Ljiljana Buttler
Bosnia and Herzegovina / Serbia
Ljiljana Buttler - The Mother of Gyspy Soul
She grew up earning her crust by singing in the cafes of Bijeljina, a small
Bosnian town, before moving to Belgrade. There she became the doyenne of
Skadalia, the old 'fun' quarter of the Serbian capital where men would drown
their sorrow and their pain in slivovice , or 'plum brandy', and music. In 1987
she vanished from the Balkan music scene, and in 2002 she recorded a new album
on the Connecting Cultures label. They call her the 'Gypsy Ella Fitzgerald' or
the ' Billie Holiday of Gypsy Music', but in reality, she's the mother of gypsy
soul.
