Tag Archives: Balkan music

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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Makam’s Almanach

Makám has been putting its own stamp on Hungarian folk music for more than 20 years now. Or rather, Zoltán Krulik’s stamp. Almanach is the first album by this group I have heard, but they’ve been making recordings since 1984. … Continue reading

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Balkanarama’s Balkanarama Live

Seattle band Balkanarama plays mostly Rom or Gypsy music, largely dance music of the type you’d hear at wedding celebrations in Bulgaria, Macedonia, Bosnia, Serbia, Albania and Greece. In addition to traditional instruments like violin (Matty Noble), saxophone (Ferko Saxmanov) … Continue reading

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Ion Petre Stoican’s Sounds From A Bygone Age, Vol. 1

This record has quite a back-story. Ion Petre Stoican was a relatively unknown musician in the lively Bucharest scene of the 1970s. He had played professionally, particularly for weddings and such, in a port town for some 15 years, but … Continue reading

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Zabe i Babe’s Drumovi

Zabe i Babe (pronounced something like ZHA-bay ee BAH-bay) is a bi-national folk-pop ensemble. The Bosnian-American group is a side project for members of the American folk-punk group Cordelia’s Dad, whose frontman, Tim Eriksen, sings and plays on this disc, … Continue reading

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