Kiselicki’s contributions across Europe and the Balkans include being one of the first musicians to bring jazz music to Macedonian stages and clubs at the start of the 90s.