'To the Beat of My Footsteps' by Miloš Čolović

'To the Beat of My Footsteps' marks the formal introduction of bassist and composer, Miloš Čolović, who finds himself inducted into the hallowed walls of Italy's A.MA Records.

Despite the album serving as the musician's debut solo outing, Čolović's musical lineage dates back some years having had a hand in a multitude of projects including as part of the Gavro Quartet and Soothsayer, as well as work alongside guitarist Martin Iaies.

An impassioned and versatile musician, the Serbian bassist has found inspiration for his music across a multitude of genres and styles.  As casually displayed on the album's front cover, legendary rock band Queens of the Stone Age have proved as influential to his musical make-up as the music of Horace Silver and Wayne Shorter have.

Even just a cursory look over Čolović's YouTube channel portrays the fascinating tapestry of the last ten years of his musical journey.  The dynamicism and talents available to him are on full display through a series of intimate performances, conversations and jam sessions alongside frequent collaborators including vocalist Tanja Filipović, trumpeter Skyler Floe along with a smattering of past groups and ensembles including Egger Legionnaires, Nadzor Trio and the Thelonious Monk tribute act, The Monksters.  

From an expansive well of collaborators to pick from across Serbia's thriving jazz scene, Čolović assembles an exceptional line-up of artists to help facilitate his pioneering vision for jazz.  Amongst the album's key players are pianist Andreja Hristic, drummer Milos Grbatinic, saxophonists Luka Ignjatovic and Rastko Obradovic, all aided by A.MA Records label mate, trumpeter Ivan Radivojević, whose own 'In Plain View' album release (2022) still ranks as a sublime inclusion amidst the A.MA catalogue.

With songs throughout 'To the Beat of My Footsteps' flitting between Čolović's trio and sextet formations, 'Cimmeria' injects some immediate and infectious energy into the album as the project's opening number captivates with an enthusiastic swing.  Credited for six of the album's seven compositions, Čolović's affections for Duke Ellington's 'Solitude' are on display here with a bass-led, stripped-back presentation of the ballad which works in stark contrast to much of the album's energy delivering a superb track for the trio arrangement.

'The Dreadful Moths' races through with a rampant and compelling urgency before introducing us to perhaps the album's centrepiece, in the form of the title track, 'To the Beat of My Footsteps'.  Presented in two halves, Čolović and company deliver a scintillating closing number that does indelible justice to the project's scope and ambition as a whole. 

It's certainly been a lengthy journey for Miloš Čolović to finally present his debut, solo outing.  With so many collaborations and performances to his name, the seven tracks on this sensational album make a fitting crowning achievement to everything that has gone into his music over the last ten-plus years.