LOJZE SLAK
LOJZE SLAK was the founder and idea leader of the Lojze Slak Ensemble. At the age of fifteen, he played for the first time as an independent musician on weddings, and it would be difficult to count how many there were - hundreds of them!
In 1959 he founded the Slak Brothers Ensemble, where he played the chromatic accordion, brother Tone trumpet, brother Matija clarinet and brother Stane bass. Due to military obligations, the ensemble ceased to operate three years later and Lojze went to sought employment in Ljubljana.
At one of his performances on Radio Ljubljana in 1964, Lojze met the singing group Fantje s Praprotna and they immediately agreed to work together. This is how the Lojze Slak Ensemble was created, one of our best and most original domestic ensembles.
Lojze Slak has written more than four hundred unforgettable melodies, many of which are now popular and will remain forever in the hearts of Slovenians.
LOJZE SLAK ENSEMBLE
Although the Slak Brothers Ensemble recorded the first songs for the radio archive in the early 1960s and had the Lojze Slak Trio in early 1964 also recorded the first small record produced by RTB, the real beginning of the Lojze Slak Ensemble, as loved by friends of local music, marks however the meeting of Slak's instrumental trio with the vocal quintet Fantje s Praprotna.
In the new line-up, the ensemble began recording their songs for the radio archive and won over the radio audience. At the most important music records publisher from Zagreb – Jugoton, the group recorded the first large record with Lojze's tunes and the title melody Kadar pa mim' hiš'ce grem (But when I pass the house).
LOJZE SLAK PRIVATELY
Lojze always nurtured work zeal and sportsmanship, so he also embarked on such feats as hiking on Triglav mountain or jumping with a parachute from an airplane. On Trška gora, he produced an exceptional quality wine in his own vineyard - Dolenjski cviček, for which he received a number of awards and medals at the Novo mesto wine festival.
The most valuable reward for him, however, were his grandchildren, whom he loved most. They, too, were very proud of their grandfather, who, despite his abundance of work, was always happy to take the time to play with them.
He and his wife Ivanka celebrated their golden wedding on February 20, 2010 in the circle of family and friends, not knowing that he had already contracted an illness that would stop his rich life.
