# Ana Popović in Madrid — The Unbreakable Spirit of the Blues of EU Jazz & Blues Festival 2026 Autumn – Winter Concert Season: Photos

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2026/10/12/ana-popovic/
- Published: 2026-10-12T20:30:17+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**A Serbian guitar virtuoso at Villanos del Jazz: courage, freedom, and the power
of the electric guitar!!!**

Madrid, a city whose nights are animated by music, conversation, and the restless
energy of its streets, provides an inspiring setting for the arrival of Ana Popović,
one of the most distinctive figures in contemporary blues-rock.

 Performing as part of the prestigious Villanos del Jazz concert series, the Serbian-
born guitarist brings to the Spanish capital a musical identity forged through determination,
extraordinary instrumental skill, and an unwavering commitment to the expressive
power of the blues.

Popović’s story is particularly significant because it challenges some of the historical
assumptions surrounding electric blues guitar. For generations, the genre’s most
influential instrumental voices have overwhelmingly been men. Names such as Albert
King, Albert Collins, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and George Benson have shaped
the vocabulary of blues and blues-rock, establishing a demanding tradition of expressive
phrasing, rhythmic authority, technical command, and personal musical identity.

Ana Popović entered this tradition without attempting to diminish its history or
imitate it mechanically. Instead, she absorbed its lessons and developed a voice
of her own. Her playing combines the muscular energy of electric blues with the 
sophistication of jazz, the immediacy of rock, and a modern sense of arrangement.
Her guitar can speak with a fierce, cutting intensity, but it can also become fluid
and lyrical, moving through phrases that suggest a singer’s breath or the emotional
arc of a story.

The result is a style that feels both deeply rooted and unmistakably contemporary.

Her appearance in Madrid is therefore more than another stop on an international
concert itinerary. It represents the continuing journey of an artist who has crossed
geographical, cultural, and professional boundaries to establish herself among the
internationally recognized performers of her generation.

![Ana Popovic Tickets & 2026 Concert Tour Dates | SeatGeek](https://images.openai.
com/static-rsc-4/OHTrhXbKJuiRUCgMIghhBWn7vooF8h6byWydw3sgH2VjlWPbCYQXAqZKqWob8VtJx8i9hhpBI3SgLPIo__yXNBKksggepcw1e4_R2NOIFhrmB8-
00YUv1VCGqs3AyAysbxZffZtBpRWV6aMwx-tjHSoNqKr8mqLhAcht23x0TTg?purpose=inline)

Within the broader European autumn–winter jazz and blues season, Popović’s presence
offers a particularly powerful reminder that blues is not a closed historical tradition.
It is a living language, continually renewed by musicians who bring their own experiences,
influences, and ambitions to the stage.

### A journey from Belgrade to the international blues stage

Ana Popović’s artistic journey is inseparable from the experience of moving between
musical cultures. Born in Belgrade, she grew up in an environment where blues and
rock offered a window into a wider world of sound. The guitar became her principal
instrument of expression, connecting her to a tradition that originated in African
American musical experience but has continually inspired musicians far beyond the
United States.

Her achievement has never depended on simply reproducing the vocabulary of American
blues guitar. It has depended on learning that vocabulary deeply enough to speak
through it with her own accent, temperament, and musical imagination.

The electric guitar is an unusually revealing instrument. Its sound can be shaped
by the smallest changes in touch, the pressure of a finger, the angle of a pick,
or the way a note is allowed to sustain before disappearing into silence. A technically
accomplished guitarist may play a fast succession of notes, but a truly expressive
musician understands that a single note, placed at precisely the right moment, can
communicate more than an entire flurry of virtuosity.

