"Medna Roso" is a glorious recording featuring BBC Jazz Award-winning and Mercury nominated artist Kit Downes on organ, New Zealand saxophonist Hayden Chisholm – known for his distinct microtonal tuning system – contributing on alto saxophone, shruti box, analogue synthesizer, throat singing, and vocals from PJEV, a female a cappella vocal quintet from the Balkans, that preserves and cherishes traditional vocal music from Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The traditional songs on the album represent these different regions, reflecting the distinct vocal styles that have developed over the passing centuries.
The combination of sounds echoed mightily and timelessly in the ancient acoustics of the Agneskirche, where the ensemble performed this spellbinding sold-out concert at the Cologne Jazz Week Festival in September 2021, which lives on now thanks to this pristine production issuing on Red Hook Records.