Starring...
The Karavan International Gypsy Festival is setting up Village at the Caravan Music Club for the final leg of the tour. Karavan festival celebrates travelling music from across the globe. Now in its third year and selling fast, Karavan brings unique line ups and lush sounds spreading joy and foot stomping music experiences. Don’t miss this all ages event! Featuring: All the way from the USA - New York Gypsy All-Stars Jump the Turnstiles of Balkanalia, Turkish Roots, and Gypsy Soul with Funky Refinement. Also on the line up, Kings of the Russian Criminal Sound, travellers of the east, vodka swirling, stripe shirted firebrand, Vulgargrad; La Mauvaise Reputation, Jazz gypsy trio playing French Jazz in the jazz manouche / hot swing style and The Margaret St project with Lolo Lavina and Serbian/ Hugarian roma gypsies musicians playing Gypsy melodies and original songs inspired by life in Inner-Western Sydney. Don’t miss it!
SUN 03 MARCH 2013
CARAVAN CLUB - 95-97 DRUMMOND ST OAKLEIGH VIC
PH : 0411 569 180
TICKETS - PRESALE $40 GA / $48 SEATED
DOOR $45 GA ONLY
MELBOURNE 2013
CANBERRA 2013
SYDNEY 2013
Nuyorbalkan: New York Gypsy All-Stars Jump the Turnstiles of Balkanalia, Turkish Roots, and Gypsy Soul with Funky Refinement
A Greek bassist ducked into a little bar in New York’s Alphabet City and heard the Eastern Mediterranean and Southern Balkans pouring across the packed room. The clarinet was keening and singing, and he knew every tune.
From this blown-away moment of discovery, the New York Gypsy All-Stars sprang, uniting bi-musical virtuosi raised on the lush sounds of Macedonian, Greek, Turkish, and American roots and forged in the halls of the world’s best music schools. With composerly ears and a madcap relish for ill and crunky sounds, the quintet of crack musicians tears through the tollgates separating the region’s interlocking roots on the long-awaited album of original pieces, Romantech (Traditional Crossroads).
“We cover all the Balkans melodically,” explains classically trained, traditionally raised Macedonian clarinet wonder and band headman Ismail Lumanovski, “and we cover the world rhythmically and harmonically.” Zooming with Roma-inspired zeal from swinging salsa to pulsing bhangra, the group never loses its sharp musical focus, astounding chops, and true spirit their Gypsy namesakes.
“We use lots of musical elements in our original compositions that are typically Balkan Romany in style but aren’t necessarily in your face, like the 9/8 rhythm on tracks like ‘NY9’ or the way we use musical ornaments throughout the songs,” Lumanovski muses. “But more important than that is how we use the Gypsy term in a broader sense. We are taking what the Gypsies did, traveling from India to the Balkans and on to Western Europe and putting together the best musical ideas from every nation along the way. We’re open to the world, and we just take everything we like and make it one.”
The All Stars come by this impulse and skill naturally. It’s a rare thing, even in music-rich Southeastern Europe and in musician-packed New York, to find conservatory-caliber musicians who grew up playing weddings or rocking a čoček or a çiftetelli with local masters. Yet that’s exactly what the All Stars are: Alongside degrees from places like Juilliard and Berklee, they grew up jamming with local roots musicians or defiantly attacking traditional zithers with their bare fingers, getting into Latin jazz or bringing the funk.
Lumanovski, scion of a revered musical family in Macedonia, met Athens-born Panagiotis Andreou when the versatile bassist insisted he just had to play with Lumanovski, after hearing the clarinet player whip through an astounding array of hot traditional Balkan tunes in a little club on Avenue B. Andreou jumped on stage, tore into the music, and the room fell silent. “Everyone stopped at one point, and we just improvised on bass and clarinet for a long time,” Lumanovski recalls fondly. “There was an instant emotional connection.”
The duo started playing together regularly. At the urging of globally astute impresario and arts presenter Serdar Ilhan, the band was born, playing a jubilant crowd at their first big gig, a notoriously full-throttle show for the New York Gypsy Fest. Lumanovski and Andreou were eventually joined by Turkish roots maverick Tamer Pinarbasi, who had long experimented with the kanun (traditional zither), throwing out his plectrums in favor of bare fingernails and kneading together microtonal makam scales with Western harmonies; Australia-born, Turkey-raised jazz-loving classically trained percussionist Engin Gunyadin; and wild keyboard innovator and sonic mastermind Jason Lindner.
It’s in playing and improvising together—often for marathon sessions or ecstatic crowds from the Black Sea to Brooklyn—that the All Stars have honed their repertoire over the many years it’s taken the strong-willed, devoted musicians to craft and record Romantech.
“Balkan Bollywood” may sound like a novelty, but don’t be fooled: It’s a bittersweet, multipart romp inspired not only by Indian filmi tracks, but by Turkish melodies and Balkan ornamentation. “I had been playing around with this melody, trying ornaments in places where they usually don’t happen,” Lumanovski recounts. “I brought it to the guys, and we jammed on it with Panagiotis, Tamer, and Engin for four hours after a show at Drom. We stayed until 5 AM playing the same thing over and over, and this very cool, hybrid stuff came out.”
Cool stuff includes in the aching and mournful sound Lumanovski achieves on “Outcry,” a tune that hints at Armenian duduk resonance, contrasting with the piece’s nuanced piano chords and sprightly zither, while Andreou adds an Afro-Cuban montuno vibe (when not kicking out the Balkan jams, the bassist wins jazz awards for his work with Afro-Latin ensembles). “Romantech,” a wry rendering of techno beats using kanun and drums, wheels into a full-on Turkish longa, a style inspired by Anatolian and Balkan elements. Melodies get toyed with, built on, and reconstructed in a worldly interplay of sounds gathered from the musicians’ many travels and collaborations.
