Monterey and Dubrovnik in Croatia have been sister cities since 2007, and the people of Dubrovnik like jazz too.
It was composer Ivan Bonačić’s idea to use jazz to tighten the connection between the cities. As a result, the Ivan Bonačić Quartet was set to play at the 68th Monterey Jazz Festival, and American jazz performers will travel to Dubrovnik for its Jazz Outbreak Festival in November.
Bonačić, who plays saxophone and flute, has released two albums to date with his quartet – Kraken in 2017 and Dream Aviary in 2022 – followed by a co-composed Bonačić / Corvino / Lipić in 2024. His own compositions are light and soothing, slow and gentle.
“I always compose my music around melody,” he says. “Strong melody is the one important thing that we are maybe losing in the modern way of jazz.”
That said, he is ready to release an album with energetic vocals, and this is what Croatian jazz and soul vocalist Valerija Nikolovska provides. With Nikolovska, the band is working on new material, to be released in 2026.
“We have been playing together for 10 years,” Bonačić explains. “I play with two of her bands and she plays now in my band.”
Bonačić grew up fascinated with Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles and The Beatles. While “fighting with a clarinet,” as he describes the experience with his first instrument, he heard the sound of saxophone. He didn’t know what it was, but he knew he wanted to sound like this.
His proper adventure with jazz started at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria. The school cherishes the traditions of jazz and opened a new world for Bonačić.
In Monterey, the quartet planned to present Bonačić’s compositions – he recently started to write lyrics – as well as Nikolovska’s songs and some material from the upcoming album.
“It will be a collage of our music, rearranged,” he says. “We are going to play mostly our songs. We’re going to save the standards for the late-night sessions.” (The festival famously overflows into evening improvisation.)