Jože Privšek (19 March 1937 – 11 June 1998), who also presented himself with the pseudonyms Jeff Conway and Simon Gale, was one of the most acclaimed Slovene

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

musicians. He was a

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

vibraphonist The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vib ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

Life

Privšek was born in Ljubljana. He studied music at the Ljubljana Intermediate Music School until 1955 and then for three years in the same city with the composer Lucijan Marija Škerjanc. He continued his studies at the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

in the United States with the professor

Herb Pomeroy Irving Herbert Pomeroy III (April 15, 1930 – August 11, 2007) was an American jazz trumpeter, teacher, and the founder of the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble. Early life Pomeroy was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, United States. He began playing ...

. He started his career as a pianist and a vibraphonist. In 1961, he took the post of the leader of the RTV Slovenia Big Band, which brought him the widest recognition, and retained it until 1995, and as the composer of numerous music works and arrangements of popular and jazz music. Privšek died in Ljubljana at the age of 61 years.

Work

Some of Privšek's pop songs – among these are “Ljubezen v f molu”,"Nad mestom se dani" (Dawn Above the City), "Vozi me vlak v daljave" (Train Drives Me Far Away), "Silvestrski poljub" (New Year's Eve Kiss), "Mati, bodiva prijatelja" (Mother, Let's Be Friends) – have become golden oldies in Slovenia. Among his best jazz works are "Porednež" (The Naughty Man), "Ognjemet" (Firework), "Zeleni pekel" (Green Hell), "Privid" (Mirage), "We Need Time", "Rožnik" (June), "That's for Ending" and others. In the UK, his music was frequently used for BBC test card transmissions in between regular broadcasting. "Flying over San Jose", performed by the Simon Gale Orchestra, is a well-known example. The Simon Gale Orchestra released the CD ''Classical Beatles'' in 1994. there were multiple LP released as Jeff Conway and his Orchestra between 1974 and 1989, including ''Jeff Conway's Big Band Cocktail'' (1987).Discogs
/ref> Privšek's classical works include a Piano Concerto, the ''Ballet in Colours'' and the ''May Suite'' for brass band.

References

1937 births 1998 deaths 20th-century Slovenian classical composers Slovenian male musicians Slovenian male classical composers Slovenian classical pianists Vibraphonists Berklee College of Music alumni Slovenian film score composers Male film score composers Slovenian music arrangers Musicians from Ljubljana Slovenian jazz composers 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century pianists 20th-century jazz composers Slovenian jazz pianists Yugoslav composers Yugoslav film score composers {{Slovenia-composer-stub