A Detroit area native, Daniel Kahn attended the University of Michigan where he studied acting, directing, playwriting and poetry. After finishing his studies he lived, played music, recorded, acted, directed plays and composed theatre music in New Orleans, Detroit, New York and Ann Arbor.
In summer 2005 Daniel moved to Berlin, and, within a very short space of time, became an integral part of the city’s folk and klezmer scene, playing in different groups and musical projects. As a corollary, he soon formed his own band, featuring a rotating roster of some of Berlin and New Yorks best young Klezmer and Balkan players.
"The Painted Bird" concocts a mixture of Klezmer, radical Yiddish song, political cabaret and punk folk, kept together by Kahn's amazing abilities both as a songwriter and a performer; telling stories of outrageous incidents, poetically dark, tragically humorous and politically incorrect.

"Dan Kahn and The Painted Bird’s new album, Partisans and Parasites is an addictive collection by outstanding, creative musicians. Together, the fast-paced, high energy klezmer, and sharp, evocative lyrics - sung in Yiddish, English, German and Russian - are a necessary compass for navigating the endless moral riddles and inescapable paradoxes in which we live.

Some songs are old Yiddish songs that Kahn & co. gift to new audiences with Kahn’s English translations, including the defiant “Yosl Ber/ A Patriot.” Others are brand-new, written and arranged by Kahn, including “Six Million Germans/Nakam” a true story about revenge after the Holocaust, and “Dumai,” “a song of exile & statelessness,” (in his words) and Kahn’s first composition in Yiddish, which he sets against a traditional Chassidic nigun (melody). Anyone who loves music or politics should own this album, which brings them together with delicious precision.

Kahn, raised in Detroit and living in Berlin, says of the new album, “We wanted to make a rock album that was using klezmer and Yiddish, German and Russian. A multi-lingual, multi-national rock album. There’s something about rock and roll that naturally subverts borders that otherwise tend to get reinforced, like ideas of authenticity and entitlement. We wanted to dispense with any kind of nostalgic preciousness. We just wanted to make a punk-rock klezmer record that you can dance to.”

JVOICES.COM - Sarah Anne Minkin

01. Yosl Ber / A Patriot
02. Parasites
03. Borsht Revisited
04. Rats
05. Rosen Auf Den Weg Gestreut / Embrace The Fascists
06. Six Million Germans / Nakam
07. A Rothschild In Your House
08. Vampirn
09. Dumai / "Think"
10. Khurbn Katrina
11. The Destruction of New Orleans
12. Mayn Rue Plats / Where I rest

THE PAINTED BIRD:
Daniel Kahn: vocals, accordion, piano, ukulele, harmonica, shruti box
Michael Tuttle: contrabass, electric bass, back vocals
Hampus Melin: drums, percussion, back vocals
Michael Winograd: Bb clarinet, horn arrangements
Bert Hildebrandt: bass blarinet
Dan Blacksberg: trombone

Guests:
Vanya Zhuk: 5-, 6-, & 7-string electric guitars, vocals: Borsht & Yosl Ber
Johannes Paul Gräßer: violin
Frank London: trumpet on Yosl Ber, Six Million Germans, & New Orleans
Paul Brody: trumpet on Parasites & Rosen Auf Den Weg Gestreut
Geoff Berner: back vocals on Parasites
Psoy Korolenko: vocals on Vampirn, Rothschild, Dumai

Link

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"Fill your head with some culture, get this CD, see the film, and go visit some gypsy land. Hey, you only live once, right!

This CD is the antithesis of "oh, baby", "let's do it all nite", and the commercialized, controlled anger of the so-called "alternative" music(s). 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 CD 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 CD 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."

01. Monika Juhasz Miczura & Gipsy Star - Nora Luca
02. Adrian Simionescu & Orchestre Marin Ioan - Tutti Frutti
03. Adrian Simionescu & Orchestre Marin Ioan - Copza Luca
04. Rona Hartner & Valentin Rotary & Petre Badea - Disparaitra
05. Adrian Simionescu & Orchestre Marin Ioan - Mama Me
06. Gipsy Star - L'amour En Liberte
07. Orchestre Marin Ioan - Cabaret
08. Rona Hartner & Valentin Rotary & Petre Badea - Dandaro
09. Ioan - Camera
10. Gipsy Star - Frissons
11. Vasile Serban & Isidor Serban & Ionescu Serban & Orchestre Marin Ioan - Mariage
12. Adrian Simionescu & Orchestre Marin Ioan - Adrian Simionescu + Orchestre M. Ioan - Camera
13. Monika Juhasz Miczura & Gipsy Star - Nora Luca (Reprise)

Accordion: Constantin Fugirica (tracks: 1, 6, 10, 13)
Nicolae Paun (tracks: 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12)
Cimbalom: Leonard Iordache (tracks: 1, 6, 10, 13)
Mihai Iordache (tracks: 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12)
Clarinet: George Udila (tracks: 1, 6, 10, 13)
Toni Lache (tracks: 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12)
Double Bass: Florinel Dobrica (tracks: 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12)
Ghita Coada (tracks: 1, 6, 10, 13)
Trumpet: Costel Vasilescu (tracks: 1, 6, 10, 13)
Violin: Marian Vasilescu (tracks: 1, 6, 10, 13)
Marius Banica (tracks: 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12)
Vocals: Adrian Simionescu (tracks: 2, 3, 5, 11, 12)

Link

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The Ukrainians continue to mix up our winning concoction of Western punk-pop and traditional Ukrainian sounds, a blend that's always best served live. As 'Q' magazine says "Going to a Ukrainians gig is like being at the mother of all parties".
The band has become established as the world's major exponent of a hybrid of traditional Ukrainian folk and Western rock music.
The group was discovered and pioneered by the legendary BBC Radio DJ John Peel. One of our sessions for the programme was included in MOJO magazine's '20 Landmark Peel Sessions'.

