Tag Archives: Balkan music

De Amsterdam Klezmer Band’s Limonchiki

Judith Gennett wrote this review. Looking for a spicy klezmer band? From Holland, De Amsterdam Klezmer Band might be the band for you. Assigned to Knitting Factory’s alternative sub-label, their music is at times so spiced up with Eastern European … Continue reading

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Romashka’s Romashka

In a little over a year, Romashka have built a reputation as one of the most exciting and energetic bands in New York City’s world music scene. Before converging on Brooklyn, the band’s eight members cut their musical teeth in … Continue reading

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Adam Good’s Dances Of Macedonia and the Balkans

Judith Gennett wrote this review. Adam Good is a Berklee-educated tambura player living in New York City. “Dedicated entirely to the Macedonian Izvorno style,” Dances of Macedonia and the Balkans is just that: a CD spotlighting Balkan dance tunes. Good … Continue reading

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Los Niños de Sara’s Gipsyolé, Jony Iliev & Band’s Ma Maren Ma, and Besh o droM’s Nekemtenemmutogatol! (Can’t Make Me!)

Big Earl Sellar wrote this review. The Romany have long been the makers of the soundtrack of working life throughout Europe. Wherever they roam, they quickly establish themselves as entertainers of the first order, often mixing the popular music around … Continue reading

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Trendafilka’s For the Olives

“Chichovite Konye,” the opening track on Trendafilka’s second album For the Olives was a good choice for its first single, as it presents the vocal group’s two sides in microcosm, as it were. Beginning with a stately, slow traditional polyphonic … Continue reading

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Téa Hodžić Trio’s Stay Awhile

The Téa Hodžić Trio is the first project for these three musicians as a trio, although they’ve been performing together as members of other ensembles for several years. Lead singer and guitarist Téa Hodžić is a native of Sarajevo in … Continue reading

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Napfonat’s Égből, Fényből

Napfonat is an energetic and enigmatic female a cappella band from Hungary whose debut album, Szól a világ released by Hangvető in May 2021, was shortlisted for the 2022 Fonogram-Award among the five Best Folk and World Music Albums of … Continue reading

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Lado’s Preveliku Radost Navišćujem Vama (Christmas Songs and Carols of Dalmatia)

This album combines one type of music that I love, Balkan folk, with one type of music I’m not so crazy about, Christmas carols. The Balkan folk music wins this battle of the genres. Lado, the Folk Dance Ensemble of … Continue reading

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Lakvar’s Fiction and Folkore

One of my favorite songs of the autum of 2023 is Lakvar’s “Koga.” They’re a big ensemble of at least seven musicians from all over central and eastern Europe, based in Stuttgart, playing a rock-influenced version of Eastern European folk … Continue reading

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Vela Luka Croatian Dance Ensemble’s Vela Luka

Vela Luka has been one of the most popular acts at the Northwest Folklife Festival in Seattle, Washington, for many years. The ensemble’s self-produced, -released, and -distributed CD gives a good idea of why. Clocking in at a little more … Continue reading

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