Tag Archives: Balkan music

Boiled in Lead’s The First Decade of Recordings

Chuck Lipsig penned this review. The problem when writing about Boiled in Lead is how to describe them. Rock and roll? Punk? Blues? Jazz? Traditional? Which tradition? They’ve done everything from Irish to Albanian to Vietnamese to American Traditional. Indeed, there … Continue reading

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Various artists’ Hungarian Noir, A Tribute to the Gloomy Sunday

If you’re familiar with the song “Gloomy Sunday” it’s probably from Billie Holiday’s version of it, which popularized it in the U.S. in 1941. The BBC banned that record from the airwaves because its mood was deemed too somber for … Continue reading

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Boiled in Lead’s Songs from The Gypsy

Boiled in Lead‘s Songs from The Gypsy is a collision, of sorts. That’s a metaphor, of course, but then, if you can’t speak in metaphor, you can’t talk about music. First, the basics, for those who, like yours truly, are not familiar with … Continue reading

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Timothy Rice’s May It Fill Your Soul: Experiencing Bulgarian Music

Timothy Rice, folk-dancer turned ethnomusicologist, did field work in Bulgaria for his masters degree (1971) and PhD (1977) at the University of Washington. He later hosted gaida (bagpipe) player Kostadin Verimezov and his wife, singer Todora Verimezova, for a residency … Continue reading

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Eva Salina’s Lema Lema

Lema Lema: Eva Salina Sings Šaban Bajramović is an amazing recording of Balkan Romani (Gypsy) music that’s filled with contradiction and paradox. Šaban Bajramović was the king of Balkan Romani music in the 1960s and 1970s. Apparently a larger-than-life, somewhat … 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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Elina Duni Quartet’s Dallëndyshe

The Elina Duni Quartet returns with its second outing on ECM, asumptuous and stirring follow-up to 2012’s Matanë Malit. ComprisingAlbanian-born, Swiss-raised singer Duni, Colin Vallon on piano, Patrice Moret, bass, and Norbert Pfammater, drums, the quartet has raised to a … Continue reading

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Elina Duni Quartet’s Matanë Malit (Beyond The Mountain)

This is a very special album, one that combines two forms of music that I appreciate immensely, Balkan folk music and jazz. I don’t claim any particular expertise in writing about either, so bear with me if I make mistakes … Continue reading

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Choban Elektrik’s Choban Elektrik

Take three musicians who are Frank Zappa fanatics, cross them with the insane vitality of Balkan dance music, and you have Choban Elektrik (Electric Shepherd), and their self-titled debut release. Choban Elektrik’s music is billed as Balkan psychedelic jazz-rock, and … Continue reading

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Various artists’ Music from Montenegro

Music from Montenegro is a single-disc collection that showcases the variety of Montenegro’s folk music styles, with 28 tracks covering nearly 76 minutes. Variety is the key word here, and the musical variety echoes Montenegro’s ethnic and geographic diversity. With … Continue reading

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