Band

Lead vocal: Sima Simić

Sima Simić was born in 1956 in Sabac. He finished secondary music school "Stankovic" in Belgrade, Department of clarinet. He later also began to play saxophone. Sima started singing in the famous orchestra 'SINGIDUNUM' with which he recorded many albums and performed worldwide with pop and folk stars of the former Yugoslavia. He lent his voice for a lead vocal and sang background vocals on many albums of famous Serbian singers. He performed everywhere - from smoky bars to full stadiums, and he is eager to make Gantzy Gang happen worldwide.

He lives in Kovin, Serbia, where he once opened the first private music school. His wife is a professor of music, his daughter Jelena Krstić won the competition for the best voice of Austria, while his son is a student of solo singing at the Vienna Music Academy.

Blues harp: Ljubomir Djordjević

Ljubomir Djordjević was born in 1964 in Belgrade, where he lives and works. He is a painter by profession, graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade in 1993. He started playing blues when he was 16 years old. At the age of 18, he started playing the blues harp in The Chess Blues Band. With a band Quo Vadis he played country music at festivals and club gigs. In the early 1990s he joined Dirty Fingers, with whom he played in Serbia and surrounding countries, and performed as a backing band for Francesca DeFazio. In 1996 his band played the opening act for Junior Wells in Belgrade. At the same time he also joined Zona B, with which he toured Serbia and surrounding countries, and recorded the album "Pirate". Later he joined the band The Blue Family with which he plays for 15 years now. With The Blue Family Ljuba has recorded four albums: Blue Undergraund, Here Comes The Blues, Drivin' With The Blues and Feelin' Groovy. Blue Family actively tours throughout Europe (Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Italy, Montenegro, Switzerland) at festivals and in clubs.

Trumpet: Demiran Ćerimović

Many Roman boys who originated from the musicians’ families from the South of Serbia, first started to suck the mouth-piece of a trumpet instead of a nipple. Demiran Ćerimović, born in Vranje in 1970, learnt the trumpet alphabet from his father.  He learnt the art of trumpet playing beside the leather craft. The first time Demiran took a part in the Guča Trumpet Festival was in 1986, at the age of 16, as a member of the orchestra of Master of the trumpet Božidar Ajdinović. Ajdinović has transferred a lot of his knowledge and love for the whole tradition of Serbian trumpet culture to his gifted student.

The orchestra „Pearls of Vranje“ led by Demiran won the Best Orchestra awards in Guča in 2002, 2006 and 2007, and proved that they are the best brass group in Serbia. Title of the orchestra is adequate to their music, because the pearl is a symbol of beauty of the trumpet sound and melody specific for South of Serbia. Demiran was awarded the Master’s Letter in 2007, and his name is engraved on the monument of trumpet in Guča.

The orchestra has recorded two CDs, performed live on TV and radio, and toured in Serbia and abroad (France, Belgium, Greece, Turkey...). Now, the whole orchestra is a member of Gantzy Gang and dedicated to gang’s goals.

* Trumpet: Rama Demirović * Trumpet: Novica Ćerimović * Tenor Horn: Dragan Ilievski * Tenor Horn: Petar Veljković * Tenor Horn: Aca Maksutović * Tenor Horn: Robert Demirović * Helicon: Stefan Ilić * Tapan: Branislav Semić *

Drums: Bekim Fazlijević

Bekim was born in 1975 in Belgrade in a family of musicians. His father was a professional musician, so Beki had a chance to learn to play from professionals. He was 12 when he began to actively play drums with friends from the neighborhood and soon after he began playing gigs at clubs in Belgrade.

He gained valuable experience by playing at numerous clubs and concert halls with various famous musicians and singers of different genres: Sextet, Fast Reaction, Balkan Triangle, Presto, La Luna, Ivana Ćosić, Filip Žmaher, Ceca Slavković, Ana Stanić, Moby Dick, Louis, Aleksandra Radović etc.

Along with playing music Bekim is involved into the world of recording music since 1995 and has worked at the studios as an arranger, sound engineer and technician.

Bass Guitar: Damjan Ćirilović

Damjan was born in 1982 in Belgrade. He finished musical high school "Slavenski", Department of classical guitar. He graduated in 2006 from the Academy of Art in Belgrade, Department of Sound Recording and Sound Design. He plays several instruments.

He played guitar in bands: Acoustica, Sky Soup, and Djordje Miljenović and Gliseri. Also, he performed with the orchestra of classical guitars in big concert halls. He plays bass in Belgrade reggae band Smoke 'n' Soul since 2007.

He has composed music and designed sound for several documentary films. He worked as the Head of Audio Sector on the movie "Vir" in 2012.