Šaban Bajramović, Gypsy jazz legend, has died

I was very sad when heard that the biggest Gypsy musician Šaban Bajramović, who lived and played in Serbia, has died today. King of gypsy music with giant talent, how the most people known him, died in Niš after heart attack in his 72th year.
He was big name of gypsy and jazz music and had soulfully voice and fantastic expression in which I enjoy tremendously, especially in his latest projects and live concerts. Šaban Bajramović was the most prolific and the most celebrated Gypsy singer, composer and poet in the Balkans.
When you put his name for example in last.fm software or on you tube site you could find a lot of beautiful and very famous compositions like Djelem, djelem (proclaimed Gypsy hymn), Prokleta je Amerika, Geljan dade, and many others. Last album was published last year with name "Romano raj". On shabanology web site you could find more infos about great master and download track and video samples.

Many thanks for your music.
Requiescat in pace
With my love and respect.


And something about his life:
Šaban Bajramović was born in Niš, 16th april 1936. First album published in 1964. He was married with Milica, and got with her 4 daughters.
As with every Gypsy, stories and legends abound about Saban, and, as in other cases, it is not clear what is true and what is not. At 19 he ran away from the army out of love for a girl. As a deserter, he was sentenced to three years prison on the island Goli Otok. But he told the military court they couldn't hold him for so long, and they raised his punishment to five and a half years. Soon he forced his way into the prison orchestra that played, among other things, jazz (mostly Armstrong, Sinatra, and even John Coltrane) with Spanish and Mexican pieces. He liked to say that he read 20,000 books in his life, most of them whilst in prison. He also said that the prison on Goli Otok was his university of life where he formed his philosophy, adding that a person who has never been in prison is not a person at all.
After Goli Otok, his intensive music career began. He made his first record in 1964 and since then has made 15 to 20 LPs and about 50 singles. To date he is supposed to have composed 650 compositions.
For 20 years he had his own group called Black Mamba that toured half the world. They played real music or, as Saban said, "more than music."