![Live Review: Ana Popovic w/ Jax Hollow @ Rams Head on Stage -- 3/16/25 | Parklife
DC](https://images.openai.com/static-rsc-4/DCCBa73OjutayUcrE8TNhRMW8kGe6FcaUlXomWi95vS-
mZjYEr2u6nHAu4zNfutbn9cjnRpG8bF-kqYmqHiMwxzYbWbPn_anydqCX8YjMclUJkKAVAb5oU_sv-Mgz4mTX2sWHEDXG2W7NWBd5-
iaJajQPJRUM9Odf2BiT8QGdAQ?purpose=inline)

Popović’s playing draws on this expressive tradition. Her influences include the
powerful phrasing of Albert King, the fiery attack associated with Stevie Ray Vaughan,
and the adventurous electric language of Jimi Hendrix. Yet her work also reflects
an understanding of modern blues-rock as a broad field, one that can accommodate
jazz harmony, soul, funk, and contemporary production.

That combination has helped her develop a sound capable of addressing different 
audiences. Blues purists can recognize the traditional roots; rock listeners can
respond to the intensity and volume; jazz enthusiasts can appreciate the phrasing
and harmonic flexibility; and newcomers can be drawn in by the immediacy of her 
performances.

Her career demonstrates that the blues is not defined by the country in which a 
musician was born. It is defined by the depth of musical understanding, the authenticity
of the performance, and the ability to transform inherited forms into something 
personal.

![FRANCE-MUSIC-PORTRAIT](https://images.openai.com/static-rsc-4/byL6AiLs1ATq0vnzrmVqdUblSWBYHzK5MOAtSOoADwuVLsCA71V98rplqP_BAKojUJXrRYBiaG0KrqIj7GTkUVG8FnwQDF7TEhZ9wHHm0QcPzjQP3cTKUMnsunqQqb0IZFu4BBqzZwMlo5WaT_pEfBMVzyzQL2P7j2o2vwpYHUUOw9CaOUmgPr_9SqPbvZ5Z?
purpose=inline)

### The Experience Hendrix Tour — Standing among the masters

One of the defining milestones in Popović’s international career was her participation
in the official Experience Hendrix Tour, where she became the first woman to take
part in the prestigious touring tribute.

The significance of this achievement extends beyond the symbolic importance of being
a woman on the bill. Jimi Hendrix remains one of the most influential electric guitarists
in modern music history. His revolutionary use of distortion, feedback, dynamics,
and improvisation transformed the possibilities of the instrument, making the guitar
a vehicle for sonic exploration as well as melody and rhythm.

A tribute to Hendrix is therefore a demanding musical undertaking. It requires more
than reproducing recognizable riffs. The performer must understand the adventurous
spirit behind the music: its freedom, its rhythmic elasticity, its willingness to
challenge convention, and its capacity to move between delicacy and explosive force.

Sharing the stage in this context with musicians such as Buddy Guy, Zakk Wylde, 
and Jonny Lang placed Popović within a distinguished company of artists shaped by
the blues-rock tradition. The experience affirmed her standing as a guitarist whose
skills and artistic conviction could hold their own in an arena historically dominated
by men.

Hendrix’s influence is particularly relevant to the way Popović approaches the electric
guitar. His legacy reminds musicians that technical control is only the beginning.
The instrument becomes truly expressive when its sound reflects an individual imagination—
when phrasing, tone, rhythm, and silence combine to create a personality that cannot
be mistaken for anyone else’s.

Popović’s presence on the tour also carries a wider message for aspiring musicians,
especially women who may not see themselves represented in the traditional canon
of blues guitar. Excellence can open doors, but visibility matters too. When an 
accomplished artist occupies a stage from which women have historically been absent,
she changes the possibilities that younger musicians can imagine for themselves.

Her achievement does not erase the inequalities of the genre, nor does it require
her to become a spokesperson rather than an artist. Its importance lies in demonstrating,
through performance, that the guitar belongs to anyone with the dedication and imagination
to master it.

