Mildreds

Mildreds is a group of five musicians from Croatia and Slovenia who assembled to play popular and less popular songs, covers and originals, borrowing from various styles; all done in an elegant, musical and romantic way. The specific sound of the band and their minimal arrangements connect the songs. The basic intention is to perform the compositions as expressive as possible, without losing its original spirit. The repertoire is composed of pop songs (authors such as Sting, Elton John, James Taylor, Billy Joel…), some jazz standards, originals, and older Croatian songs. Mildreds’ debut record called “Brisači prašine” (“The Dust Busters”, Aquarius Records, 2007), contains eleven Croatian evergreens. It was followed in 2009 by “Život u ušima” (“Life In The Ears”, Aquarius Records, 2009), a record made of original songs.

MILDREDS are:

Astrid Kuljanić - vocal (Rijeka, Croatia) – Groove Sound & Music School, Sun On The Moon, Spart Jazz Group, Putokazi, Šajeta; organizes CREScendo Music Festival, dipl. ing.

Uroš Rakovec - guitars, mandolin (Kranj, Slovenia) – Uroš Rakovec Trio, Tamara Obrovac Transhistria Ensemble, Amala (gipsy music), Ira Roma (Russian music); composes movie, theatre and TV music, teaches guitar in Radovljica Music School, studied at Berklee School of Music (Boston), graduated jazz guitar at Landeskonservatorium (Klagenfurt).

Žiga Golob - double bass, electric bass, (Ptuj, Slovenia) – Zoc, Atanasovski/Golob/Levačić Trio, Uroš Rakovec Trio, Bachology Quartet, Tamara Obrovac Transhistria Ensemble, Chris Eckman & The Last Side Of The Mountain Band, Los Hermanos muy simpaticos, solo. Also works in theatre as a composer, aranger and instrumentalist.

Kruno Levačić - drums (Zagreb, Croatia) – Tamara Obrovac Transhistria Ensemble, Vasko Atanasovski Adrabesa kvartet, Atanasovski/Golob/Levačić Trio, Uroš Rakovec Trio, Bachology Quartet, Matija Dedić, Renato Rožić, Greg Cohen, Duško Gojković, Renato Chicco, Steve Klink, Achim Kaufmann, Joachim Urlich Big Band, Paolo Noronha, Lica Cicato, WDR Big Band, Nicholas Simion, Charlie Mariano, Fausto Becalossi, Simone Zanchini, Gramelot Ensemble, Gianni Basso, Zoltan Lantos, Ferenc Snettberger, etc. Recieved 8 Croatian „Status“ awards, award Crni Mačak, participated in projects that won more than 30 „Porin“ awards.

Blaž Celarec - percussion, clarinet (Ljubljana, Slovenia) – Brina, Chris Eckman The Last Side Of The Mountain Band, Caminoigra, Fake Orchestra, Los Hermanos muy simpaticos, Hamlet Express, The Fool Cool Jazz Orchestra, Jan Plestenjak, Big band RTV SLO, Terrafolk, Cubismo, Ocho rios i Por los caminos flamencos; composes movie and theatre music, works also as a producer, sound engineer; studied at Rotterdam Conservatory and with bongo master teacher Eduard Lavoy in Cuba (Jesus Alemany y Cubanisimo).