Drummer/composer Zlatko Kaucic is well-known in the world music market for being a vanguard performer. His material has given improvisational music meaning behind its twisting vines and undulating knolls, and its rings of eclectic chimes and abstract mirages. His latest release is a 3-CD set entitled 30th Anniversary Concerts which contains his albums Slakoper with the Cerkno Trijo, Doline with the Doline Trijo, and his solo record Tolminski Punt 2. The material covers Kaucic’s expansive breadth as a recording artist from the operatic trestles that vestibule Tolminski Punt 2 to the avant-garde tapestries, and chiseled fragments of Doline, and the chamber music bristles and melodic groves of Slakoper. Squiggling figures and ambient sounds materialize out of thin air throughout the compositions making the listener sensitive to processing new images and the correlation they have to existing vibrations. Kaucic takes audiences on a junket that opens their minds and their emotions to the free-flowing expressions which surface through his compositions.

The ornate chamber music paradigms that course through Slakoper feature Kaucic on drums and percussion with saxophonist Javier Girotto and bass player Salvatore Maiore as they furnish some stimulating adventures. The curling motions and energizing swivels in the title track of Slakoper are crystallized in quivering drums and frilly saxophone spins reminiscent of a Turkish dance. The bays of saxophone swirls grope the melodic curves of “Reflettiva” as the tin-like echoes of the drum strikes flounce about like a cheerful gazelle. The tribal drumming that decor “Pampa Kids” is blanketed in a sedate versing, contrasting the boisterous saxophones and massive swells of “Meeting of Rhinos” which blare and tumble loudly along the melodic channels. The saxophone wails of “Immagracion” plead poetically, and then prance gleefully through “Mathias” with a buoyant stepping.

Kaucic’s other two albums in the CD-set are more abstract and esoteric sounding particularly the tracks for Doline. Comprising of Kaucic with bassist Giovanni Maier and Middle Eastern vocalist Saadet Turkoz, the Doline Trijo erupts and soars into mountainous crescendos. The jungle sounds of “Birds Live” are celebratory, and the earthquaking rattles of “Ziva-va-mal” are bombastic. The Indian-winged chants of “Dance With Unknown” showcase Saadet’s raspy timbres and amazing elastic maneuvers to perfection. The echoing gongs that resonate through the corridors of the title track are layered in Saadet’s exquisite vocal soars and didgeridoo-like chimes lacing the percussive beats. The experimental notations that barb “Paslus ego tripr” are choppy and sharply cut, while the ceremonial aura of “Hara mal” portrays a gamut of expressions from rage and courage to being meditative and intriguing.

Kaucic’s solo album Tolminski Punt 2 is vastly different from Doline and Slakoper. The highlight of the album is baritone vocalist Robert Vrcon whose operatic register is hypnotizing and bejewels the tracks with luscious gilding. Also joining Kaucic on the recording is saxophonist/clarinet player Peter Brotzmann whose fomenting squalls along the channels of “Destrukeijc” are roped in shivering drum strikes, while the twittering squawks of his horns in “Gori Poezija” are pulverizing. Vrcon’s vocals are riveting in “Usedlina” as the mammoth-sized wails of the saxophone echo like a stampede of elephants, and the rumbling drum beats of “Noc” make bold streaks across the lanes of screeching horns.

30th Anniversary Concerts is a snapshot of Zlatko Kaucic’s work. Inside are 3 CD’s that depict Kaucic’s talent as an ardent improviser and a prolific drummer. His material shows influences of world music and eclectic jazz producing a global hybrid that binds eastern and western cultures. It’s a compilation that not only speaks of Kaucic’s work, but additionally speaks of modern jazz’s soul. His music is a conduit for contemporary influences, and a portrait of their intermingling and companionship integrated in a way that enlightens audiences of how multi-faceted human interaction can be, and the beauty that exists within its confines.