Renowned Croatian jazz pianist dies at 52

One of Croatia’s most renowned jazz pianists and composers, Matija Dedić, has died of undisclosed causes.

Matija Dedić died when he was 52, CE Report quotes MIA.

Matija Dedić was born in 1973 in Zagreb, where he completed his secondary music education at the Vatroslav Lisinski School of Music. Coming from a prominent musical family, the son of singer-songwriter Arsen Dedić and renowned vocalist Gabi Novak, he began his musical journey at an early age.

After finishing secondary school in 1991, he went on to study at the Jazz Academy in Graz, graduating in 1997. He returned to Zagreb the same year and quickly earned a strong reputation on the Croatian music scene.

In the late 1990s, Matija founded the Matija Dedić Trio, dedicated to performing his original compositions. The trio featured accomplished jazz musicians from Obrovac’s quartet, Žiga Golob and Krunoslav Levačić.

Over the years, Dedić performed in nearly every European country as well as the United States, playing with jazz greats such as Alvin Queen, Martin Drew, Ron Ringwood, Boško Petrović, Marc Murphy Band, Patrizia Conte, David Gazarov, Gianni Basso, Miles Griffith, Onder Fokan, Jean-Louis Rassinfosse, Anca Parghel, Tommy Emmanuel, Lenny White, Kendrick Scott, Jim Madison, Jeff Ballard, Vicente Archer, Buster Williams, Larry Grenadier, and many others.

He also composed music for television and theatre and frequently collaborated with leading Croatian pop musicians.

In 2000, the record label Cantus released his debut solo album, "Solo Part 1," followed by "Handwriting" in December 2001, which earned him three Porin music awards the following year. In 2004, Dallas Records released his album "Tempera," which featured twelve songs by Croatian pop artist Gibonni, personally selected and interpreted by Dedić.

A year later, he released "Drugi pogled (Another View)", also through Dallas Records, a tribute album featuring some of his father Arsen Dedić’s most beloved songs, including "Sve te vodilo k meni", "Kuća pored mora", "Ni ti ni ja", "Ne plači", "Razgovor s konobarom", and "Moderato cantabile".

In 2006, he recorded "Visiting Bruxelles" with Belgian double bassist Jean-Louis Rassinfosse and Czech drummer Marek Patrman. On his album "Life of Flowers," he performed both his own pieces and works by composer Dora Pejačević, alongside musicians from diverse genres.

The passing of Matija Dedić marks a significant loss for the Croatian music scene.