Mladen Gutesha

Mladen "Bobby" Guteša (; 16 December 1923 – 2 December 2015), also known as Mladen Gutesha, was an orchestra conductor, composer, and arranger of Serbo-Yugoslav origin who lived and worked in Germany and Switzerland. He worked under his real name, as well as the pseudonyms Gert Bauer, Sonny Steffen, and Chris Halmon. He mainly composed pieces for jazz, symphony and dance orchestras, as well as film. Contemporary critics have often referred to him as "the Quincy Jones of Yugoslav jazz".

Life and work

Guteša taught himself the trombone in 1941 and studied conducting at the Faculty of Music at the University of Arts in Belgrade for five years, from 1945 to 1949. While still a student, he played trombone with the Belgrade Radio Orchestra starting from 1943. In 1946 he became a trombonist in Bojan Adamič's orchestra.

He emigrated to Germany the same year, where he played the trombone in jazz ensembles in US officers' clubs in Frankfurt. There he came into contact with Benny Goodman and arranged several pieces for him. Guteša worked as a trombonist for Kurt Edelhagen and also became a sought-after arranger for German radio stations, where he also wrote the arrangements (Walkin''' and 'Round Midnight) for productions with Miles Davis in 1957. He also arranged for the Modern Jazz Quartet and Lee Konitz. worked together with Chris Hinze, Benny Bailey and Charlie Mariano/Ack van Rooyen. In 1986 Guteša was given a teaching position at the Swiss Jazz School in Bern. ...Und... (1972) with Jean Warland, Lala Kovačev, Sigi Schwab Strictly Instrumental'' (1989) with Thomas Stabenow, Klaus Wagenleiter, Joe Gallardo, Johannes Faber