Sasa Ilic, Giovanni Guidi - Autumn Leaves

Autumn Leaves. Playing what is no longer there: Saša Ilić and the melancholy of the Balkans—war, jazz, love, and loss.

Featuring Saša Ilić and Giovanni Guidi.

Saša Ilić was born in Jagodina (Serbia) and graduated from the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade. He has published numerous works of fiction.

He received the NIN Award for Novel of the Year for *Pas i kontrabas* (2019) and was awarded the Borislav Pekić scholarship for his novel *Berlinsko okno* (2005). His novel *Rt* was published in 2025 in Novi Sad and Zagreb. He was a co-founder of the literary supplement *Beton*, part of the daily newspaper *Danas* (2006–2013).

Together with the *Beton* editorial team, he received the Dušan Bogavac Award for journalistic ethics and courage (NUNS, 2007). He co-founded and curated the *Polip* literary festival in Pristina with Jeton Neziraj, running it from 2010 to 2023. He writes columns for *Peščanik* and *Radar*.

His prose has been translated into Albanian, English, French, Italian, Macedonian, and German.

He lives in Belgrade during the work week and travels during his time off.

Giovanni Guidi is a pianist and composer, and one of the most original voices in contemporary Italian jazz. Raised in an environment deeply connected to music, he taught himself the piano and met Enrico Rava at a very young age; he joined Rava’s "Under 21" band, launching a career that would take him to major international stages. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with artists such as Joe Lovano, Tomasz Stańko, Gianluca Petrella, and Matthew Herbert, developing a personal musical language rooted in listening, improvisation, and musical dialogue. Following his initial recordings for CAM Jazz, he has been releasing albums on the ECM label for over a decade, working with producer Manfred Eicher and solidifying his partnership with Thomas Morgan and João Lobo—the core of his trio. Alongside his concert career, he maintains a strong commitment to social causes, notably through *Liberorchestra*, a musical project born from the coming together of diverse people, experiences, and abilities.