Table of contents - Balkan Trafik Festival

22:30 Band of Gypsies ft. Taraf de Haïdouks & Koçani Orkestar (RO/MK – Henry Le Bœuf Hall)
This all-star band is a collaboration between two of the most popular
gypsy groups around, who previously set Couleur Café and Ancienne
Belgique on fire. It is 20 years now since Taraf de Haïdouks from
Romania first conquered the world with their atmospheric ballads and
dance numbers. The Koçani Orkestar from Macedonia is one of the
funkiest brass bands on the planet right now. The two bands recently
recorded a full studio album together, on which the violins and
accordions of Taraf make a splendid contrast with the brass and percussion of Koçani.
Belgium's Stéphane Karo put both bands on the map: he met Taraf de Haïdouks back in the late
1980s in the "music village" of Clejani in Ceausescu's Romania. After the fall of the Iron Curtain he
brought them to Western Europe, where they toured successfully and recorded a number of albums
for Crammed Discs. In 2001 he brought out the successful live album Band of Gypsies, which included
three tracks featuring the Koçani Orkestar. Both bands have been drastically rejuvenated over the last
few years, following the deaths of a number of their older musicians.
Web: http://www.divanoprod.com
Video (live @AB, december 2010): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvOdjAL3Ffk
00:30 Amsterdam Klezmer Band (NL – Horta Hall)
its inspiration and positive energy.
Mix a generous serving of klezmer with a pinch of ska, a dash of
Balkan music, and a sprinkling of gypsy music. Season with jazz
and punk and put the mix through the blender. The result is the
festive dance music of which the Amsterdam Klezmer Band has
the secret recipe. Their new live CD, Mokum, is the crowning
glory of a 15-year career that began as a way of passing the time
for a bunch of friends. On Mokum – the Yiddish word for "‘city"
and slang for "Amsterdam" – the band shows it has lost none of
The story of the Amsterdam Klezmer Band goes back to 1996, when a few Amsterdam lads with
Jewish backgrounds started playing on the streets, inspired by the infectious sounds of klezmer and
Balkan music. Since then the band has grown into a seven-strong combo that has already performed
in 28 different countries. They have played at the Sziget Festival in Budapest, for example, at the Cité
de la Musique in Paris, at Lowlands, and even at Hong Kong Jazz.
Web: http://www.amsterdamklezmerband.com
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JypdepVtX1s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c_EFx1W9xw
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