The album 'Bosniumas' is the result of great love and a model example of successful international cooperation. The album would probably never have happened if Amir Hadžiahmetović, guitarist and singer of Espo Despo, hadn't in 2006 been introduced to Branko Miljko, a blind esperantist from Sarajevo. Having learned that Amir was a musician, Branko trusted him with twenty of his Bosnian sevdalinkas translated in Esperanto; also known as Sevdah music, it is a traditional genre of folk music from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Branko unfortunately died shortly afterwards, but awareness of the need for making these translations merged together with the centuries-old melodies, arranging them in a fresh and modern fashion, remained alive, waiting for the right time for realisation.

Most of the credit for moving forward in this undertaking has to be ascribed to Karl Maybach, the band’s bass player, who from the start wholeheartedly supported the idea of recording an album dedicated to the interpretation of sevdalinkas in Esperanto. Thus, the first recordings appeared in 2010, and arranging and recording work continued in the following years. The recordings were interesting, but still not mature enough. In the meantime, the band was joined by a talented drummer, Birte Knutzen, who gave the band and the project additional momentum. Backed by her intuitive sensibility and Karl’s good feeling for Balkan music and rhythms, the exercises and demo recordings were intensified.

Finally, in early 2015, the time for realization seemed to come, and the group made final preparations for recording the songs. The aim was to make an album that would primarily bring sevdalinka closer to the global audience, and then bring the language and culture of Esperanto closer to those who like world music and maybe already know of the sevdah. The challenges were many: the irregular rhythms, demanding melodic lines, the fusion two rather exotic and rarely combined cultures. To make the cocktail even more interesting and more 'world music' spicy, the plan was to include as many guests as possible, both singers and instrumentalists from different parts of the world. Many famous and renowned esperanto-musicians accepted the challenge, such as Helle Cleary (DK), Flávio Fonseca (BR), Alejandro Cossavella (AR), Patrik Austin (FI), and Guillaume Armide (FR). An important contribution to the sound of the album was made by musicians well versed in their instruments, especially Dino Pehilj (BA), Thomas Petruso (US), Elisabeth Vik (NO), Ljubo Martinoski (RS), Kenan Tekin (TR), Edouard Galstian (AM), and Per Henriksen (DK).

By the beginning of 2016, after the recording was completed, the music was sent for mixing and production to renowned sound engineer and music producer Mustafa Čengić (MuČe), who lives Bologna (IT). With his deep knowledge, creative arrangement solutions, and a balanced mix, MuČe gave a whole new dimension to the project, significantly contributing to the quality of the result. Credits for mastering and final sound processing goes to Triboulet from Studio de la Trappe. Karl Maybach was the man behind the cover and graphical designs. A great job with managing the practical affairs was done by Floréal Martorell, the director of the publishing house Vinilkosmo in Toulouse (FR), the house that also assumes marketing and the distribution of the album.

A special curiosity of this product is the possibility to hear how the singers and musicians from culturally distant places managed the challenge of interpretation in a tight musical space of the relatively narrow framework of Bosnian sevdah. The album will have served its purpose if it manages to please its public, especially if it generates further interest in these niche genres so that listeners decide to listen to some of the sevdah legends, or listen to some of the Esperanto music. Furthermore, our purpose will be more than fulfilled if listeners get inspired to learn more about Bosnia and Herzegovina, or about the esperanto-culture and the international language for communication on an equal basis.

Espo Despo in this album is:
Birte Jona Røskvar Knutzen: drums and percussion instruments
Karl Maybach: bass, trombone, choirs
Amir Hadžiahmetović – AmoDeL'Iro: voice, guitar

Guest musicians :
Dino Pehilj: gitar in songs n° 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 12 (DP)
Elisabeth Vik: vocal improvisation in 1 (EV)
Kenan Tekin: turkish bağlama in 1 and 2 (KT)
Gijom’ Armide: voice in 10, piano in 1 and 10 (GA)
Alejandro Cossavella: voice in 2 (AC)
Flavio Fonseca: voice in 3, guitar in 2 and 3 (FF)
Edouard Galstian: clarinet in 2 and 4 (EG)
Mustafa Čengić – MuČe: organ in 5 (MC)
Per Henriksen: soprano saxophone in 5 (PH)
Patrik Austin – Dolchamar: voice in 6 (PA)
Ljubo Martinoski: violin in 8 and 9 (LM)
Helle Eble Cleary: voice, Western concert flute and tin whistle in 11 (HEC)
Thomas Petruso: percussion instruments in 12 (TP)

Mixing, Sound engineers, producer: Mustafa-MuČe Čengić (Bologna / Italy)
Mastering: Triboulet - Studio de La Trappe / Vinilkosmo (Donneville / France)
Publishing and distribution: Floréal Martorell and Vinilkosmo (Donneville / France)
Graphics design of the booklet: Karl Maybach

Translators / adaptations (from Bosnian to Esperanto):
Branko Miljko: translated texts of songs in n° 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10
Amir Hadžiahmetović: translated texts of songs in 7, 11, 12, co-translated n° 5
Gosia Nitkowska Hadžiahmetović: co-translated text of song 5

Language supervison:
Maria Majerczak: linguistic consulting
Jens S. Larsen: revising the texts
Rikardo Cash: revising the texts
Photos of Espo Despo: Per Henriksen (https://www.flickr.com/photos/perfakir)