The group's eponymous debut album. Released the year Ukraine won its independence from the Soviet Union.

Hot rockin' original songs in the Ukrainian language written by band members Peter Solowka, Len Liggins, and Roman Remeynes, and backed by members of English indie guitar-pop band The Wedding Present on some tracks.

Mandolin, accordion and violin meet guitar, bass, drums: the result is loud, fast, and enjoyable. Jump on your horse!

"A new musical form might just have been born -- Cossack Thrash!"

FRoots

"This is the sort of music you see people dancing to in restaurants totally pissed out of their brains and contemplating brutal but caring sex with waiters with massive moustaches and furry boots. I ended up taking it to bed with me and now I'm going to have its children."
NME

01. Oi Divchino
02. Hopak
03. Ti Moyi Radoshchi
04. Zavtra
05. Slava Kobzarya
06. Dity Plachut
07. Cherez Richku, Cherez Hai
08. Pereyidu
09. Tebe Zhdu
10. Son

"The Legendary Len" - Lead Vocal, Violin
Mick - Guitars, Vocal
Woody - Drums
Jim - Bass
Stef - Accordion
Paul - Mandolin, Vocal
Peter - Guitar, Mandolin, Vocal

Link

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"While Huun-Huur-Tu are folkloric pioneers, bringing the traditional music of Tuva to a worldwide audience, the goal of throat-singing rock band Yat-Kha is decidedly more aggressive and revolutionary. Albert Kuvezin, the band's founder and leader, and a former member of Huun-Huur-Tu, sees the folk music of Tuva as a stepping-off point for his band, a point of contact with the heritage but also a point of contention with the power of static culture. Yat-Kha feature electric guitar (often fuzzy and distorted, to mimic the gruff, basso kargiraa vocals), in addition to local string and percussion instruments that offer a rooted sound to an often chaotic musical web. A few of the songs on Dalai Beldiri come off as just repolished folk-pop, imitation blues that rely too heavily on standard times and melodic structures. But most of the album shines, using the shamanic roots of the group's Siberian predecessors to forge ahead with new, innovative, and often disconcerting music that emphasizes the power of the human voice as much as the power of the electric guitar. This is a groundbreaking album for Tuva, one that pushes the boundaries without just making it accessible. In fact, this music is anything but easy. It's challenging and unusual."

Louis Gibson

"Why can Tuvan people not be long out of Tuva? Why do strangers who visit this land want to come back again? What does this ancient place have so attracting and so luring? Maybe from here, far from civilization and large noisy cities and main roads, it is possible to sense the breath of nature and history - to stop time and motion, looking on ancient mounds and majestic rocks to track the development of Earth and Human culture. Fathomless skies and endless valleys, sharp mountains and swift rivers, black-eyed beauties and frisky racehorses. Life and fight, love and death, freedom and independence... So is the world-outlooking subconscious of the Tuvan person and our songs on the new disk are about that. I hope it will help you understand the soul of the people, their music and to accomplish a journey through time and space.

Peace and Harmony to everybody."
Albert Kuvezin and "YAT-KHA"


01. Kaldak-Khamar
02. Khemchim
03. Dyngyldai
04. Opei Khoomei
05. Kazhan Toren Karam Bolur
06. Keergentchig
07. Charash Karaa
08. Ydyk Buura
09. Hondergei
10. Sodom i Gomora

Albert Kuvezin - yat-kha, guitars, bass, shanzi, khomuz and low kargiraa vocal
Aldyn-ool Sevek - morin-huur, igil and sygyt, khoomei, kargiraa vocal
Zhenya Tkachëv - tüngür, percussion, gongs and stikhi vocal

Special Guests:
Steve Goulding - drum-kit
Martyn Barker - kat-drum
Martijn Fernig - little bell
Lu Edmonds (aka Akym) - extra bass, cümbüsh, saz

Link

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"The idea of colliding Romany music with punk may at first seem bizarre, but there's more common ground to be found than one might first suspect, not the least of which involves the rejection of authority and dominant cultural norms. Musically, the Romanies' exuberant celebration of life may appear the antithesis of punk's original nihilism, but both are kindled by a sense of immediacy, a "no future, let's play for today" atmosphere that fires every song. And so Gogol Bordello, while certainly unique, is not as odd as it may seem. The group long ago left the concept of borders, musical or otherwise, behind. The members may have met in New York City, but bar one, all traveled far to get there, arriving from Israel and a variety of Eastern European nations. Singer/lyricist Eugene Hutz brought with him his rich Ukrainian heritage, a gift for storytelling, a twisted sense of humor, and a sharp sense of irony. The bandmembers brought their excellent musicianship, a love of their own cultural sounds, and a magpie's delight in plundering from others. The group's name pays tribute to Ukraine's most feted author, Nikolai Gogol, whose distinctive style and leitmotif provide inspiration for Hutz's lyrics. Skipping stealthily from the real world to the surreal, the pugnacious to the paranoid, the singer spins out his tales of wonder and woe, commonplace occurrences and counterintuitive events. Behind him, the band lets loose with an accompaniment that makes a nonsense of genres, a storming backing awash in melody that pushes toward pop, but cries out to the vast Eurasian steppes. Incredibly anthemic, Multi Kontra Culti will set your head spinning and your body with it, your blood racing to the rhythms, and your spirit soaring with the wildness of the untamed sounds within."

