Accordion virtuoso and composer Lelo Nika was born in Serbia in 1969. He was proclaimed by Joe Zawinul as “the greatest accordion player I’ve ever heard.”
Lelo is a Serbian Gypsy (Romani) by origin, but is well versed in all Balkan, particularly Romanian, traditions. A two-time receiver of the World Accordion Champion title, Lelo has also toured and recorded with Randy Brecker and has recorded various solo albums.
Constantly looking for new challenges, Lelo participated in Global Village Denmark-NY 2007 to create the ultimate Balkan-Fusion band while in New York City.
In adiditon to performing Serbian and Romanian traditional music, Nika also plays jazz, classical and experimental music. He has a project with Swedish bassist and composer Thommy Andersson and Romanian cimbalom player George Mihalache.
Discography:
Beyond Virtuosity (DB Productions, 2000)
Beyond Borders (DB Productions, 2005)
Moving Landscapes (Stunt Records, 2007)
Intuition (Gataway Music, 2008)
Continuity (A Records, 2011)
Uncut (A Records, 2012)
Duography (A Records, 2012)
Home Stories (A Records, 2013)
Experiences (A Records, 2014)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.