Jozo Penava (26 May 1909 – 17 January 1987) was a Bosnian-Herzegovinian music producer, composer, arranger, musician and vocalist. Penava immensely contributed to the development of folk songs and the traditional
Bosniak
The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...
folk music
sevdalinka
Sevdalinka (), also known as Sevdah music, is a traditional genre of folk music originating in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Sevdalinka is an integral part of the Bosniak culture, but is also spread across the ex- Yugoslav region, including Croatia, Mo ...
. He worked with many prominent sevdalinka singers of the 20th century, such as
Safet Isović
Safet Isović (8 January 1936 – 2 September 2007) was a Bosnian singer who performed the Bosnian traditional music sevdalinka.
Early life and family
Isović was born into a Bosniak family in Bileća, located in the Herzegovina region of mode ...
,
Zehra Deović
Zehra Deović (9 December 1938 – 30 October 2015) was a Bosnian sevdalinka-folk singer and was one of the leading female singers of the 1960s and 1970s in Yugoslavia, along with Silvana Armenulić, Nada Mamula and Beba Selimović.
Deović ...
,
Himzo Polovina,
Nada Mamula,
Beba Selimović, Nedžad Salković,
Silvana Armenulić, and
Meho Puzić, among others.
Biography
Penava was born in the village of
Palež near
Kiseljak
Kiseljak ( sr-cyrl, Кисељак) is a town and municipality located in Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies in the valley of the Fojnica River, the Lepenica and the ...
, in what is today
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
. As a young man he studied to become a
baker
A baker is a tradesperson who baking, bakes and sometimes Sales, sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery.
History
Ancient histo ...
. Penava was in love with the craft of baking, but was never attracted to getting up early and working in high temperature kitchens.
His passion for music was stronger. After serving his military service in
Sombor
Sombor ( sr-Cyrl, Сомбор, ; ; ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the West Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The city has a total population of 41,814 (), while its adminis ...
in 1939, Penava composed his first songs: "Sa prozora" (''From the Window'') and "U baštici, kraj bijele ružice" (''In a Small Garden, by the White Roses''). He enrolled in a music school where he gained musical knowledge. Penava was one of the founders of Radio Sarajevo in April 1945 after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Penava led the
tambura orchestra of Radio Sarajevo for more than twenty years.
Songs
*"Bere cura plav jorgovan"
*"Sve behara i sve cvjeta"
*"Sjetuje me majka"
*"Cvati ružo moja"
*"Sarajevo, behara ti tvoga"
*"Gledala sam sa prozora"
*"Na mezaru majka plače i nišane ljubi"
*"Golube poleti"
*"Pokraj kuće male"
*"Sarajčice hajdemo"
*"Pjesma Kiseljaku"
*"Ismihana dušo moja"
*"Mene moja zaklinjala majka"
References
External links
Jozo Penava discography at Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Penava, Jozo
1909 births
1987 deaths
People from Kiseljak
Sevdalinka
Yugoslav musicians
Musicians from Sarajevo