Jo-Ann Greene, All Music Guide

01. When The Trickster Starts A-Poking
02. Occurrence On The Border
03. Haltura
04. Let's Get Radical
05. Smarkatch
06. Future Kings
07. Punk Rock Parranda
08. Through The Roof'n'Underground
09. Baro Foro
10. Hats Off To Kolpakoff
11. Huliganjetta

Ori Kaplan: Saxophone, Vocals
Yuri Lemeshev: Accordion
Victoria Hana: Vocals (Background)
Oren Kaplan: Guitar, Vocals, Engineer
Eugene Hütz: Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals,
Sergey Rjabtzev: Violin, Vocals

Link

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The debut album of Rozsdamaró Ensemble mostly contains music from Transylvania, the western part of present-day Romania, where Romanians, Hungarians, and many other ethnic groups live together. Where not stated otherwise, the tunes they play are Hungarian ones, although quite often one cannot clearly separate the Hungarian and Romanian music of the region. Rozsdamaró Ensemble is a band of young musicians, who collect tunes from over the Hungarian border, they learn the music and the way of performance from known and unknown authentic folk musicians. The aim of their work is to keep the dance-houses alive for a long time, and to show this music of our ancestors to today’s people, and to the next generations. In their words: „What follows is called Táncház – a Hungarian word which has become known in many parts of the world as referring to a new attitude to traditional folk culture. But then, it’s all so simple – you could as well call it a dance, a party, a joc (in Romanian). It is a primal form of amusement, forgotten by many, and rediscovered by some. A celebration of a community. Villagers of old had no other choice than spend every day and every hour of their lives in a particular community. Amusement would mean something quite different from consuming the products of an entertainment industry. (…) And it is such communities that created and formed our favourite songs and tunes, which we are trying to convey by means of this disc. Just like each Táncház, this is another attempt to revive tradition – to continue the thoughts of those who are now dead.”

01. Verbunk (men's dance)
Verbunk tunes from the village of Mera (Méra) in the Kalotaszeg region of Transylvania.
02. Ţiganeşte, învîrtita, bărbunc
Romanian dances from Bonţida (Bonchida), Transylvania.
03. Jewish and Gipsy dance from Ördöngősfüzes
A set of couple dances and songs from Fizeşu Gherlii (Ördöngösfüzes), Transylvania.
04. Lament, men's dance and couple dance
from Petrilaca de Mureş (Magyarpéterlaka), Transylvania.
05. Laments to see off the recruits
from Mera.
06. "Slow and Fast Hungarian"
men's dances from Bonţida.
07. Two dances and a Hungarian song from Moldavia, Eastern Romania
This track demonstrates the unique culture of Moldavia's Hungarian minority group, the Csángó, which, along with medieval Hungarian traditions, contains many Romanian elements.
08. Csárdás (Jerry dance) with fleet
a set of couple dances from Mera.
09. Lunga, mînînţaua, ţigăneasca, lunga
a set of Romanian dances from Elek, a small town just inside the south-eastern border of present-day Hungary. (Framing the old tunes, there are some recordings made with a modern band at the annual Romanian ball in 2001.)
10. "Jár a kislány ..."
Dances and songs from Sic (Szék), Transylvania.

LIPTÁK Dániel - fiddle
NAGY Gábor - three-stringed and four-stringed viola
HORVÁTH Ádám - double bass, cello

With:
BARCZA Zsolt - accordeon (8)
FÁBRI Géza - koboz (7)
PRIBOJSZKI Ferenc - cimbalom (2, 4, 6)
POLGÁR Lilla - voice (3, 7, 10)

Link

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Transsylvanians are a phenomena of today's roots-music scene. Based in Berlin, the four musicians create with their Hungarian Speed-Folk a mixture of rap, rock, Bartok, ska, punk and gypsy-techno. Their live appearances invariably turn into ecstatic dance orgies but Trannsylvanians can also seduce the audience with the ballads and love songs in their repertoire. The songs tell of their homeland: The earth and the stars, war and peace, love and jealousy and, above all, the lust for life that characterizes their live shows. Through their constant touring they have become one of Germany's favourite live acts on the worldmusic scene.

The name "Transsylvanians" is often with the Dracula myth and when that conjures up visions of a mysterious underworld where, in the night, bats go hunting and dark forces awake uncontrollable passions which drive people to madness, then this is not in the least inappropriate. Transsylvania, the musical source of the band, is a strip of land that belonged to Hungary until the First World War and is now part of Romania. Many people from different cultures live there: Hungarians, Romanians, Siebenbürgersachsens and Gypsies.

"Who or what are the Transsylvanians? The question is easier to ask than to answer. A band, of course, but a many faceted one. It all started in 1996, on the street. Since then the Transsylvanians have stayed true to their inimitable style.

The devilish violinist András Tiborcz, responsible for arranging and composing, whom the public love to carry on their hands, comes from Hungary and Hungarian is the language of the band’s songs. How fortunate that singer and contra-bassist Isabel Nagy is half Hungarian and speaks the language perfectly.

