Laza Ristovski

Biography

Laza Ristovski was born in 1956 and his first band was BEZIMENI, where he played from 1970-74. As a young and talented keyboard player, during the 1970s and 1980s he played with two mega rock bands in former Yugoslavia - SMAK and BIJELO DUGME. He was a versatile studio session musician who also played with different artists, from popular folk orchestra to classical opera and jazz ensembles. He started solo career first as a duo with ex-BIJELO DUGME drummer Ipe Ivandic, resulting in a typical sym...

Laza Ristovski was born in 1956 and his first band was BEZIMENI, where he played from 1970-74. As a young and talented keyboard player, during the 1970s and 1980s he played with two mega rock bands in former Yugoslavia - SMAK and BIJELO DUGME. He was a versatile studio session musician who also played with different artists, from popular folk orchestra to classical opera and jazz ensembles. He started solo career first as a duo with ex-BIJELO DUGME drummer Ipe Ivandic, resulting in a typical symphonic prog style album "Stizemo" in 1978. Beginning in 1982 Ristovski embarked on a successful electronic keyboards virtuoso solo career, making instrumental albums with often contemporary, electronic versions of traditional songs.

He returned to Bijelo Dugme in 1985. During this period Ristovski usually played various keyboards and synthesizers while Vlado Pravdić played the organ. Ristovski stayed in Bijelo Dugme until the band broke up in 1989.

In 1993 Ristovski recorded album Naos with Bajaga i Instruktori keyboardist Saša Lokner. Part of the songs were inspired by Orthodox spiritual music. Various songs which he recorded with Smak, Bijelo Dugme, Zdravko Čolić, Aerodrom, Videosex and Osvajači were released on the 1997 compilation album Svetlost u A-duru (Antologija).

Despite being confined to a wheelchair, Laza Ristovski took part in three Bijelo Dugme reunion shows (in Sarajevo, Zagreb, and Belgrade) during June 2005. He died in Belgrade on October 6, 2007 following a long battle with multiple sclerosis.

During his career Ristovski worked with Falco, Richard Palmer-James, Chris de Burgh and others. He was involved in Piloti, Rock Union and Osvajači work. He was one of Goran Bregović's closest associates on Bregović's early movie soundtrack projects. Additionally, Ristovski wrote music for the movies Zaboravljeni, Sveto mesto and Impure Blood. He played on more than thousand albums of rock, jazz and folk music.

Discography
[edit] with Smak
[edit] Studio albums

* Smak (1975)
* Rock cirkus (1980)
* Zašto ne volim sneg (1981)

[edit] Singles

* "Ulazak u harem" / "Sto ptica" (1975)
* "Ulazak u harem" / "Epitaf" (1975)
* "Ljudi nije fer" / "El dumo" (1976)
* "Satelit" / "Šumadijski bluz" / "Čoveče, ti si mlad" / "Slikar sa Pikadilija" (1976)
* "Na Balkanu" / "Gore dole" (1979)
* "Rock cirkus" / "Hirošima"(1980)

[edit] with Bijelo Dugme
[edit] Studio albums

* Eto! Baš hoću! (1976)
* Pljuni i zapjevaj moja Jugoslavijo (1986)
* Ćiribiribela (1988)

[edit] Live albums

* Koncert kod Hajdučke česme (1978)
* Mramor, kamen i željezo (1988)
* Turneja 2005 - Sarajevo, Zagreb, Beograd (2005)

[edit] Solo
[edit] Studio albums

* Stižemo (with Ipe Ivandić, 1978)
* Merge (1982)
* 2/3 (1983)
* Vojnički ples (1984)
* Roses for a General (1984)
* Opera (with Dubravka Zubović, 1985)
* The Lady In Red - The Instrumental Hits of Chris De Boorgh (1991)
* Quit (1993)
* Naos (with Saša Lokner, 1993)
* Nečista krv (1997)
* Gondola (2003)
* Laza Ristovski Plays Simon & Garfunkel (2006)

[edit] Posthumous studio albums

* Drvo života (2008)

[edit] Compilation albums

* Svetlost u A-duru (Antologija) (1997)
* The Best Of Instrumental Works (2000)
* Platinum (2000)

[edit] Singles

* "Tražiš oproštaj" / "Andželika" (1980)
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