"Užičko Kolo" - OFFICIAL - Branimir Đokić i Zoran Rakočević - ( kompozitor Milija Spasojević )

Užičko Kolo is a famous traditional Serbian folk dance composition that was composed by Milija Spasojević. This rendition was performed by Zoran Rakočević who recorded the audio track in 1993 at his recording studio, which at that time was located in Geelong, Australia. The legendary Serbian accordion maestro Branimir Đokić was invited by Zoran Rakočević several years later to do a joint tour performing in Australia in 2001. Zoran is forever grateful to Branimir Đokić for sharing with him his unique perspective and some of the finer technical details regarding the Serbian six row button accordion fingering system. Branimir Đokić also made a guest appearance on the video clip together with Zoran Rakočević during the Australian tour in 2001, with the Melbourne city backdrop on the video clip. Finally, after many years of research, feedback and consistent effort towards understanding the parameters of Serbian folk music, this 'Kolo' was uploaded on youtube in 2009, so that it could be enjoyed by people all over the world. What makes this rendition so special is that it was designed to be pleasing to the listener and to be motivating for the dancer. Zoran Rakočević started to learn the piano accordion when he was six years old. He was classically trained by the Italian maestro Omero Verecondi in Geelong Australia, who's musical lineage can be traced back several generations to the famous Italian composer Giacomo Puccini. As a teenager, Zoran Rakočević started to learn how to dance Serbian folklore and this is where he started to appreciate the Serbian Kolo from a dancer's perspective. This appreciation for the Kolo was further cemented when he became the accordionist for the Serbian Folkoric Group Branko Radičević in Geelong, Australia. At approximately 17 years of age, Zoran changed from playing the piano accordion to playing the Serbian six row button accordion. The legendary Serbian accordion maestro Novica Negovanović further refined and passed on the special fingering system for the Serbian six row button accordion to Zoran Rakočević for which Zoran is forever grateful. Novica Negovanović also flew over all the way from from Chicago in the USA to play the accordion at Zoran's wedding in Australia. In addition, Zoran Rakočević is also very grateful to the legendary Serbian accordion maestro Bane Milutinović (nickname Dobravac) who was the senior student of the legendary accordion maestro Miodrag Todorović - "Mija" (nickname Krnjevac) for sharing and passing on his insights on the Serbian six row button accordion fingering system to Zoran when he visited and spent time with Zoran in Australia. Zoran Rakočević has spent a lifetime in pursuit of trying to understand the finer parameters of the Serbian Kolo. He has used his classical training as a silent hidden foundation upon which he has leveraged that knowledge towards making the Serbian Kolo ever so special. This ofcourse has been coupled with many years of countless live performances on stage throughout Australia and New Zealand where he processed the feedback from the audience especially the dancers. This has helped him to fine tune the parameters required to set the world benchmark for how a Kolo should sound and how it should be performed. His interpretation of the Kolo is very melodically pleasing to the ear and yet very motivational and usable for the dancer. The audio recording features live musicians to create the live sound that Zoran enjoys when performing live on stage. The studio musicians on this recording feature Petar Stojanović on drums, Milenko Živanović on bass guitar and Miroslav Stojisavljević on rhythm guitar. Zoran Rakočević has developed a unique blend of parameters for his interpretation and performance of the Serbian kolo that is appreciated the world over. He is often referred to as the dancer's musician, affectionately known as the 'King of the Kolo' by his close friends and musicians, who know that his sole purpose and mission is to preserve and present the inherent beauty of the Serbian Kolo for the world to enjoy.