Passion Music mail-order CDs: In conversation with.... Zeljko Kerleta of Cosmic Sounds

	In conversation with....
	Zeljko Kerleta of Cosmic Sounds
Ever wondered what was happening in jazz music in the Eastern Block countries during the communist era? Jazz was alive and well, albeit more underground than most other countries. Cosmic Sounds-London is one man's passion to do this music justice!

Passion Music. What is the history of the Cosmic Sounds Label? Zeljko Kerleta. In 1999 I started the label with intention to bring to light some of the pieces from my collection of Eastern European Jazz that I thought were neglected and poorly represented in west. On top of that I had my new material and few more bands in mind. At that time I also met Dusko Gojkovic who kindly offered me his entire archive of masters. Of course you can't refuse such a thing. So I decided to start two parallel series. One called 'Discoveries' specialised in re-releasing the best of Eastern European Jazz & Fusion. I mostly do compilations because most of these names were not common in these areas and needed some kind of introduction. The intention is to present each of the countries. Second series is going under the title 'Fresh Sounds' and will give chance to young artists who experiment with the new Jazz forms and are more orientated to current Jazz and club scene. PM. When starting the label, did you have a certain aim? ZK. Yes, there was an aim to promote a good Jazz and Jazz related music from Eastern Europe. I just felt that it was neglected and poorly promoted. My collection stretches from Jazz, Fusion, Latin, Brazilian, African, Soul, Funk, Ezo & Library music even some Blues and Rock (that I used to listen as a teenager) and of course plenty of Eastern European Jazz. All of these styles had some exposure at certain time on radio, in clubs or releases available here in London. Only Eastern European musicians were still in a shadow. Someone had to do it and give them a chance. I said why not me. PM. Can you say a bit about each of the solo artists albums you've released. ZK. I am running two parallel programs on Cosmic Sounds label. First one is 'Fresh New CS Sound' with contemporary music. Second program is called 'Discoveries From The East and is consisted of re-issues of original albums and series of compilations under the title 'Rare Jazz Fusion Gems From Eastern European Vaults' where each of them is dedicated to one of the countries.
		<< Janko Nilovic
- Janko Nilovic is Yugoslavian who was born in Turkey and lives in Paris since he was a kid. He was mostly recording library music for Film and TV on label MP2000. I have re-issued his cult library record 'Rythmes Contemporains' that he recorded in 1973-74 with 45 musicians, at that time the best French musicians available. He is one of the best composers and arrangers and could be compared to Gill Evans and Lalo Schifrin.
		<< Dusko Gojkovic
- Dusko Gojkovic is a living legend. Famous be-bop trumpeter who played with Woody Herman, Clarke-Boland, Miles, Dizzy, Sahib Shihab… and almost anyone you know. He is the most famous Yugoslavian musician. Some of his original records are fetching extremely high prices. In 60’s he invented new style later on called 'Balkan Jazz'. That is a be-bop with some local folk influences. I’ve heard many times people saying that he played like Lee Morgan but with some extra soul. Another Dusko Gojkovic re-issue is '5 Horns & Rhythm' a 2 x CD release of previously LP only albums. - Tone Jansa. Probably the best ever Yugoslavian saxophonist. He is actually from Slovenia. Reminds me a lot of Pharoah Sanders. Excellent jazz, Coltrane’s school. Has to be heard. In a 'Fresh New CS Sound' series I have released, apart of mine, few more albums from Belgrade. Coxless Pair / Menson Benson Sextet are two projects by saxophonist Dusan Petrovic. All in all it is 5 people that in different combinations create those two bands. MB6 plays everything live and CP are a sample based band. - Alexander Sopchek is multi-instrumentalist from Belgrade who gave us that fantastic African album Masks. He also paints and makes movies but recently has mostly concentrated on music. - Alexander Rostotsky & Yuri Perfenov – 'Once Upon A time In The City Of Kazan'. Moscow based established Russian musicians in a deep fusiony exploration. Brand new material. I could listen to it non-stop. So deep, so spiritual and easy to listen to at the same time. I will continue my 'Rare Gems' series as planned. All of the countries will be covered because all of them have something to offer. So far I have covered Czechoslovakia, Russia, Poland, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. Also I have in pipeline Romania, and Hungary.

