A double bassist
He studied music at the Music School in Velika Gorica and graduated from the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Zagreb.
As a teenager, he played electric bass in smaller rock bands. He was a member of the Udruženje za razvoj kulture “URK” (Culture Development Association “CDA”) which formed the Zagreb club Močvara. The club was opened in 1999 with funds from the association, as in its beginning was not financially supported by the municipality and the Ministry of Culture. For many years he was actively involved in the preparation, organization and implementation of club events.
For many years he has been engaged in free music improvisation, exploring the sonic possibilities of his instrument, double bass. He regularly participates in free improvisation workshops and musicians’ meetings as part of the Sunday noise cycle at the Metulj Club in Bistrica ob Sotli and the International Congress of Improvised Improvisational Music, Arts and Thoughts.
He is a member of the band »Jaz, drevo« (I, Tree), a trio formed on the initiative of double bassist and cellist Giovanni Maier, with saxophonist Cene Resnik. Boris Janje frequently collaborates with Croatian musicians: Damir Prica, Igor Pavlica, Franjo Glušac, Ivan Marincl, Bruno Vidović and others.
With the Italian dancer Cristiano Fusillo, they form a duo that creates and explores freely improvised music and free dance forms. Together they organize and run music dance workshops, especially in Italy.
The most important projects in which he has recently participated are: the ensemble of five double bassists, who performed a time score on the Confine aperto cycle led by Tomaž Grom; multiversal- MULTISLOW !!!, which visits cities all over Europe to create opportunities for extreme music lovers, operates under name Multiversal and is transformed into countless derivatives through various territories and through D.I.Y. ethics; Glacies, a project by Ana Kravanja where musicians play on the refrigerator shelves, a musical dance performance Voice of skin with Japanese dancer Naoko Maeshiba and violinist Marko Jenič, the Tentet of Jaka Berger’s audio life stream.
Discography
· Jaz, drevo: Giovanni Maier, Boris Janje, Cene Resnik – Cycles and lullabies (Palomar Records, 2019)
· Henry Marić and Boris Janje – Clarinet and Double Bass Duo (self-publishing, 2018)
· Jean-Luc Guionnet / Markus Krispel / Boris Janje / Stefano Giust / Miklós Szilveszter – Live Spomen dom (Setola di Maiale, 2016)
Current projects
· Jaz, Drevo: Giovanni Maier – cello; Boris Janje – double bass; Cene Resnik – saxophone
· Glacies: Ana Kravanja, Andrei Fon, Tea Vidmar, Samo Kutin, Jernej Babnik Romaniuk, Vid Drasler, Boris Janje, Ivo Podržaj – refrigerator shelves
· Jars: Henry Maric – clarinets; Stefano Guist – drums; Boris Janje – double bass
· duo: Boris Janje – double bass; Cristiana Fusillo – dance
Workshops
· Cristiana Fusillo and Boris Janje – monthly workshops in the field of music and dance improvisation, Staranzano, Italy
· Cristiana Fusillo and Boris Janje – a dance and music workshop, Collateral Maris, Vieste, Italy (2019)
We point out
JAZ, DREVO
Giovanni Maier – cello
Boris Janje – double bass
Cene Resnik – tenor sax
»As a trio, they make an excellent first statement of improvised chamber music with depth. They play with many musical ingredients in a very communicative way. Sometimes they follow a strategy of contrasting movements and gestures. Leading up to very intense and expressive sequences like near the end of ‘Microtonal Serenade’. They are very well
attuned to one other and very focused. Their relevant musical interactions show they know where they are heading.« (Dolf Murdere, Vital Weekly, 2019)
»Spartan, spare, open…you can bet your last pair of metal twigs on that, if you’re a sculptor…Alberto Giacometti in sound, is what I’m trying to get at. Two lower-register stringed instruments give you that fix of mournful musical sighing and sloughing in a way that nothing else can deliver…
… I like a record that’s not too eager to please the audience, and the naked honesty of this simple music is plain-spoken and bracing.« (Ed Pinsent, The Sound projector, 2019)
JAZ, DREVO – 3. medium euphoria – cycles and lullabies – Youtube
Henry Marić and Boris Janje – duo clarinet and double bass – bandcamp
Cristiana Fusillo, Boris Janje- Dialogo tra una danzatrice e un contrabbasso – Youtube