T he year 2019 will see Balkan jazz legend Gabi Novak celebrate seven decades of a fruitful singing career. Recently, to the piano accompaniment of her son Mati- ja, she has been gracing the Belgrade hall named after her late husband, Arsen Dedić, singing his songs. Still, she tells us, it’s been a long time since she’s done this in order to win over the public. - It was never easy to write songs for me, be- cause I do not like commercials, promotions and touring. If the song speaks, it will speak without media pomp. To date things have mostly been as I wanted, and I always had strict criteria. I pre- fer performing in smaller venues, because I feel interaction with an audience whose eyes I can see. And performing in the hall named after Ar- sen brought me to tears on the stage – says Gabi. Her heart is full when she sings in Belgrade. The audience includes many generations who know her songs. Many of them were even born long after the disappearance of Yugoslavia. - When performing I have the feeling that Ar- sen is watching and listening to us. It’s as though we’re all addressing him together. I will remember such evenings forever and am grateful for them. Singing wasn’t the first item on her list of professional wishes since childhood. She drew and painted for her soul. - After completing the graphics course at the School of Applied Arts in Zagreb, I started my ca- reer as a scenographer and designer of cartoon animation. I lent my voice to animated charac- ters and that brought me great pleasure. Musician Bojan Adamič encouraged me to start singing to the accompaniment of the “Big Band” orchestra in Ljubljana in 1959. I also shared a microphone with Louis Armstrong at the 1958 Bled Jazz Fes- tival in 1958.
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