Bluesmen's World(Music)

Suburban Bucharest unites magnificent voices and virtuous fiddlers. It is telling us about musical occasions and their places, the constant changing of prevailing taste, and about the imminent end of the old Lautari-Music in Romania.

Suburban Bucharest is dealing with musical influences from Serbia, Turkey and the Middle East, which the political dignitaries like to apostrophy as the pollution of Romanian music. In the past few years the improvised bars of corrugated iron in the suburbs of Bucharest, for the most part concrete buildings, have been torn down. Along with them the venues of the most Gipsy Bands vanished for ever - and only a handful of them had been lucky to be discovered.

“An eye opener!”

“One of the best discs I‘ve heard in 2004 - in any genre.”

“Another superb compilation from Trikont, this time showcasing the effervescent gypsy music of Romanian capital Bucharest, a city composed of "hundreds of sprawling villages that have grown together." Charismatic singers abound: Romica Puceanu (died in 1996) has the skills of an Ella Fitzgerald, while Maria Tanase (from the 1930s) was more of a Judy Garland figure, bringing night-club flair to folkloric material. The muted trumpet of Costel Vasilescu is a high point, spinning dizzily over a wildly swung Hora wedding dance, clanked out by cimbalom, fiddle and fluttering accordion. The tension between traditional sounds and modern pop is endlessly renegotiated - godfather of gypsy pop Dan Armeanca sings both with his coolly modern group and the pumping brass of Fanfare Ciocârlia. Finally there's the exuberant filigree of Taraf De Haidouks, a group ignored in Romania until international acclaim propelled them into surreal situations such as modelling for designer Yoji Yamamoto.”

01. Dan Armeanca & Fanfare Ciocarlia: Iag Bari
02. Romica Puceanu: Ileana, Ileana
03. Taraf de Haidouks & Kocani Orkestar: Carolina
04. Maria Tanase & Taraf Mitica Mata: Jandarmul
05. Dona Dumitru Siminica: Draboro
06. Aurel & Victor Gore & Costel Vasilescu: Hora Lautarilor
07. Gabi Lunca: Cu-o Damigeana Si-un Pahar
08. Faramita Lambru: La Crama Din Dragasani
09. Raducano & Orchester Gypsy Star: Maneaua Lui Kemal
10. Romica Puceanu: Doi Tovarasi Am La Drum
11. Dan Armeanca & Band: Can Marraulan
12. Taraf de Haidouks & Viorica Rudareasa: Dumbala Dumba
13. Raducano & Orchester Gypsy Star: So Del Duma Al Romsea
14. Vasile Armeanca: Alilili Monica
15. Maria Tanase: La Uite-o, Zau
16. Mahala Rai Banda: Esti Sexy
17. Rom Bengale: Baro Biao
18. Zavaidoc: Cantecului Zavaidoc

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