But whoever is now thinking of folklore and jolly violin solos is not getting the full picture, because the Transsylvanians rock as if they invented Rock’n’Roll themselves. Although they know and love to perform all the clichés of the genre – the stage-diving of the soloing violinist is just one example – they come across in their concerts as always authentic and so sympathetic that you feel as if they’ve been personal friends of yours for years.

In more than 1000 concerts throughout Europe they have excited audiences of all kinds including housewifes, punks, senior citizens, children, hardcore bikers and executive businessmen, whose only apparent common denominator is the music of the Transsylvanians.

Rousing and powerful, within a few seconds the ice between the stage and the audience is broken and it seldom lasts more than half a song before the whole room is dancing. The dedicated team of guitarist Hendrik Maaß, keyboardist Andreas Hirche and drummer Thomas Leisner bring the whole thing together.
A five-piece party band with depth; a band between ska and Béla Bartók; a band who give new life to the old traditions, turning then to now. That’s the Transsylvanians."

01. Transdanubian
02. Tulipán
03. Halálos Szerelem
04. Adjon Isten Ami Nincs
05. Evening In Transsylvania
06. Kenderesi
07. Sok Születés Napokat
08. Repülö
09. Lakodalmas
10. Akasztós
11. Allegro Barbaro
12. Amari Szi
13. Csillagok

Szilvana: Vocals, Double Bass
András Tiborcz: Vocals, Violin
Sabine Schein: Accordion, Vocals
Hendrik Maaß: Guitar, Vocals
Thomas Leisner: Drums

Guest:
Andrej Soudnitsyn: Violin (Tracks 5, 8, 11)

Link

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The Band says:
"We got acquainted studying the repertoire of traditional Jewish musicians - klezmers, in the kitchen of the rented apartment of one familiar guitarist on Prospekt Mira. In the process of creative mess and disorder we spent several months and played several open and closed gigs, among them one real Jewish wedding.

Concert in the synagogue of shtetl Saltykovka in Moscow region in November 2004 finally confirmed people in their desire to play Jewish music. Mess and disorder ended by that time, the group has got constant staff and name - "Der partizaner kish" ("The kiss of partisan girl").

The style of our group unites the desire to give to everybody, who hears us, the possibility to cry and at the same time - possibility to make merry and to have a dance. Therefore we sing shrill lyrical Jewish songs in Yiddish, and also play traditional rollicking wedding music."

01. Shvester Khaye
02. Yam-lid
03. Der Terk in Amerike
04. Borsht
05. Vilne
06. Moldovian Hora
07. Lid fun Titanik
08. Gas nign
09. Tepl
10. A nign
11. Dzhankoe
12. Oylem Habo

Anna Smirnitskaya - vocal, guitar
Alexandra Skvortsova - violin, back-vocal
Vladimir Zaslavsky - mandolin
Dmitriy Shamshin - percussion
Matvey Gaidukov - bass-guitar

Link

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"Eastern Europe. The Block. Where dissident rockers overthrew the system, elected poets to government, and vanished into freedom… A bloody revolution. Balkanization… Eastern Europe. A thin man, furrow-browed, in white suit, girates about with saxophone, ghost with a rhythmic tic… Thin Man smiles, accosts the fiddler, hangs greasy burek [Balkan fried bread] for all to behold. Accordion soars, clarinet reeds out melodic tango, rhumba, samba. Thin Man bellows into radio mic: "Budapest, Novi Sad, Beograd, Istanbul," beckoning journey on the Orient Express: ball in Vienna via Yugoslavia's exiles depressed at Oktoberfest, over Novi Sad's underwater bridges precision-bombed by NATO, through Belgrade's dictatorship, and onto Istanbul. Welcome to the last night on Earth. You are dancing seductively on an apocalyptic border with Boris Kovac and LaDaABa Orchest. It's music that captures the complicated paradox of polarizations; dancing gleefully with God in a suitcase, standing in a crack among multiple precipices, it's a joyously tearful cacophony headed for the End, no fixed address, yet anchored to a multiethnic region of Serbia perched between historic worlds. It's The Last Balkan Tango, conceived during the NATO bombing, completed in Milosevic's dying days, and Serbia's first ever release on a major world music label (Piranha, 2001)… Boris Kova's drive for a universally accessible new ritual, a third way that allows the individual not to take sides. Kovac clearly throws categorization wide open. A sax player with an experimental background, he doesn't necessarily consider himself world music fare, which might be why The Last Balkan Tango is one of the most captivating world music releases of late. "I do not belong to that genre any more than to another. I do not represent Balkan culture at all. I represent just myself using my life experience related to Balkan political destiny." On what attracted him to Kovac Piranha Records director Borkowsky Akbar says, "We didn't release the album because it is from Serbia, but because we love the music and we were looking for an additional artist to add to our Gipsy & Balkans focus. Boris is perfect because he is a great visionary, composer, musician and producer…"

Heather Hermant, Global Rhythm Magazine


01. Last Balkan Tango
02. Begin-Ing
03. Octoberburrekfest
04. Balkatino
05. Slow For Julia
06. Begin For Julia
07. Rumbatto
08. Last Waltz In Budapest
09. What Life Offers
10. Tango Apocalypso
11. Shadows Of Reminiscence
12. Ending
13. Orient Express

