This year’s Jazz Waves program, which also marks the opening of Pula’s 2025 Summer Cultural Season, begins on Wednesday, May 28, at the Small Roman Theatre, with a performance by Edo Maajka and the HRT Jazz Orchestra under the baton of Miron Hauser.
The Jazz Orchestra of Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT), the only professional ensemble of its kind in Croatia, has, over more than seven decades of activity, established itself as one of the world’s longest-running big bands. Since 2000, it has maintained its own concert cycle, which is recorded or broadcast live on Croatian Radio’s Third Program. A distinctive feature of the orchestra is that most of its members also work as composers and arrangers. Under the long-term leadership of Miljenko Prohaska (1955–1989), the orchestra focused on domestic repertoire, helping it develop a unique style recognizable even on the international stage.
Their work is preserved in HRT’s audio and video archives and featured on numerous award-winning recordings. Among the most recent are the Porin-awarded albums: Insite by Davor Križić (Aquarius Records/HRT), For Your Afternoon Entertainment with Darko Rundek (Menart/HRT), Candide by Mario Bočić (Croatia Records/HRT), and Something Bigger Than Us with Mangroove (Aquarius Records). Since the 2019/2020 season, the orchestra’s artistic director has been Miron Hauser.
Miron Hauser (Pula, 1985) graduated in jazz trombone from the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz under Ed Neumeister, and earned a master’s degree from the Giuseppe Tartini Conservatory in Trieste. His early jazz experiences began even before formal education, as a member of the Croatian Youth Music Jazz Orchestra (2004–2012), where he collaborated with internationally renowned jazz musicians such as Toshiko Akiyoshi, Joseph Bowie, John Hollenbeck, Dave Liebman, Peter Erskine, Jim McNeely, Miljenko Prohaska, Yellowjackets, Randy Brecker, Bob Mintzer, and others. Since 2011, he has been a member of the HRT Jazz Orchestra, performing as a trombonist, arranger, composer, and conductor, and is also a co-founder of the JazzIstra Orchestra. He is a member of the Slovenian-Cuban band Los Señores, an occasional guest performer with Cubismo, and has performed with the Cuban salsa group Maykel Blanco y su Salsa Mayor. From 2011 to 2016, he was a permanent member of the pop group Jinx. He has also worked with many Croatian pop artists including Oliver Dragojević, Nina Badrić, Natali Dizdar, and Gibonni.
He is a three-time recipient of the Status Award from the Croatian Musicians Union for best jazz trombonist, and a multiple Porin Award winner. On his debut album Moja Kuba (Cantus, HRT, 2024), recorded with the HRT Jazz Orchestra, he showcased himself as a composer, arranger, trombonist, and conductor. The album won this year’s Porin for Best Jazz Album.
The highly anticipated opening of last season’s HRT Jazz Orchestra concert series in collaboration with Edo Maajka took place on October 2, 2024, at the Gorgona Hall of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb. Hip hop fans and jazz enthusiasts gathered in large numbers to experience the work of the celebrated rapper, producer, and lyricist in a rare blend with the sound of a big band. The arrangements were written by Bruna Matić, Luka Žužić, and Miron Hauser. The collaboration came at Hauser’s initiative, and the program was developed together by him and Edo Maajka. They selected songs previously arranged by Luka Žužić for the compilation album Spomen ploča (2010), and added new ones based on their suitability for orchestral interpretation.
The final selection spans the rich breadth of Edo’s musical career, from his early albums that defined the Croatian hip hop scene – Slušaj Mater (2002) and No sikiriki (2004) – to his latest release Moćno (2022), which won a Porin Award for Best Hip Hop Album.
This fascinating musical collaboration will be presented to the Pula audience in the unique setting of the Small Roman Theatre.
