Tag Archives: Balkan music

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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Elina Duni and Rob Luft’s Lost Ships

I was utterly beguiled by Elina Duni the first time I heard her sing, which was on the ECM debut of her longtime quartet, 2012’s Matanë Malit. On that first album and the follow-up Dallëndyshe with Colin Vallon, Patrice Moret … Continue reading

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Emmi Kujanpää’s Nani

Finnish folk singer, composer, teacher and researcher Emmi Kujanpää continues her ongoing exploration of the intersection of Finnish and Balkan music with her first “solo” recording Nani. I put solo in quotes because this album includes the contributions of the … Continue reading

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Blato Zlato’s In The Wake

I went to a good number of musical events in 2019, and one of the most enjoyable was a performance and dance put on by the New Orleans-based Balkan band Blato Zlato. They’re a superb folk ensemble playing mostly Bulgarian-style … Continue reading

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Blato Zlato at Podkrepa Hall, Portland Oregon, 9 June 2019

Whenever I hear live Balkan music, I find myself wondering, “Why do I ever listen to anything else?” The wild rhythms, the hair-raising harmonies, the tunes that leap in an instant from the depths of despair to the tallest mountaintop … Continue reading

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