The day of October 24, 2008 will always have a special place in the Slovenian community here in Winnipeg, as on this day we were able to enjoy one of the best bands in Slovenia, Čuki (www.cuki.si).

Čuki is band, that feature four very special musicians, Jože Potrebuješ (guitarist and vocal), Matjaž Končan (button box, synthesizer and vocal), Vinko Cankar (bass guitarist and vocal) and Jernej Tozon (guitarist and lead singer). Čuki has over the past 18 years, produced countless albums/CDs, and are one of the few bands in Slovenia that have been able to bridge the gap between pop and traditional music successfully.

Čuki arrived in Winnipeg on Thursday October 23, direct from Slovenia. These were four very tired musicians, but you could also see a twinkle in their eyes, for this was their first sojourn to Canada. The camera's appeared very readily, and pictures were being snapped of the Winnipeg airport, and of themselves! Greeting them at the airport were the President of the Canadian Slovenian Cultural Society, Elizabeth Blazanovic, and members Albert Časar and Stan Majowski.

After the customary hellos and greetings, it was time to wait for the luggage to arrive. For some reason the musical instruments seem to take longer to arrive, and after seeing so much luggage come and go, but with no accordions visible, you could see the worry on Matjaž’s face. However after a few more minutes, the accordions did indeed arrive, and the members of Čuki were taken to their 'homes' the next two nights.

Upon arrival at their homes, it was time to talk a bit about Slovenia, learn what has transpired there, and to learn a bit more of our guests. As with most bands in Slovenia, music is not a full time job, but rather a passion that must be satisfied!

On Friday it was time for Čuki to setup their equipment in our hall, and after completing setup, it was off to DeLuca's restaurant for lunch. Over plates of pasta and pizza, more good times were exchanged, laughter shared, and memories created for all.

Friday evening, was of course the time our whole community was waiting for. Once again, our community did not disappoint, in that a sold out hall was there to greet Čuki into Winnipeg. At 7:00, Čuki was introduced by Steve Casar, the emcee of the evening, and they were greeted by Elizabeth Blazanovic into our community. A small gift was presented to them, commerating their visit to Winnipeg. After the welcomes and greetings, it was time for the show.

Every song played during the concert was introduced with specific attention to the words. One can easily see that Čuki took an awful lot of pride in their songs, and in their lyrics. They started their concert with 'Ena po Domače’, and continued their concert with one hit song after another. During the concert, they invited the audience to sing along with them, and at times to take over the singing. All in attendance were truly enjoying themselves. During the concert, Čuki invited Joe Pinter, together with some men singers in our community on stage. Matjaž graciously turned him button box over to Joe, and before too long members of our community where joining Čuki in playing and singing songs. That is how memories are made!

After the concert, a light dinner was served, and after dinner, it was on to the dance. Starting their set with the most famous polka ever written, Na Golici, the lead singer Jernej started the evening off by asking the President of our community Elizabeth to join him in a first dance. Immediately after this dance, Čuki continued playing and in no time the dance floor was packed.

After a few traditional songs, Čuki played a song called 'Kavbojci in Indijanci', which certainly had a square dance feel. The ladies of our community started line dancing to this song, and one can see that this was something new for Čuki. Immediately after this song, Jože asked all the ladies to stay on the dance floor, and once again lead singer Jernej jumped onto the dance floor and joined the ladies in a fun dance, performed to ‘Mi Gremo pa na Morje’. The idea during this dance was to mimic the movements that Jernej was performing, and the ladies were certainly captivated by this. They certainly followed the lead put forward by Jernej! After this song, Jernej and Čuki were not done, performing a song called 'Na Vlak' a train line was formed, and this time gentlemen jumped up and joined in the fun. A great time was being held by all!

During their first break, Čuki brought out their CDs for sale, and people were scooping them up in no time. Pictures with them were being taken, and once again, more memories were being created!

After the break, Čuki once again jumped onto the stage, and were asked to play a number of 'čestitke’ or ‘dedications’ for people in our community. Kristina Van Buren celebrated her 65th birthday by dancing to the beautiful waltz ‘S Kitaro Po Stari Ljubljani’, Martina Gornik-Marion celebrated her birthday with a very special singing of Happy Birthday by Čuki, and Vera Slejko was congratulated on her 40th birthday. Vera's dedication was perhaps an extra special one, as once again Matjaž gave up his button box, and Vera’s husband, Andy, took up the vacant button box and joined Čuki on stage and performed three numbers with Jože and Vinko. Vera also had the fortune to share her 40th birthday dance with Jernej while Andy was on stage playing for her birthday. Once again, special memories were being created for our community!

During a venček of Avsenik songs, Čuki began playing 'Tam Kjer Murke Cveto'. It was in no time flat, that Hilda Terry joined Čuki on stage and sang this classic song with Jernej. As with most musicians, Čuki were very willing to share the stage with our community, but when they heard the angelic voice of Hilda, they honestly stopped playing, Jože told Vinko to give Hilda her own mike, further Jože raced to the back room, where Čuki had their supplies, picked up his video camera, and Čuki once again began playing ‘Tam Kjer Murke Cveto’, from the top, but this time Jože was videotaping Hilda singing with Jernej. In order for them to do this, they must have been impressed with Hilda’s singing ability. As one can gather, many memories were being created this evening.

For the many bands that have come to Winnipeg in the past, it wasn’t too long before a limbo stick came out, and a line to perform the limbo was set up. Once again, the look on Čuki's faces was great! I don't know if anyone has every limboed to their music, but it certainly looked like this was the first time. The continued to play, and we continued to dance.

Unfortunately the evening ended much too quickly, and before one could believe it, the music ended, and it was time to go home. While home is where we went, the memories of this very memorable evening will be forever burned into our minds and into our hearts. It is precisely why this community exists, is to create these memories, so that we can see the good that comes from this community!

The Slovenian community of Winnipeg would like to once again thank Čuki for coming to Winnipeg and sharing their friendship and their music with us. You will never be forgotten in our community!

Written by,
Stan Majowsk

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