Laza Ristovski - Biography

Biography

Laza Ristovski was born in Novi Pazar as his father, a JNA officer, was stationed there at the time. When Ristovski was two years old, the family moved to Kraljevo which is where he grew up. He formed his first band, Bezimeni (The Nameless), when he was fourteen.

In the summer of 1974 Bezimeni performed at Bečići, where a well known clarinetist Boki Milošević heard their performance. Ristovski went to Belgrade and became a member of Milošević's orchestra. That autumn Ristovski started performing with Smak, but became their official member on 25 January 1975. With Smak he recorded their debut self-titled album Smak, Radomir Mihajlović's first solo album R. M. Točak and several singles.

In October 1976 he was persuaded by Goran Bregović to join Bijelo Dugme on keyboards as the band was getting ready to start recording their third studio album Eto! Baš hoću!. Ristovski was a replacement for their regular keyboardist Vlado Pravdić who had to go and serve the mandatory army stint. After initial hesitation Ristovski decided to join Bijelo Dugme. They recorded the album Eto! Baš hoću! in London throughout November 1976, and then started preparing for the tour. Ristovski played his first concert with Bijelo Dugme on 11 February 1977 in Sarajevo, thus embarking on a rollercoaster tour that culminated in the famous Hajdučka česma concert during mid-August 1977 in Belgrade. Before that triumph in front of 80,000 people, however, the band went through a six month tour that among other things featured technical problems, poorly rehearsed material, members quitting, show cancellations, and a few occasions when the band was on the verge of breaking up. Despite all the problems, Ristovski stayed on even after the tour ended and was made into the full-time regular band member on suggestion by drummer Ipe Ivandić, meaning that Pravdić did not rejoin the band after getting out of the army.

As Bregović left for his own army stint in November 1977 thus putting the band on hiatus, Ristovski and Ivandić decided to start working on a side project. Naming their act Laza i Ipe, they recorded a progressive rock album called Stižemo (Here We Come) in London during February and March 1978, but ran into problems with finances as Jugoton record label was not willing to meet their promotional demands, which meant that the album's release date kept getting pushed back.

Simultaneously, with Bijelo Dugme on hiatus, Ristovski with Ivandić's full support wanted internal setup within the band to change as he did not want the writing credits to be only attributed to Bregović. Eventually in late July 1978 the two quit the band, deciding to fully commit to their project, which after switching labels to ZKP RTLJ was finally set to be released on 10 September 1978. However, on the same day Ivandić got arrested and charged for possession of hashish, which interrupted the album promotion. Also, since Ivandić now had much bigger problems to deal with, the duo pretty much quietly ended.

In the beginning of 1978, Ristovski worked with band Vatra, but eventually returned to Smak in late 1978.

In 1980 he released solo single with Tugomir Vidanović's songs "Tražiš oproštaj" and "Andželika". Members of Mama Co Co and Vatra were involved in the single recording. After Smak disbanded Ristovski took part in the recording of Smak's former vocalist Boris Aranđelović's solo album Iz profila. In the beginning of the 1980s Ristovski became the member of Alvin Lee Band and played on their Yugoslav and Hungarian tour. He also worked with RTB Jazz Orchestra. His debut album Merge became the best-selling instrumental music LP in 1983. With opera singer Dubravka Zubović he recorded a classical music album.

He returned to Bijelo Dugme in 1985. During this period Ristovski usually played various keyboards and synthesizers while Vlado Pravdić played the organ. Ristovski stayed in Bijelo Dugme until the band broke up in 1989.

In 1993 Ristovski recorded album Naos with Bajaga i Instruktori keyboardist Saša Lokner. Part of the songs were inspired by Orthodox spiritual music. Various songs which he recorded with Smak, Bijelo Dugme, Zdravko Čolić, Aerodrom, Videosex and Osvajači were released on 1997 compilation album Svetlost u A-duru (Antologija).

Despite using a wheelchair, Laza Ristovski took part in three Bijelo Dugme reunion shows (in Sarajevo, Zagreb, and Belgrade) during June 2005. He died in Belgrade on October 6, 2007 following a long battle with multiple sclerosis.