Bogdan "Bogi" Ranković (clarinet, bass clarinet)
Goran "Gogi" Penić (accordion)
Milo Miki Matić (double bass)
Boris "Boki" Kovaĉ (alto & soprano sax)
Istvan ĆikPiću (drums, percussion)
Olah "Vici" Vince (acoustic guitars, titles 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13),
with special guest:
Nenad Vrbaŝki (violin, titles 1, 3, 4, 8, 10)

Link

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These 6 Berlin-based musicians spent a large proportion of their lives in the USSR - that mythical and legendary place beyond the iron stage curtain where Gypsies sing of woollen boots, worshippers of Mammon decry broken hearts and glasses sing paeans to lost love. And where, what's more, the troubadour is an outlaw. Several band members have already caused a sensation in the Moscow underground scene. They immigrated to Berlin at the beginning of the nineties and have been enriching the Russian diaspora with various musical projects ever since. The multifaceted artist Irina Doubrovskaja founded ErsatzMusika in 2006, also writing the songs and lyrics for their debut album. Despite the remove from dub, urban folk, world, minimalism and balladeering at which ErsatzMusika stays, the group's music proves strangely familiar to audiences of these musical strains. Yet their music is not an eclectic lucky dip, but rather a collection of acoustic letters in a strange vernacular, a human-made-for-human ersatz for the sounds of information-age intercourse. It goes out with love...

"A very subtle yet striking album, wintry in colour yet warm and human in affection."

"Berlin based but Russian in soul, Ersatzmusika's Voice Letter is one of the most remarkable debut albums of recent years. The six piece band are fronted by Irina Dubrovskaja, a Ukrainian singer-composer-conceptual artist, and it is her warm, weary vocal that sets the tone for an album which reflects on life in the Soviet Union. Not that this is a nostalgia trip – anything but! – instead Ersatzmusika (named after the ersatz coffee they had to drink under communism) look at a fractured empire and its secret history: Considering they sing of the Gulags this is a history that Putin and co. are now trying to bury.

Ersatzmusika's distinctive, droning sound recalls Francoise Hardy’s finest 60s recordings. If Hardy had grown up on the Black Sea . . . The band operate on an off kilter tempo, often conjuring a Felliniesque fairground waltz tempo, never rushing songs, instead aiming for atmosphere while letting the lyrically beautiful songs drift past. Although all songs are sung in Russian the album’s sleeve carries translations of a few lyrics and as several appear to be adapted from poems they are quite mesmerizing.

Opening track, "Beside Myself To You I Came" finds Irina singing to friends who have left the former Soviet Union and resettled across the world (thus the Voice Letter of the album's title) while "Cranes" is based on a poem written by an anonymous Gulag prisoner who looks at the cranes flying past and attempts to send them mental messages.

Voice Letter is a very subtle yet striking album, wintry in colour yet warm and human in affection. It is also beautiful and haunting – and I don't speak a word of Russian."

Garth Cartwright BBC

01. Beside myself to you I came
02. He4y, Gngway!
03. The gold prospector
04. Still waters
05. Antediluvian
06. Bevelled glasses
07. And why
08. Cranes
09. Upon the earth
10. Tsaritsino station
11. The mushroom hunter
12. Eh, Kalina
13. Went and drank
14. How here's how

Irina Doubrovskaja - Keyboards, Accordion, Vocal
Leonid Soybelman - Guitar
Mikhail Zhukov - Percussion
Sergey Vorontsov - Bass, Guitar, Vocal
Igor Vdovchenko - Bass, Harmonica
Roman Bushuev - Drums

Link

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Bakos Árpád is a prominent musician from Vojvodina, former Yugoslavia.
He’s got a beautiful voice. The album contains Hungarian folk songs, which is played by Macedonian musicians with traditional balkan instruments. The Eastern Wind’s speciality: they keep the tradtitions and keep their personality, knowledge and the musical roots. The final result: a glowing and lively album.

01. Körbe/Round
02. Tánc/Dance
03. Keleti szél/East Wind
04. Búcsú/Farewell
05. Úton/On The Road
06. Ő/He
07. Bujdosódal/Exile Song
08. Kavalok
09. A parton/On The Coast
10. Jano mori (Macedon folksong)

Bakos Árpád - voice, koboz, Moldavian kaval
Szoluncsev Riszto - Macedonian kaval, voice
Szoluncsev Vele - tapan, def, jug
Szpaszovity Dejan - kemene, voice
Klincsarov Gyorgyi - tambura
Szilárd Mezei - oud
Kinga Mezei, Andor Nemes Kovács, Attila Mess, Zoltán Puskás - voices

Link

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Hop onto The Baghdaddies magic carpet for an amazing musical trip traversing many corners of the earth. The Baghdaddies have been astounding audiences throughout Europe for many years with their anarchic melange of traditional European and world musical styles of all eras, throwing them together to form an infectious unique brand of music that never fails to have audiences jumping around in a frenzy !!

The Baghdaddies play an eclectic mish-mash of musical merriment, an ideal accompaniment to dancing, drinking, partying and shopping. The band formed in 1996 and since then have released four albums. They have toured and gigged extensively throughout the UK and Europe. On stages far and wide, big and small, on the streets, in village halls, the music appeals to all.

Their sound is influenced by music from throughout the world. from the Roma wedding, brass band and gypsy music of Eastern Europe, through reggae, ska, calypso, jazz and punk rock. The Baghdaddies always maintain a truly happy and seriously danceable side to their music.


