2019

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Jan Kus & Slavo Rican Assembly 

Jan Kus (Slovenia), saxophone, effects, music leadership
Aleksandra Denda (Serbia), vocals
Gabriel Vicéns (Puerto Rico), electric guitar
Gabriel Chakarji (Venezuela), piano, keyboards
Dan Martínez (Puerto Rico), bass
Victor Pablo (Puerto Rico), percussion
Žan Tetičkovič (Slovenia), drums, drum pad

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Following the critical acclaim of his debut album as a leader, Faith (ranked in the top 3 on US and Canadian jazz music charts), the eclectic NY-based Slovene saxophonist, composer and producer Jan Kus extends his group further, and heads into the direction he has been taking naturally for the last few years. In his new assembly, he merges his experience in the New York Latin jazz music scene with his Slovenian roots. Moreover, as a member of the Fernando García Sextet he worked on one of the best albums in 2018, according to the renowned Downbeat Magazine.

The Slavo Rican Assembly focuses on the exploration of the similarities and differences between the music of the Puerto Rican (and generally, Caribbean) and Slavic and Balkan cultures, merging them into a cohesive, brand-new sound that is unique in the current music market place.

The band, who has performed at famous New York venues such as Carnegie Hall, Le Frak Concert Hall and Louis Armstrong House Museum, takes their listeners to unique musical journeys: from melancholic folk ballads, typical for the Slovene Prekmurje region, to the temperamental atmosphere of Caribbean street jam sessions, synthesizing them seamlessly in an attractive, heartfelt and powerful rhythmical mix.

The ever-increasing use of electronics in their repertoire directs their music to a never-before-heard, and unexplored distant music galaxies.

With its multicultural sound, the band wants to brighten the universality of human life experiences that transcends national, political or cultural differences, and show the human ability to form new "tribal" bonds, which are based more on spiritual, than blood relations.