If you happen to be in Belgrade and want to listen to and learn something new about the very roots of jazz, you need to step all the way back to the beginning of the 20th century and straight into the Dixie era! On that journey there is no better guide then the Belgrade Dixilend Orchestra and their unique singer Aleksandra Bijelić Aleksijević.

Aleksandra attended the jazz section in high school and graduated in Musical Theory from the Faculty of Music arts. With a considerable musical background and engagements in the past 16 years, this young lady sings like she was born carrying a hidden jazz code in her genes.Perfect diction, perfect singing technique and perfect amount of improvisation come naturally for her so you could easily be deluded that singing jazz is easy! This applies to Dixie but also to the modern jazz like Stevie Wonder’s or Kurt Elling’s songs. During the the last eight years she is also the lead singer for the quintet called: Alex and the Fergusons. One of the most notable albums these seasoned jazz musicians recorded is A Basement Session which includes covers of jazz and pop songs. Here’s a link to enjoy a small sample if you are interested!

As a backing-vocalist she collaborated with numerous names on the Serbian pop rock scene, and your child is probably listening to her voice - she borrowed it to many cartoon characters! She also teaches jazz singing so if you wish to learn how to sing – check out “Josif Marinkovic” music school in Vrsac.