Tag Archives: Balkan music

Silver Arm’s Never Despair

The world is a strange place, full of people who think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. In Europe, where I live, we are crowded with singers and musicians who do their best to sound … Continue reading

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Elina Duni’s A Time To Remember

A new Elina Duni album is always cause for joy, and A Time To Remember is no exception. This time out she follows up her 2020 quartet recording Lost Ships with a varied program of 12 songs ranging from American … Continue reading

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Reptile Palace Orchestra’s We Know You Know

Pure Camp. It’s not a more mellow Three Mustaphas Three, but there’s a connection somewhere here. Perhaps it’s the occasional frenetic pace, the clever send-ups of everything Americana. The borscht belt is in there somewhere, but this is not your … Continue reading

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Balkan Clarinet Summit’s Many Languages, One Soul

If you at all like instrumental music from southeastern Europe, if you enjoy the sound and versatility of the clarinet, or if you just like wildly eclectic international music – personally, all three describe me – then this Balkan Clarinet … Continue reading

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Sviraj’s One To Remember

Big Earl Sellar wrote this review. There seems to be a renewed interest in music from Eastern Europe, judging by the sheer volume of releases in the last six months. One To Remember is from an American trio playing in … Continue reading

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The Charlie Moorland Trio’s Excentrique, and Jaune Toujours’s Barricade

On the sunlit uplands that surround our publication’s multi-billion dollar premises, the Editorial Board of Green Man Review and their cronies swan about, eating chocolate sent in by artists hoping to bribe their way to good reviews, then flit from … Continue reading

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Mozaik’s Live from the Powerhouse

In the late 1960s an aspiring young Irish folk musician named Andy Irvine traveled through the Balkans. He jammed with local folk musicians everywhere he went and absorbed the different traditions of the region. Irvine then brought these Balkan influences … Continue reading

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Vartra’s Basma


Coincidentally, earlier in the day that I sat down to compose this review of Vartra’s Basma, I listened to “Nos Veremos” from Y La Bamba’s Ojos del Sol, one of my favorite songs and albums of the past decade. Then … Continue reading

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Garth Cartwright’s Princes Amongst Men

Gypsies and music go together. Not just in popular imagination, but in fact. From the Gypsy jazz of Django Reinhardt to the wailing trumpets of the brass orkestar, from Andalusia’s Flamenco guitarists to the profound and joyful singing of Esma … Continue reading

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Divanhana’s Zavrzlama

Divanhana is a Bosnian sevdah band founded in 2009 by a group of students from the Sarajevo Music Academy. Fronted by powerful and supple singer Šejla Grgić, they play folk and “urban traditional” music from Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well … Continue reading

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