In my country, ‘life is music’; every happy or sad event is played, sung and danced to. Languorous or upbeat melodies greet our events, and are part of who we are. 

As a child, I used to express my joy at life, my disappointments or my hopes by whistling. One of our friends' oboe teachers was astonished by the pitch of my voice and encouraged me to choose and study an instrument. My temperament was not suited to the preciousness of the flute or the filigree of the violin. The majesty of the trombone, which shakes a church with its ‘fortissimo’ or rocks a child with its ‘pianissimo’, seemed better suited to my passionate nature. So I went on to study classical music, without giving up the pleasure of entertaining our many family and friends by playing variety music. 

After my studies in Paris, I moved to Berne where, for six years, I kept up these traditions with my orchestral colleagues and pupils, working rigorously on the classical repertoire while occasionally indulging in variety and improvisation. 

After three classical albums, the Claves label gave me the opportunity to record a variety album that illustrates the range of possibilities for the trombone, capable of delivering both a profound classical message and the lighter message of variety. 

So it was with my ensemble of five trombones and a tuba, joined in the Bach and Frescobaldi by Jörg Ewald Dähler on harpsichord, that I recorded these arrangements. A rhythm section made up of teachers from the Swiss Jazz School was kind enough to lend us a hand, adding to our enjoyment and enabling us to perfect our performance. 

Branimir Slokar