Fourth full-length from the Geordie Gypsies

"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."

Tatiana Rucinska

01. Ramiros Theme
02. We Try
03. Wonder Woman
04. Ramiros
05. Not Drowning but Raving
06. Multibubble
07. Cwch
08. Mudfight
09. Gream Pareli
10. Sweet Girl
11. Dongle

Ziad Jabero: guitar, vox
Paul Ruddick: sax, flute, vox
Martin Douglas: drums, vox
Nigel Kirkpatrick: trumpet, vox
Paul Susans: bass, vox

Link

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"Ida was born in the Czech Republic and is of Roma-Moravian origin. A musician by body and soul, everlasting rover in love with life, filled with both pain and joy, gains and losses but above all in love with vivacious and creative people. She sings and teaches gypsy songs to reveal and heal our deep emotions, because in each of us, as Ida says, is incredible power, which gets liberated by singing from the heart. She guides people to try and become a Gypsy for a while. Her singing and herwork not only give people shivers down the spine, but is also respected by professionals. It is a woman with soul, which she can uniquely share with others, spend herself completely. Her singing can be neither imitated nor learnt.

Ida's father, KOLOMAN BITTO, was one of the greatest personalities in the branch of music in our country. He had a beautiful pure Roma heart. Music was his life. He made a decision for Ida. Even though nowadays it is him and his music to have become Ida's chief source of inspiration, she started to study piano and violoncello at the age of 6 already. She studied with her first excellent teachers at the People's Music School in Opava and later at Janácek's Academy of Music in Brno. After completing her studies, she joined Divadlo na Provázku (The Theatre on the String), one of the most famous theaters of that time. In 1982 Ida moved to Wales, in 1985 to Denmark, in 1988 to Norway and then back to Wales. After the death of her father, she understood that her father's
blood runs in her veins so strongly, that at least through songs she can give back all the love she received from him and voice his legacy also to other people. She started to give concerts on her own, singing and playing the piano. In 1995 Ida returned home for good. She lives in a small town in Czech-Moravia Highlands. Ida is a founder of The International School for Human Voice. This school is a place where Ida wants to settle her unique work and thus provide a base for opportunities to meet other ethnic groups or cultures. The School is based on knowledge and experience of Ida's fifteen years of art work in Western Europe and the inspiration from her Eastern Gypsy culture roots.

Together with Desiderius Duzda they founded in 1998 a gypsy band : ROMANO RAT. With this band, they perform successfully all over the world. They also published an album together called Ida KELAROVA & ROMANO RAT (Gypsy Blood). In 1999, Ida also founded a chorus of Roma female singers CHAJA, which became attractive part of Romano Rat and Ida's concerts at international festivals. The chorus also enriches the concerts by female dynamics, which represents very important part of Roma culture.
Romano Rat and Chaja are a group of young talented artists, who give concerts together, compose and record... or teach all over the world and share a common journey: they sing and play for everyone, regardless of the color of skin."

01. Mamo na birinav/Mum, I Am Dying
02. Me mange/A Wedding Song
03. Imar tu chaje, ma uzar/Don't Expect Me Anymore
04. Chaje, chaje/Lassie, Lassie
05. Na birinav/I Can't Go On
06. Pal amaro calo svetos/All Around the World
07. Slugadzis/A Soldier
08. Dzas/Together We Go
09. Dzava mange, dzava/I Will Just Take a Road
10. Andro pani pejlom/In the Water I Fell
11. Le, more, e braca/Hey Man, Play
12. Ko kodoj/Who Is It
13. Nane cocha/I Have No Skirt

I.Kelarova: lead vocals, piano,
D.Duzda: lead vocals, guitar,
M.Dzudova: vocals,
M.Horvath: violin, vocals,
R.Horvath: accordion, vocals,
M.Kroka: guitar, vocals,
V.Dorda: bass, vocals

Link

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This is the first recording by a band that has been both popular and successful in Hungary for several years now. It offers a cross-section of current Bulgarian folk music culture, revealing the variety, the special rhythms, the exotic melodies and the lyricism of the folk songs. Their singer, the Bulgarian Róza Bancseva’s extraordinary singing style, characteristic voice quality and the unmatchable strength of her personality provide an amazing experience.

As an added bonus guesting on the recording are the three singers from Vándor Vokál.

01.Krivo Horo (North Bulgaria)
02.Chekuryankino Horo (North Bulgaria)
03.Pravo Horo (Shope)
04.Dei Gidi (Pirini)
05.Kraidounavska Ruchenista (North Bulgaria)
06.Momino Horo (North Bulgaria)
07.Stoina (Shope)
08.Stoyana (Shope)
09.Dospatsko Horo (Rhodophes)
10.Gankino Horo (North Bulgaria)
11.Bavno Horo (Macedonia)
12.Daicsevo Horo (Shope)
13.Bouchimish (Thrace)
14.Sokol Mi (Pirin)
15.Na Purt (North Bulgaria)

Róza Bancseva - vocal
Pál Kaibinger - double bass
László Garamvölgyi - tambura
Sándor Bertalan - clarinet, flute
Szlobodán Wertetics - accordion
Géza Orczi - drums, tambura

Guests:

