» Budapest Gypsy Orchestra
Fanfare Ciocarlia and Tcha Limberger’s Budapest Gypsy Orchestra bring their gypsy music to Brighton Festival on 17 May
‘Speed daemons’ Fanfare Ciocarlia began life as a village wedding band in the remote mountains of North East Romania. Today the 2006 winners of BBC Radio 3’s ‘World Music Award for Europe‘ are the most famous Gypsy band in the world, fuelling a global Balkan beats revolution with their dizzying brand of roaring Roma funk and high velocity Eastern European dance music.
Steeped in tradition, yet absolutely contemporary, Fanfare have not only won over world music fans but also count rockers, ravers and jazz fans amongst their audience.
The legend of Fanfare Ciocarlia begins in the ‘invisible‘ Gypsy village of Zece Prajini in North West Romania. For generations the village’s men farmed and made music, playing local weddings, funerals and festivals. In 1996 Henry Ernst, a German sound engineer, chanced upon Zeci Prajini’s musicians and, realising he had stumbled on hidden musical treasure, took the village orchestra to Berlin. An instant hit, Fanfare’s brass attack soon conquered Western Europe, North America, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, Russia, Israel and – in 2006 - Romania.
The band’s patriarch Ioan Ivancea died last October after a long illness, inspiring the band to record Queens and Kings, an album cut with legendary Gypsy musicians from across Europe.
Blind Belgian violinist Tcha Limberger hails from a famous family of manouche musicians, steeped in the Gypsy jazz legacy of Django Reinhardt. Drawn to Hungarian music from an early age, Tcha spent three years studying its roots in Budapest. Now, with his hand-picked ensemble of Hungary’s finest Gypsy players, he revisits the heartland of Budapest cafe culture. Plus DJs provided by Balkan Beats UK.
Sat 17 May, 8pm, Concert Hall, Brighton Dome. Tickets £15, £18.50.
Call 01273 709709 www.brightonfestival.org
June 25th, 2008 at 8:45 am
GREAT! THEY MADE IT! I’M VERY GLAD BECAUSE I’VE BEEN READING ABOUT GYPSIES FOR SEVERAL WEEKS NOW ON THE INTERNET AND I NEVER KNEW HOW THEY SUFFERED. I NEVER KNEW ABOUT HOW THEY DON’T GET HIRED FOR JOBS, HOW THEY’RE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST, ETC. SO, I’M VERY GLAD TO SEE THAT THESE GUYS MADE IT AND ARE LIVING THEIR DREAM. I HOPE THE GYPSY PEOPLES’ LIVES IMPROVE, AND SOON. I THINK SEVEN CENTURIES OF ABUSE IS ENOUGH, DON’T YOU? I KNOW THAT THE GYPSIES, THE ROMA, DON’T WANT TO ASSIMILATE INTO NON-ROMA SOCIETY. CAN YOU BLAME THEM? LOOK WHAT THEY’VE BEEN THROUGH! I THINK IT WOULD BE WONDERFUL IF THEY COULD BE PEOPLE OF BOTH WORLDS—THE WORLD OF THE ROMA, WITH THEIR CUSTOMS AND THEIR WAY OF LIFE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, AND ALSO IN THE NON-ROMA WORLD. IF THEY COULD COMBINE THE TWO CULTURES—TAKE THE GOOD FROM EACH AND DISCARD THE BAD FROM EACH, MAYBE THERE WOULD BE MORE UNDERSTANDING ON BOTH SIDES. I’VE HEARD ALL MY LIFE THAT “GYPSIES STEAL.” AS WITH ALL STEREOTYPES, THERE IS SOME TRUTH TO THAT, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO ASK A QUESTION. WHAT WOULD ANY OF US DO IF WE WANTED TO WORK AND NO ONE WOULD HIRE US ANYWHERE? HOW LONG WOULD WE LAST WITH NO MONEY COMING INTO THE HOUSE? HOW LONG BEFORE WE BEGAN TAKING FOOD TO STAY ALIVE? HOW LONG BEFORE WE’D BEGIN TO HAVE SERIOUS PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUES ABOUT SELF-ESTEEM? HOW LONG BEFORE WE’D BEGIN RESENTING THE PEOPLE THAT HATED US AND DECIDED TO GET EVERYTHING WE COULD FROM THEM ANY WAY WE COULD? HOW LONG COULD WE STAND TO LIVE IN A RAMSHAKLE “HOUSE” WIH NO ELECTRICITY OR EVEN RUNNING WATER? TO BE TREATED LIKE DIRT EVERYWHERE WE WENT? PLENTY TO THINK ABOUT, ISN’T THERE? CONGRATULATIONS TO ANY ROMA PERSON WHO “MAKES IT” AND GOES ON TO HAVE A REAL LIFE.