International jazz quartet at Public Room on 5 November - French musician Olivier Samouillan with Sasho Popovski, Ivan Bejkov and Aleksandar Sekulovski

The international jazz quartet of French multi-instrumentalist Olivier Samouillan and three Macedonian musicians plays Public Room in Skopje on 5 November at 9 p.m. The line-up is Samouillan on viola, Sasho Popovski on guitar, Ivan Bejkov on double bass and Aleksandar Sekulovski on drums.

Samouillan is a French composer and violinist, a member of the Quareim quartet, and no newcomer to the Macedonian scene: he plays on Sasho Popovski's 2023 album "Steps". Popovski is one of Macedonia's leading jazz guitarists and composers, with a sound in which Balkan and oriental influences can be heard. Bejkov, born in Skopje in 1978, has been double bassist in the Macedonian Philharmonic since 2008, teaches at the Faculty of Music in Shtip and has played with William Parker and Frank London. Popovski and Bejkov already record together, among other things on the 2020 trio album "Fallen Land".

The quartet's music weaves together European jazz, Balkan influences and free improvisation, with waltz and tango played their own way. A viola in a jazz quartet is a rare sight, and this line-up has no horns: guitar, double bass and drums build the dialogue with Samouillan's string instrument.

A ticket costs 500 denars and can be bought via tix.mk. Payment at Public Room is by card only.