Vladimir Kostadinovic - Iris

2025

 “After listening to this great recording by Vladimir Kostadinovic and this stellar group of high-level musicians, the music gives me a sense of freedom. You no longer hear that too often when people play. The sound of freedom is what jazz and improvisation is all about.” – George Garzone

“It was a great session, a great combination of musicians. Real New York jazz. Everybody loved Vladimir’s music and had equal respect for each other. He’s an excellent modern drummer, who also uses some folk elements from his homeland that add a different flavor. His compositions are amazing – so beautiful, creative and different. He’s a great musician.” – Alex Sipiagin

“Sometimes it’s hard for me to get my head around how European musicians can sound like they were born and raised in an American urban center, and Vladimir is one of those guys. He has a beautiful, wide scope. He’s deeply rooted in the tradition and swings really hard, but at the same time, he’s very much a modernist. He wrote beautiful music, some of it very ecstatic and deeply heart-imbued, and a couple that are quite tricky and possess a lot of intellectual rigor. All of it is beautiful. And he put together an absolute all-star band. Everybody came and just played music.” – Joe Locke

Vladimir Kostadinovic compares his experience during the September 5, 2024 session in New York’s Samurai Studios that gestated this tour de force – titled Iris for his daughter, then 8 years old – to the pressure of competing in the Olympic Games.

“You have only one chance,” says the 44-year-old Vienna-based drummer. Everybody believes in you. Don’t mess up now. We had one rehearsal. I come from a small place in Europe where we don’t have that many opportunities to play NBA games with players-musicians of this capacity. You play a tour for one week, two weeks maximum, and then you have to wait a month. These musicians are challenged every single day. They grab you and you are safe.”