Touring the world for 14 years, the Baghdaddies’ music is world music
with strong Balkan tendencies alongside Caribbean grooves, Middle
Eastern rhythms and even some Geordie [native Newcastle] touches, all
awash with influences such as ska, jazz, punk , delivered with
theatre and exuberance. Uplifting and infectiously danceable, full of
blistering brass, rousing 5 part vocal harmonies and a rhythm section
that you can’t keep still to. Songs to listen to and party! This album is called Random Acts Of Kindness and you can't listen to it and not smile. On
paper, the lyrics might not aspire to poetry, but the exuberant
performance style and musical dexterity brings them to life. Songs like
Winter Winds, the title track and 6/8 - We'll Be Late would grace
any party.
Brass
instruments reached the Balkan countries through the military
bands of the 19th century. It wasn´t too long before
they filtered through to the towns and then on to the countryside.
The brass band craze spread all over the Balkans and created
a new sensation in Balkan traditional music almost instantaneously.
For the first time in history the bands used exclusively Western
instruments - the very same instruments that would be used
by a brass band in, say, New Orleans, but what they played
was a particularly fiery brand of their own countries´
traditional music, down to the same scales and odd time signatures
that characterize the music of all the Balkan countries. In
Greece brass bands form an integral part of the musical tradition
of Western and Central Macedonia.
For over thirty years FLORINA BRASS BAND has been one of the
main exponents of this important and sadly so far neglected
part of local musical tradition.
FLORINA BRASS BAND was formed in 1960 by Tasos Valkanis, the
leader of the Florina Town Brass Band and also a folk musician.
Occasionally they collaborated with musicians such as Chimerini
Kolimvites or Floros Floridis. Based in the small North-Western
Greek town of Florina, they performed a thousands of times:
from tiny villages and towns in Macedonia to the InterBalkan
Festival in Thessaloniki and festivals in France. Their sound
and the dance tunes they play are unique in Greek traditional
music and can mainly be found in the Western part of Macedonia.
Tasos Valkanis has passed away, but the spirit of the band
carries on through his sons Lazaros and Georgios. The members
of the band today are Lazaros Valkanis on clarinet, Georgios
Valkanis on accordion, Floros Floridis on alto sax, Christos
Hasapis on cornet, Panagiotis Ioannou on trombone, Pandelis
Stoikos on cornet and Athanasios Samaras on drums.
Nedyalko Nedyalkov is one of the best kaval players of our time.
Besides his excellent qualities as a kaval player, Nedyalko
Nedyalkov is also notable as the composer of many original instrumental
pieces that he performs. In them one can see and sense his exceptional
artistic judgment and his skill in developing a melody in a musical
kolyano, or phrase. His improvisations are perfect with respect to
melodic line, modulations and transitions between them.
I hoped to conduct this brief informal "musical analysis" of
Nedyalko Nedyalkov's qualities as a performer because they are all
demonstrated in the present CD, which appeared on the musical market –
with a bit of a delay I might add from the point of view of musical
specialists, who have long been waiting for it. All the pieces on the
disc have been selected and arranged with a very high degree of
professionalism and fine artistic judgment; in my opinion, the disc as a
whole presents Nedyalkov as one of the kaval masters of our time. It is
a great pleasure to listen to this artistic production, which in all
its aspects characterizes the high contemporary level of kaval
performance style.
Bratsch is a French group founded in 1975 by Dan Gharibian and Bruno
Girard, joined a few years later by Pierre Jacquet, François Castiello
and Nano Peylet. Coming from free jazz, these musicians share the same
admiration for the klezmer, gypsy, Eastern Europe rhythms. Often in
tour, they composed many superb albums with entertaining sounds and
melodies, on serious or merry subjects.
”We are not real traditional musicians, says François Castiello. In
France, we do not have a very rich musical tradition, whereas, in the
Romanian, Yugoslav, Bulgarian musics, there are extraordinary things to
discover on expression and play. We are in front of these musics like
white European musicians in front of the jazz in the Fifties.”
Bratsch goes on a journey in gestures, atmospheres, dream. Their music
and their spectacle evoke the myth : the myth of the remote village, the
myth of the migration, the myth of the “gypsyland”. ”We are
dreamers. We have much fantasies on music. People over there do not play
it like that. I played recently with a brass band of Macedonia : they
play during repetitions, before the repetitions, after the repetitions,
they will play in the street as they wake up, they still play after the
concert. They do not play only for the people sitting in front of the
stage.”
One of the most revered musicians in Bulgaria, clarinetist Ivo Papasov is a master of Bulgarian wedding music. The superb and largely instrumental Balkanology
draws not only on Bulgarian elements, but also the music of Greece,
Turkey and Romania. Listening to this heartfelt music (much of it quite
fast), one can hear the parallels between Middle Eastern, Mediterranean
and East European forms. Papasov
is quite the improviser, and in fact, American jazz has had a
significant impact on his loose and very spontaneous modal playing. It is utterly astounding to see what new levels these performers have
taken these instruments to. You've never heard clarinets, accordians,
and saxophones do things like this. Combine those three instruments
with bass, drums and guitar and you've got an eclectic mix. The odd
time signatures (9/8, 11/16, etc.), the rapid fire tempos they're
capable of, and the bizarre key changes these guys are capable of will
simply astound you. The female singer (only on 3 songs) has an ethereal
voice that is typical of the fine tradition of Thracian singers. Not
only are these amazing musicians with incredible imagination &
skill...they know how to play fun music that will make you want to
dance (it is wedding music after all!) Highly recommended to the adventurous!
