Tamara Obrovac’s 2003 album, Vila Idola (recorded with her Transhistria Ensemble), is a stunning, deeply evocative fusion of Mediterranean folk traditions, Istrian dialect, and contemporary European chamber jazz. The soundscape is rich, organic, and vibrantly acoustic, powered by a virtuosic ensemble featuring Uroš Rakovec's fluid nylon-string guitar, Fausto Beccalossi's sweeping, accordion, and a tight, dynamic rhythm section. The production is open, spatial, and acoustic-forward, blending the melancholic, scales of Istria with complex, syncopated jazz rhythms that range from tender 3/4 ballads to fiery, odd-meter improvisations. Floating at the center of it all is Obrovac’s extraordinary vocal performance—moving effortlessly from delicate, haunting melodic lines to theatrical scats, percussive vocalizations, and expressive, emotionally charged Istrian-dialect lyrics. The result is a warm, sun-drenched, and intensely poetic album that sounds both anciently rooted in Adriatic folklore and sophisticatedly modern.