The Boîte presents East of West with SARAY Iluminado Femme Trio live at Good Shepherd Chapel, Abbotsford Convent.
East of West is a world music project led by Bosnian-born composer Goran Gajić (Double Bass), with Philip Griffin on Oud and Malindi Morris on Percussion. East of West’s second album ‘Moving Home’, released in June 2023, offers a fresh set of original compositions by Bosnian-born double bass player Goran Gajić. Over the four years of their collaboration, the trio’s musicians have developed an intuitive musical relationship which emerges through their exciting dynamic interplays and expressive soloing, interspersed with moments of mesmerising musical sparseness.
SARAY Iluminado Femme is a trio derivative of the ensemble SARAY Iluminado, a Melbourne based group that specialises Sephardic Jewish and Sevdah, the traditional music of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The trio started by making an appearance at a women’s iftar gathering in 2017 and has operated ever since featuring predominantly, but not exclusively, at women’s events.
The group explores contemporary, diasporic reimagining of Sephardic Jewish Romances and Sevdalinka songs. Similarly to the five-piece version of SARAY Iluminado, the Femme Trio creates a playful sound-field for the musical musings of its members, welcoming musicians who come together in love and respect of each other’s musical and cultural traditions. The Femme Trio made their European debut at the Sicilian traditional music circuit in August 2019. In 2021, SARAY Iluminado Femme led the project ‘The Resonant Heart’, a multidisciplinary performance event performed in Melbourne for International Women’s Day, featuring 12 international artists currently based in Melbourne. In 2023, the trio lead the second iteration of this project, performed at the Salon of the Melbourne Recital Centre for International Women’s Day. This work is now available for touring and further presentations.
