Mahala Rai Banda
VIOLIN FROM TARAF DE HAIDOUKS AND THE BRASS FROM FANFARE CIOCARLIA SPICED WITH BUCHAREST GYPSY GHETTOS FLAVOUR
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Mahala is the common name gypsies use to designate the areas where they form the majority of the population, and which sometimes develop into small towns.
Raï is a word of Arab origin borrowed by the Rom populations which travelled through Persia then Egypt and whose migration ended in Romania in the plain of Walachia. These generations of gypsy musicians (lautari) are considered to be a sort of aristocracy among gypsies and the term raï designates someone whose authority or know-how is recognised by all.
Banda designates an orchestra composed of various instruments (violin, trumpet, saxophone, cymbalo, percussion instruments, accordions) which belongs to no particular genre.
It is neither a fanfare nor a folk band, but can be either according to circumstance. Traditional music from the countryside meets the radically modernist style of gypsy music from Bucarest, oriental ornamentation, modern rhythms and the more complex rhythms from the Balkans, and harmonies from the Banat of Moldavia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Albania and Turkey.
Shaped in the Gypsy ghettos (Mahala) around Bucharest, Mahala Rai Banda (literally Noble Band from the Ghetto), combines a surprising array of trends and styles.
However, once you delve down into the history of the place, surprise gives way to fascination as all the pieces slowly fit together.
The power of the brass band versus young city-dwelling traditional Gypsy musicians definitely guarantees for a blend quite extraordinary!