PM. How do you go about licensing the tracks? ZK. This is not easy at all. In ex-communist countries labels were initially ran by government and after the collapse it wasn’t very clear who is going to keep the rights for the recordings. You have to go from case to case and try to clear it out. It is time-consuming job but it’s worth it. To see some of these masterpieces available around makes me feel good. PM. Which difficulties do you find in getting underground music from East Europe? ZK. I don't have any difficulties in getting it. There is a lot of quality music out there. What I find difficult at the moment is to sell them. These are all unknown names and some of them quite difficult to pronounce (like mine). People find them difficult to remember. It doesn't stick easy in their mind. Also my label wasn't well known so shops were reluctant in ordering 'no name' artists on 'no name' label. I knew that it was gonna be difficult but we are getting there. Label is getting more and more respect and is becoming familiar name around the globe. PM. Are the artists you compiled still active in the jazz and club scene? ZK. I can't say anything general about that. First at all I am based in London so I don't go to these clubs but I guess that they haven't been played over there. It is difficult to trace all of them but I know that some are still quite active and still recording and touring like Dusko Gojkovic, Milan Svoboda, Jiri Stivin… PM. How do you find these rare records from the past? Have you been collecting them for years? Do you travel a lot to the East to dig the scene and collect records? Do you get some help from collectors all over the world? ZK. I've been collecting for a long time but still buying like a crazy hoping to discover more. It is a shame but I've never been to any of these countries apart of my own - Yugoslavia. I get records through my connections all around the world. Couple of my favourite Eastern European records I bought from Norwegian dealer etc.. PM. Most of the artists you released are not known here in the 'west', are they known in their own country and do they still play? ZK. Yes, most of them were (and some still are) actually legends in their own countries but also there are some obscurities that I re-released just because I like them and not because of their local fame. Most of them are still very active like Dusko Gojkovic who is 67 and still regularly touring all around the world and recording at least one album per year. The latest arrangement that he has is to lead the RTB big band in Belgrade. He has performed at Jazz festivals in Israel and Japan and much more. He is hyperactive.

PM. You were born in Yugoslavia. Why did you move to London? Was it for the music scene? It's a funny story. As an Architect I did also some graphic design back home in Belgrade. I won competition for design of the poster for one travel agency so they gave me a week in London. It was in August 1988 and I am still here. I obviously didn't stay because of famous British weather, food and beaches. The attraction was big opportunity in architectural career and exciting music scene. In mid 90's I had my own radio program called Cosmic Sounds and at that time I was helping one promoter from Belgrade. We brought many DJs from London to Belgrade (Patrick Forge, Kevin Beadle, just to mention few) Also I took Roy Ayers to Belgrade and that was a huge experience for me. Being with a legend of that size for a few days, travelling with him and talking about music day and night is something to be remembered. Music was all around me and I decided to do something on my own. Initially it was only supposed to be for my home use and as a soundtrack for my architectural 3D animations. People kind of liked it and the Timewarp label even licensed it for their compilation 'Warp Factor 2'. That was a start. Soon after that I finished my first album. That was in April 1999. Later same year I finished the whole album, started label in October and released my Space Runner in December. I discovered Sunday afternoon Jazz Dance sessions in Dingwalls, London with Gilles Peterson etc, hundreds of record shops and dealers, pirate radio stations and that was it. Once when you're in it it's like a drug. I became well known as a crazy Yugoslav who spends whole his salary on records. I guess record shops just loved me. PM. How does the Cosmic Sounds output of new contemporary music relate to the East European re-releases? ZK. This is all the music that I like and would go out and buy it if it was available on any other label. When I play clubs I don’t look if the record was contemporary or 70’s stuff. The only thing that matters is if it is good or not. Why did I choose Eastern Europe? Because a lot of excellent quality is lying there for ages and it was always underrated and neglected and all these musicians definitely deserve to get more exposure. So what I am trying here is to present what was from these countries in the last 40 years and at the same time to give the chance to some young contemporary talents. Someone had to do it sooner or later. It seems that I have started a trend. I've noticed that quite a few labels are jumping on a same wagon and trying to exploit that 'eastern trend'. Sometimes these are just money driven projects but mostly they are done out of passion. End