Jannisz Szertaridisz - derbouka

VÁNDOR VOKÁL:
Kata Izsák - vocal
Szilvia Bognár - vocal
Tünde Farkas - vocal

Link

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The group Talyn-Duulal brings together top-level Mongolian professional artists who have already been awarded great national and international distinctions. These artists live for the most part in the capital Oulan Bator, but have emerged from extremely diverse regions. Their repertory consists essentially of chants and popular music taken from all across the country, as well as personalized adaptations and compositions, in the traditional style, by contemporary composers. The music that they propose for our listening pleasure is representative of a movement that could be called "new traditional music". This music ushers forth a revival of the already extremely ancient musical tradition. Through this music the soul of the Mongolian people is reflected: nomadic pastors who live in perfect symbiosis with nature and domestics animals. The different gaits of the horses and camels offer a source of rhythmic musical inspiration, while the contemplation of the magnificent landscapes releases profound internal emotions, images of a simple and pastoral life.

The Mongolian Voices
All throughout its evolution, Mongolian music has conceded a large place to the voice, as testify the countless number of songs, the diversity of vocal types and the particularity of the vocal techniques employed. The songs are often, but not necessarily, accompanied by one of several musical instruments.

Diaphonic Chants - Khoomi
This vocal acrobatics consists in the emitting of a hum from which a harmonic line will rise to constitute the melody of the piece. Few Mongolians know how to do this, but one finds examples in their neighbours of Touva. Depending on the vocal or facial resonators selected, different aspects of diaphonic chants are brought out : that of “the throat”, “the nose”, “The chest” ... The position of the tongue plays an important role in the selection of the harmonies.

The Khailaka Emission
Close to the diaphonic chants, this vocal technique employs a husky tone, coming from the back of the throat, in a low‑pitched register. It is exclusively reserved for epic songs and the song of praise to the Altai. Often, the singers combine the diaphonic chants starting from this emission that uses few degrees in a recitative mode.

Urtyn Duu - Long Chant
This kind of singing offers long ornamental and vocal developments with large intervals. A large range is absolutely necessary to perform the long chant, which can extend into more than three octaves, with frequent passages into the head voice. The songs' texts serve in a way as a pretext for the long vocal ornamentations that develop from a few syllables of words.

Bogino Duu - Short Chant
In contrast to the long chant, the short chant is syllabic: this means that each syllable corresponds to a degree (or note); this does not exclude embellishments in places. The rhythm plays an important part and the text becomes primordial.


01. Altain Magtaal
02. Setgeld Shingesen Gov
03. Uyakhan Zambativiin Nar
04. Temeen Teshee
05. Tomor Khuur, Xoomii
06. Yantaivan Googoo
07. Tsagaan Sar, Khokh Torgom Tsamts
08. Khoomii
09. Morin Tovorgoon
10. Gandii Mod, Khotgoidyn Unaga
11. Sartai Khurnii Khatiraa
12. Sunjiidmaa
13. Jalam Khar
14. Kherlengiin Bariyaa
15. Khuren Mor'
16. Jiijuu Khot
17. Ardyn Duuny Nairuulga
18. Khavryn Shuvuud Irlee

Taravjavyn Ganbold: Diaphonic chant
He was a student of the great master Sundui.
Batchulunii Sarantuya: Long chant and short chant
She was a student of the diva Norovbanzad.
Dashjaviin Tsogbadrakh: Horse-Viol
Former student of the virtuoso Jamyan.
Tserendondoviin Tserenkhorloo: Oblong Cithara
One of the best citharists of the moment.
Gombliin Nansalmaa: Trapezoid Cithara
Recently received the high distinction of Best Musician of “1994” from the Mongolian Ministry of culture.

Link

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A Detroit area native, Daniel Kahn attended the University of Michigan where he studied acting, directing, playwriting and poetry. After finishing his studies he lived, played music, recorded, acted, directed plays and composed theatre music in New Orleans, Detroit, New York and Ann Arbor.
In summer 2005 Daniel moved to Berlin, and, within a very short space of time, became an integral part of the city’s folk and klezmer scene, playing in different groups and musical projects. As a corollary, he soon formed his own band, featuring a rotating roster of some of Berlin and New Yorks best young Klezmer and Balkan players.
"The Painted Bird" concocts a mixture of Klezmer, radical Yiddish song, political cabaret and punk folk, kept together by Kahn's amazing abilities both as a songwriter and a performer; telling stories of outrageous incidents, poetically dark, tragically humorous and politically incorrect.

Fronted by Jewish-Detroiter singer-songwriter Daniel Kahn on vocals, accordion, piano and guitar with East German Johannes Paul Graesser on fiddle, US expat composer Michael Tuttle on upright bass and a rotating roster of some of Berlin and New Yorks best young Klezmer and Balkan players, the band was formed in Berlin in fall of 2005. Guest artists on the CD include NY downtown Tsadik players Brandon Seabrook & Eric Rosenthal (Naftule's Dream), Holland's rising yiddish folk diva Niki Jacobs (Nikitov), and members of Berlin's "Grinstein's Mishpoche" and "Shikker Vi Lot." Like the grotesque Jerzy Kosinski novel from which they take their name, The Painted Bird reminds us that even if man is only an animal, he can still sing.

"Dan Kahn is the hottest damn songwriter you've never heard of. Kahn is not only an amazing multi-instrumentalist/playwright/poet, he also typifies the youthful ethos that reminds us that music without heart is just a bunch of noise."