This is true rebellious music, as in uncompromizingly
authentic. It's one human being conveying his/her inner feelings to
other fellow beings via the medium of music. No middlemen required or
allowed.
But this soundtrack is also a celebration of life. There's the
full-glass joy and enjoyment of life's little pleasures and twists of
fate. But, since life as humans experience it, is hazardously strewn
with half-empty situations, the album has its share of wailing and regret
about life's imperfections and the "local", i.e. personal, toll it
exacts on our inner balances.
But even this sorrow is celebrated
and showered away in a series of songs that can't be reviewed, only
listened to. This is music that can't be studied and filed away. This
is music as a means of human communication, the direct lineage of the
one once enjoyed by cavemen and women as they recounted daily and
seasonal encounters with success and failures.
The band made in 2007 in Thessaloniki,Greece.As the city is a passage between the neighbour cultures ,they manage to combine a mix of many different influences as balkan,ska,rock and more in a well favoured blend.The first (self-released) album came out at 2011.Their sound is lively with clever multi-language lyrics.They cover four traditional songs in an imaginable way ,that let us know they have explored the roots of balkan music ,but they are capable enough to transform it in something new.The title of the album truly represents the feeling of the music.Excellent debut!
A Gypsy-horns brass band resolutly inspired of the Gypsy Tarafs from
Eastern Europe. This band of eight musiciens is composed of a horn
section (saxophone, trumpet, horn, tubas, helicon), a percussionist, a
banjo and an accordion.
No Smoking's debut as a "world" band reintroduces filmmaker Emir
Kusturica -- who had a brief stint as the bass player of Zabranjeno
Pusenje (Yugoslavian for No Smoking) in the mid-'80s -- to the group.
Now one of the band's guitarists, he contributes sparingly toward
songwriting and arranging. This is still the band of lead singer Dr.
Nelle Karajlic, whose acerbic vocals and commanding presence dictate the
group's course. But colorful instruments like balalaika, tuba,
accordion, trumpet, and accordion contribute significantly as well. The
term "Unza Unza" describes the hybrid of music found on this record. The
Balkans are a centrally located region surrounded by Turkish, European
gypsy, Greek, Russian, Middle Eastern, and Italian music. German and
Spanish music is also welcome into this interwoven musical fabric that
cites the local music of Romania, Serbia, Hungary, Albania, Bosnia, and
Bulgaria as its foundation. The '70s punk sound that was No Smoking's
initial influence is all but abandoned here, although Karajlic still
retains some of his snarling and loathsome attitude. Combine that with
the eclecticism of groups like Reptile Palace Orchestra and Brave Combo
and the offbeat tendencies of mid-'80s Tom Waits, and perhaps a rough
portrait of this group can be painted. This is an incredibly unique
album that is essential listening for fans of alternative world music.
With their combination of Balkan Soul and funky dance beats
Äl Jawala boil European clubs and festivals from France to the Black Sea.
Äl Jawala create an absorbing and innovating urban sound that takes the
soul of Balkan-brass out to the Dancefloors.
An explosive and highly charged cocktail, in which cultural limits fade.
Äl Jawala reaches out further than the common “Style-Mix-Formats”. They
dare to reach into the unexplored, they break loose, transform into a orchestra,
become DJ,Punkband and Storyteller.
In May 2009 the German Pioneers of Balkan Big Beats released their first studio album
.. Asphalt Pirate Radio...
Focused energy, the quintessence after nine years of live experiences, lyrical,
up-front and 100% dancing pleasures guaranteed! Rooted in the soul of the Balkans
and grown from the European streets.
Gypsy flamenco frenzy! A blend of up-tempo traditional and original
music — Romanian, Roma, klezmer, flamenco and Japanese — with a
contemporary twist. From the smokey cafes of Bucharest to the Gypsy
caravans of yesterday, this CD evokes the spirit of a past age and the
sounds of tomorrow. 7-piece orchestra with vocals, 2 violins, saw,
accordion, shamisen, flamenco guitar, double base and percussion. A
unique musical experience--and a rollicking good time!
The riotous five-piece from Newcastle - firm favourites on the festival
circuit - return with their fourth album of fun and frolics. The title
is regional slang for 'See you later', and it's a collection of original
songs and a couple of trad tunes sung in English and Welsh, ranging
from pavement buskers' Gypsy-jazz to full throttle Balkan wedding-band
frenzy.
There's an entertaining theatrical element of comedy and
satire. Lyrics have a tongue-in-cheek humour as in 'Wonder Woman' ('you
make me so domesticated, you just wash, I can dry'), and 'Not Drowning
But Raving' ('forever bloody waiting for the rain to keep away... will
we reach the stars or will we stay in bed?').
Influences are
wide-ranging. While the Balkan brass is prevalent, there is also a fair
share of klezmer, jazz, ska and punk - an anarchic fusion where Ivo
Papasov meets The Clash meets The Beat. There are also shades of calypso
as in 'Sweet Girl', tango ('Multibubble'), and the animated vocal style
is sometimes reminiscent of Dr John.
The band have a particular
flair for the Balkans and capture its frenetic energy and flamboyance
wonderfully. 'Gream Parelli' is a highly playful trad Bulgarian tune and
its rapid, winding melody is played here by the sax. 'Dongle' is
typical of the Romanian doina, a freeform style also common in klezmer
and Gypsy music. The Baghdaddies have given us another fresh and funky
dose of their quirky concoction of party tomfoolery."
The Band:
Ziad Jabero: guitar, vox
Paul Ruddick: sax, flute, vox
Martin Douglas: drums, vox
Nigel Kirkpatrick: trumpet, vox
Paul Susans: bass, vox