Through all the complexity and ability, a good-times vibe jumps out at listeners, making the hardest-core kopanitsa in 11/8 feel like an easy two-step. “We have a piece called ‘EZ Pass,’ because our music can feel like an easy pass to the Balkans,” Lumanovski laughs, explaining one of the album’s song titles and its ties to the New York area toll pass. “With an EZ Pass, you don’t stop; it’s very fast. You just go. And it just flows.”
An Inner Western Sydney Gypsy fairy-tale…
Once upon a time, a singer from Inner Western Sydney, yet of Hungarian Rroma (Gypsy) origin was singing her heart out..oh how she loved to sing! Yet, she was a little lonely as deep down, she yearned to find other Gypsy musicians to play with. Alas, she resigned herself to visiting Eastern Europe as often as her purse strings would allow and to sing with Sydney’s wealth of marvelous, magical musicians. Her name was Sarah Bedak (aka Lolo Lovina) Unbeknownst to her, there was a Newtown born Serbian Rroma accordionist named Zoran Todorovic…Oh he loved to play the accordion! Zoran who was a little lonely too, as he also yearned to play with other Gypsies, but sadly knew of very few living in Sydney Australia. One summers evening, Lolo went on a date with a kind and friendly man (but, he was not Gypsy!) They visited a house party in Enmore that featured Serge Stanley and Tim Bradley’s band ‘On the Stoop’. Sadly, the ‘date’ bit didn’t work out, But! Lolo truly fell in love with Serge’s lyrical and melodic musical enchantments and secretly wished he would write music for her too. One day, Lolo plucked up the courage to ask Serge to write a song for her. Serge said he would be delighted. Hoorah! Soon after, Serge bought a lovely terrace house deep in urban Newtown and he invited Lolo over to listen to the new melody he had written…& what a lovely tune it was! Serge then turned to Lolo and said ‘ Hey, guess what Sarah? There‘s a Serbian Gypsy accordionist living next door!’ And can you guess who this neighbor was? Yes that’s right kids, it was Zoran Todorovic! It is here that the Margaret St Project begins…this true and truly blessed story also involves psychic premonitions, a Texan oil baron, a Bosnian postman, an enchanted bar deep in the heart of Rockdale and a handsome Serbian Gypsy drummer / hairdresser / fashion stylist and caravan repair man..but more on all this later! The Margaret St. Project happily play Gypsy melodies and write original songs inspired by life in Inner-Western Sydney. Their music is infused with Tango, Balkano, Gypsy swing, musette waltzes, jazz and Mexicana….aww…how we love a fairy tale with a happy beginning!
Playing the hottest of hot swing, and the sweetest of French songs, La Mauvaise Réputation formed in 2009 with the aim of authentically recreating French chanson and gypsy jazz from the 1930s through to the 60s. Their repertoire features songs from the greats of that period including Charles Trenet, Serge Gainsbourg and Edith Piaf, as well as more modern additions from artists such as Les Ogres du Barback.
They perform in the jazz manouche/hot swing style made famous by Parisian jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. The music is joyous and infectious with upbeat rhythms and tempos and melodies plucked out of the heart of old Europe.
In 2012 La Mauvaise Réputation launched their debut album Tours Eiffel en Plastique featuring their favourite selection of tunes from their extensive selection of material. A highly-sought after functions and events ensemble, the band has performed at venues and festivals up and down the east coast of Australia.
The repertoire is performed in French, staying true to the music as originally conceived.
Paul Gillett, singer and rhythm guitarist, first heard the music of Django Reinhardt on the streets as a child, and has been fascinated ever since. As his alter ego Floyd Thursby, he has toured Australia performing his original music, and as composer and leader of the film scoring project the Ang Fang Quartet. Paul has done extensive research into the French music of the 20th Century, including a study trip to France in 2009 to broaden his language skills and repertoire.
Jon Delaney plays solo guitar for La Mauvaise Réputation and is known as one of Australia's most talented gypsy jazz guitarists. He began his performance career in 1994, and has gone on to perform all over Australia in his Jon Delaney Trio and as a sideman with countless other acts. He graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2005, and alongside his performance schedule, teaches guitar at a tertiary level. He spent 2008 playing in and around Berlin, and has also performed in the United Kingdom and Canada. In 2011 he travelled to Belgium to study with manouche legend Fapy Lafertin.
Enzo Ruberto's impeccable bass playing has long been a presence on the Melbourne jazz scene. Arriving from Italy in the mid 1990s, Enzo graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2000. He has since performed extensively not only locally, but internationally, as a member of Eddie Perfect's touring band, and in the band for Shane Warne: The Musical. He also maintains a busy performance schedule in several Melbourne-based modern and traditional jazz groups.
VulgarGrad, that mysterious band of Russian criminals, have come to steal your hearts and wallets and anything else that's not nailed down. Fronted by Polish-born gravelly-voiced strongman and star of stage and screen, Jacek Koman, VulgarGrad are the only band in the country that play music by, for, and about Russian thieves: raucous drinking songs, melancholy waltzes, manic oompah and hot Soviet-era swing. Be prepared for gun-slinging, vodka-swilling, foul-mouthed disorder, and watch out for the biggest, most triangular instrument around, the contrabass balalaika. You will dance or the trumpeter will shoot you.