Metro Times, Detroit

01. Beyze Vintn
02. The Broken Tongue
03. Yesterday is Buried
04. Nakht un Regn
05. Migrant Chorale
06. Die Ballade von der 'Judenhure' Marie Sanders
07. Birkenau
08. Unter di Khurves fun Polyn
09. Son of Plenty
10. Edward the Young
11. Man of Plenty
12. The Silver Window

Daniel Kahn – vocals, accordion, piano, guitars, ukulele, etc.
Johannes Paul Gräßer – violin
Michael Tuttle – contrabass
Detlef Pegelow – drums, horns, mandolin, etc.
Bert Hildebrandt – clarinet

Guests:
Niki Jacobs – guest vocals
Sabine Ostermann – backing vocals on "Edward The Young"
Fabian Schnedler – backing vocals on "The Broken Tongue"
Brandon Seabrook – lead electric guitar & banjo on "Yesterday Is Buried"
Eric Rosenthal – drums on "Yesterday Is Buried"

Link

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Hétrét is a group from south-western Hungary, a part of the country that has always been the melting pot of different cultures and traditions. Three countries meet here: Hungary, Austria and Slovenia, and this region gives home to several minorities, thus it is exceptionally rich in musical traditions. Hétrét originally played traditional Irish music and later made its repertoire more colorful with Transylvanian, Balkan, Moldavian and Finnish musical elements.

Hétrét was born in the summer of 1998. The five Hungarian musicians coming from western and southern Hungary were completed with two American violinists in the autumn of 1999 which made up the ensemble for the first album.

The title of the first album is Hetric Free Folk, which suggests that though their music is traditional, it is typically "Hetric" at the same time

The music is basically acoustic and one can hear a variety of instruments from the Celtic harp and tin whistles to the South-American charango.

In 2004 there has been considerable changes in the group. Besides the original members (Boa Veronika Setanta - lead vocal; Hochrein Judit - whistles, accordion, vocals; Kardos Endre Bozi - flute, whistle, bagpipe, vocals; Tóth István - guitar, charango, bodhran, vocals) you can see Kása Ilka (violin, vocals), Óvári Miklós (guitar), Szantner László (bass guitar), Radics Igor (drum and percussion), Lőrincz Tamás (drum and percussion) on stage whose presence make the music of Hetret even more exciting and complete. From time to time, former members, Kim Coleman and Jon Hanson ride into town from America and join Hétrét for a special concert or two.

01. Merrily
02. Sinisia
03. Basa Pista balladája
04. Pinokkió tánca
05. Duda-rida
06. Lábipapi
07. A Kertben
08. Zsoltár
09. Fhear a bheata
10. Sír a hajnal
11. Templomi népének

Boa Veronika Setanta - voice
Kimberly Coleman - fiddle, voice
Jon Hanson - fiddle, voice
Hochrein Judit - tin whistles, voice
Ityko - guitars, banjo, double bass, mandolin, keyboards, voice, percussion
Kardos Endre Bozi - flute, tin whistls, bagpipes, voice
Tóth István - guitars, charango, bodhran, drums, double bass, voice

Guests:
Soós Tamás Attila - soprano sax
Szarka Gyula - voice
Szervátiusz Lilla - voice
Morvay Krisztina - voice
Szabó Perpetua - voice
Tóth Anita - voice

Link

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Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, Nikola Parov first played the mandolin at six. His grandfather, a professional musician, immersed him in the musical traditions of the Balkans at a very early age. Nikola began formal instruction in piano and cello at ten, shortly after he moved to Budapest where he lives with his family.

Nikola studied regional folklore and at twenty became a full time musician, forming the group Zsarátnok which gained wide recognition on the European scene. He collected instruments and performed the musical heritage of the Balkans, releasing several succesful albums including

Now a key figure in the folk music world, Nikola Parov"s commitment to culture and music studies was acknowledged by the George Soros Foundation and the Academmy of Science in Budapest. With their support he spent several years meticulously researching and documenting the history, culture and instruments of Balkan music.

Nikola Parov is a featured artist in the Riverdance Orchestra, playing a wide variety of instruments: kaval, gadulka, bouzuki and gaida. As well as recording with Bill Whelan, Andy Irvine, Zsaratnok, and Marta Sebestyen and composing dance music for the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble, Nikola"s talent is in demand in films: School of Senses, Some Mother"s Son, television ducumentaries: Before Your Eyes- CBS News, commercials and the awared winning animated project Tales of Vases. Nikola continues his search for excellence as he pursues his multi-faceted music career.

01. Hasapiko & Sirto - Greece
02. Rchenitsa - Bulgaria
03. Maqam - Of Arabian Origin
04. Bavno Pomashko - Macedonia
05. Karsilama - Of Turkish Origin
06. Pravo Sareshko - Macedonia
07. Tsifteteli - Of Arabian Origin
08. Rebetiko - Greece
09. Bavno Makedonsko - Macedonia
10. Danse Thrace - Bulgaria
11. Danse Lente Du Banat - of Rumanian origin
12. Maqam Du Strandzhia - Bulgaria

Nikola Parov: gadulka, keman, ud, bouzouki, tambour, contrebasse, cornemuse, kaval, clarinette, saxophone, duduk, nay, qanoun, baglama, tapan, percussion
Ivan Barvich: viola-tambour
László Major: vièle
Vladimir Krunity: accordéon
Almassalma Ahmed Kheir: derbuka

Link
The missing track

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