The Amsterdam Klezmer Band (AKB) is an energetic and poetic stage-act consisting of 7 musicians that have charmed an international audience for over 10 years. Their music is a very lively and refreshing mix of Eastern European styles that transcends traditional Balkan and Klezmer music.
A refreshing approach to Balkan and Klezmer music transcends the traditional aspects of this music and results in a very lively mix of Eastern European styles.
"If I could sing like this, I would sell my soul to the devil," said John Cale on Corsican polyphony. The traditional choirs that disappeared elsewhere are now finding a new life in Southern France. The six-men a capella ensemble blends songs in Occitan, the ancient language of troubadours with Moroccan-style percussion.
Mari Boine, one of the most outspoken Norwegian musicians, draws from her Sami/Lapland shamanic roots, and blends the timeless joik chants with her passionate and contemporary approach. Her debubt Gula Gula was released on Real World as one of the label's earliest albums. She is now coming to Prague to introduce her new album Cuovgga Airras/Sterna Paradisea.
Volga is a fanciful blend of electronics and deeply nuanced voice of Angela Manukian who is often compared to Annie Lennox, Lisa Gerrard from Dead Can Dance or Elizabeth Fraser from Cocteau Twins. Her repertoire of ancient Russian folk songs is accompanied by electronic wizard Alexei Borisov and inventor of selfmade instruments Uri Balashov.
A brass band? While the Central European ones preach musical idiocy, their peers on the Eastern side of the continent spark with energy, brisk rhythms, and fire. Their breathtaking music is powered by home-made slivovitz and Gypsy feeling - and there is still more to discover.
When the enslavement of Romania's Gypsies ended in 1864, several thousand moved the United States, often settling in the black ghettoes. "Who's to say our cousins who went to the US didn't help invent jazz?" says Ioan, Fanfare Ciocarlia's oldest member.