### Twelve albums, nearly three decades, and a constantly evolving sound

![Ana Popovic | iHeart](https://images.openai.com/static-rsc-4/33R2T-yW21fbOC6cPgFxrPvemona5FEUS8K1KpoydzwNRSlL5lsqJ59G4fLQld7qkDXODUNbbD4tpNSsvxYcjvW1Y0gNXOtOSMivjsUSeaht-
mDt0hrqMBiWCbKxHOqzbaDwD41-DZsYwezmNVLmcH_11i7RjIPAShSgIA9ijqU?purpose=inline)

A long recording career gives an artist the opportunity to document change. Across
nearly three decades and twelve albums, Popović has established a body of work that
reflects the continuing development of her musical identity.

Her recordings reveal an artist unwilling to remain confined to a single definition
of blues. The genre remains the foundation, but its possibilities expand through
rock, funk, soul, and jazz-influenced arrangements. The guitar can be placed at 
the center of a forceful electric ensemble, or it can become part of a more intricate
arrangement in which groove and harmony play equally important roles.

This versatility matters because contemporary blues-rock exists in a complicated
musical environment. Artists must respect a rich historical tradition while finding
ways to make it relevant to audiences accustomed to many different styles. Popović’s
career suggests that the most productive response is not to abandon the blues, but
to explore its expressive potential more fully.

A blues melody can sustain an entire song through the emotional shape of its phrases.
A funk rhythm can give that melody a different physical character. Jazz harmony 
can introduce new colors, while rock instrumentation can increase the dramatic impact
of a performance. When these elements are integrated with care, the result is not
a collection of borrowed styles but a coherent artistic voice.

![The Flying Dutchman | Home | Beaufort](https://images.openai.com/static-rsc-4/
5brHgjl4C7epUAOilUwABU8tMChTNxnpqpfNYdeb7gXA78ocdviVJfB3VJi7PS5G84KbJYnU-nLexymerJxxc7ldlGa-
sCJnMsxAiH221pKmXm46XqqhvjKNDyuDfON1T7SOMEg3hD8hxIs4SpMEzOCeEhPI4Rmz2DWB8fx__-c?
purpose=inline)

The twelve-album milestone described in the Madrid festival biography offers a useful
measure of Popović’s productivity. More important, however, is the artistic continuity
linking the recordings: an ongoing conversation between tradition and innovation.

Her international touring career has also given this music a life beyond the studio.
Blues depends on performance. It gains meaning through the relationship between 
musicians and listeners, through the improvisations that emerge in the moment, and
through the subtle variations that ensure no two concerts need feel exactly alike.

In Madrid, this accumulated experience provides the foundation for an encounter 
with an artist who understands the blues not as a fixed repertoire but as a continuing
process of discovery.

![May be an image of piano](https://scontent.fevn2-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/
841283594_1122984987048384_7134631886240049373_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_tt6&cstp=mx1086x1086&
ctp=s1086x1086&_nc_cat=107&_nc_map=urlgen_bucketless&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=6ee11a&_nc_ohc
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oh=00_AQNVLhlaoacSObw0FRtdblR0F-seLW7XSWLbpLQVnDCIhg&oe=6AD2F95F)

### Madrid and Sala Villanos — An intimate stage for a formidable sound

The Madrid concert is officially scheduled for October 12 at Sala Villanos, in Calle
de Bernardino Obregón, in the Embajadores area of the Spanish capital. The performance
is part of Villanos del Jazz, the program associated.

The venue’s character is well suited to an artist whose music thrives on direct 
communication. In a club setting, the audience can feel the physical impact of the
guitar, hear the subtleties of the rhythm section, and follow the shifts in energy
as a song moves from its opening riff to its final climax.

