Veritas Vincit is Pedja Milutinovic’s debut album, featuring the visionary David Binney, Pera Krstajic – the rising star of the LA jazz scene, Luka Ignjatovic – the most original sax player in the Balkans, Ron Warburg – the critically acclaimed trumpet player and producer, Ilija Nikolic – a highly innovative keyboardist and designer, and Andrija Gavrilovic – a brilliant classical and jazz trumpet player and composer, all based in NYC, the exceptional guitarists Nikola Milenkovic and Branko Trijic, and hip hop producer Stefan Todorovic Mystee, based in Belgrade, and Ivana Vukmirovic Manivi, a phenomenal singer based in Berlin.
As Milutinovic, who just turned 30, explains, Veritas Vincit (from Latin “truth prevails”) is about his coming of age and finding his own truth – that the most fulfilling things in his life have happened through honest and truthful cooperation with others. In a world that has mastered competition and conflict, Veritas Vincit invites us to explore Milutinovic’s collaborative reality, an alternative imagining that, through effortless swing and flow, and a fine sense of time and rhythm, sketches a horizon of hope for greater social harmony in a truly global world. A very welcome message, as this album is released during a pandemic that knows no borders and enforces social distancing upon us, and in times when we are rediscovering the value of being part of a community and having longstanding and loving relationships and collaborations.
Pedja Milutinovic is a drummer and now composer from Serbia, and a leading figure of the jazz scene in the Balkans. He is an arts activist, locally known for encouraging bottom-up organisation and mutually supportive collaborations between talented individuals in a region that has scarce resources for the arts, using the internet to overcome geographical boundaries and build new collective capabilities among musicians who share these values. Milutinovic is all about unexpected alliances and unintended outcomes. By publishing his debut album with Orenda Records, he shows us that, through collaboration, it is possible to change conditions that structure our lives no matter where we live or where we come from, and to develop languages that speak across cultures and even across continents, while respecting our different cultural influences and staying true to our origins.
“Pedja Milutinovic is a uniquely skilled, ultra-creative drummer whose playing is full of musical surprises! On his noteworthy debut release Milutinovic combines compositions featuring ensemble interaction/improvisation with simpler, groove oriented tunes, thus creating a balanced mix that is well paced and sonically pleasing. Overall high quality of musicianship is in evidence, while the telepathic connection between Milutinovic and his sidemen (from years of playing together in various musical projects) gives this album a potent cohesive force that has become somewhat rare in today's music. Over the years, Pedja Milutinovic has become one of Europe's most in demand sidemen. With this release, he is moving into the arena of original composition and leading a band of his own. If this goes as well for him as his drumming has, he will surely become a household name in the world of contemporary music.”
–Marko Djordjevic, drummer and associate professor at Berklee College of Music