…a duo of inventive dynamism.
– Jazzwise
ConnectsMusic is pleased to share with you the Obradovic-Tixier Duo, which features Lada Obradovic, a supremely talented Croatian jazz drummer-percussionist, and the highly acclaimed French pianist David Tixier.
They return with a two-track EP following their acclaimed 2020 debut album, The Boiling Stories of a Smoking Kettle – a sophisticated, playful set combining acoustic instruments with synths, glockenspiel, mbira and other percussion alongside samples and treated voice. The contemporary jazz duo released ‘The Only Thing That Matters’ on 8 March, highlighting their unique, inventive and eclectic approach.
Listen to it here:
Untied Laces is the second piece of music taken from the EP and follows its title track released as a single in January.
Listen to ‘Untied Laces’ here:
https://obradovic-tixierduo.bandcamp.com/track/untied-laces
Composed by Lada, the timely, poignant track is a dedication to war victims, no matter the side, the nationality, the race, or the period of history. It’s a reminder that all human nature is the same and a tribute to life’s importance.
Whilst watching a documentary about WWII, Lada was struck in particular by an image of a shoe belonging to a holocaust victim, deformed and solitary. The paradox was not lost. Once a symbol of good luck and a necessary item of life, now destroyed and discarded, a personification of the worst of mankind.
Lada Obradovic was herself a child of war, and as such themes of war are omnipresent in her work. Shortly after watching the documentary, the war in Ukraine broke out reviving many horrendous memoires.
The third motif of the composition is inspired by Markus Zusak’s book ‘The Book Thief’. Set in Nazi Germany, an orphan steals books to escape the feeling of loss and horrors of the war. Her adoptive father owned an old accordion and its music is a leitmotiv that appears throughout the story.
Like the book, in ‘Untied Laces’, the lead melody comes from the accordion; a symbol of man’s villainy and victim’s destinies. It is at once childlike and gentle, strong and powerful, and like the book, it is beautiful yet deep emotional.