### ![14 Bares y salas de música en directo en Madrid | The Bar ES](https://images.openai.com/static-rsc-4/57Xg9sVP7fSb-e2nVuffy7m_syoBDskc5XXXANWmvGUmWVynCR1J_PQZTs7qTr-8UdJ-KCdi000HQLyag_IA1vv29UpNKKEuTXnL2UXnKUXtYrr9PFrg_KwYYBmxXnIvJYuRYSK7ywWAZAvQrFCC4jX20wv67_Zyf1gWhcaHRPE?purpose=inline)

Madrid itself brings an additional dimension to the event. The Spanish capital has
a vigorous live-music culture in which jazz, blues, flamenco, rock, and contemporary
popular music continually intersect. The Villanos del Jazz program reflects that
openness, bringing international artists into a setting designed to make diverse
musical traditions accessible to a broad public.

For Popović, the Madrid stage is another meeting point between her European origins
and her international career. The journey from Belgrade to major blues stages across
North America and Europe is a reminder that music can cross borders more freely 
than many of the institutions that surround it.

A performance of this kind can also reveal the expressive range of the blues-rock
guitar. The instrument may begin with a sharp, rhythmic motif, expand into a sustained
melodic line, and then build toward a solo whose intensity comes as much from phrasing
as from speed. The rhythm section supplies the foundation, but the music remains
alive through the spontaneous exchanges that happen between musicians.

![Ephimera completa su portfolio de espacios para eventos y rodajes en Madrid con
la Sala Villanos 💥 

Vinculada a la historia cultural de la capital, la Sala Villanos-
antigua Sala Caracol- es un… | Ephimera](https://images.openai.com/static-rsc-4/
K3mQ2dYuPkQTRXJ9mX8WOV8yVrUHjvIG3bXEVjXYFlyjoEOkTISGbLxL2eX6rTzBat5arbOvOAFrgMciXDJYZ9Zz6gqbP9UvbfzvbpgihTn71PSjVLcVTEBVaGTHgclxP01pZCwgzuOa5jJuB7Ddc-
BbdKwvbhCGEyYBwTsWydc?purpose=inline)

The result is not simply a display of virtuosity. It is a performance in which sound,
movement, and emotion become inseparable.

### A woman who changed the view from the stage

Ana Popović’s importance should not be reduced to the fact that she is a woman working
in a male-dominated genre. Her artistic achievement stands on its own: her command
of the guitar, her experience as a songwriter and vocalist, her ability to combine
musical traditions, and her sustained international career.

Yet representation matters. The history of electric blues has been shaped by extraordinary
musicians, but its most widely celebrated guitar heroes have often been men. Popović’s
visibility challenges that narrow picture and makes the tradition more complete.

![May be an image of text](https://scontent.fevn12-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/
825372466_1121029240577292_5736812904086475692_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_tt6&cstp=mx1380x776&
ctp=s1380x776&_nc_cat=106&_nc_map=urlgen_bucketless&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=cc71e4&_nc_ohc
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oh=00_AQM2mXNBomylRMw_r7UHkcFiV4ZnljPsMHeaonXMDRk06w&oe=6AD31184)

Her achievement is particularly valuable because she does not need to reject the
musical masters who inspired her. Albert King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix,
Albert Collins, and George Benson remain essential points of reference. What matters
is that Popović takes the lessons of their music and transforms them into a personal
artistic language.

That is how musical traditions survive: not through imitation, but through renewal.
Her story offers encouragement to young guitarists and singers who may be approaching
blues from a different country, culture, or background. There is no single birthplace
for musical authenticity, and no gender that owns the right to express the blues.
There is only the work of listening, learning, practicing, composing, performing,
and finding a voice that belongs to the artist alone.

**By Lauren Wulff**

![Ana Popovic: Like It On Top (CD) – jpc.de](https://images.openai.com/static-rsc-
4/2L7e3WMydLDAjSv7rXJi1lYW_Ua4oJjkzLyON-tGeXYc8st2lpCqQGKWSVVRHv4VwGQWA7_HLvpSYCGH9nlGALnmRqc9_rF7JE5FbJLlRR8kjm5OOIRqFN-
huuinSPhunJN0qzAuvHNmy2q94gE32ndqKplxG6PILRBHr8wcCVg?purpose=inline)

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