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W hen I was a child, brass music would ring out from

the nearby cemetery in Bethel. It was a choir of trombones playing Bach chorales: the essence of church music from the West, the music of mourning, of solace and of final send-offs. For me, the trumpets and horns of the Christmas Oratorio would later come to embody the very epi tome of joy. If someone were to ask what attracted me – a classically trained violinist – to Balkan Brass orchestras, I would

have to tell a long story. But I could also counter with a question of my own: “Have you never heard of ‘Fanfare Ciocârlia’?“ At which point I would offer them a colourful CD. Actually, I would probably tell my story anyway. Like any other violinist who believes they are destined for a career as a virtuoso, I had come early to Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen and thought it to be the fruit of some-one’s brilliant imagination, not knowing that the author had filched

it from a Roma composer in Hungary. A couple of years later, I was preparing Ravel’s Tzigane for an exam; again, I felt it was a piece that lifted Sarasate to a new level. As it turned out, however, according to Max Rostal, the violin guru at the time, the piece was a be trayal of true Gypsy music. Indeed, it took decades to acknowledge and appreciate the real folk music – and give up the rigid stan dards of the bourgeois concert hall. So, who composed Hora staccato? Who

improvised it? It was Grigoras Dinicu, a composer from a highly musical Roma family who studied violin at the conservatory in Bucha rest under Carl Flesch. Dinicu was awarded a scholarship at the Musikuniversität in Vienna, but he was not allowed to accept it because he was Roma. The world-renowned classical virtuoso Jascha Heifetz claimed Dinicu was the best violinist he had ever heard, and Heifetz was responsible for the most-performed version of the

How I Learned To Love Balkan Brass — A Look Back by Jan Reichow

Hora Staccato. The other global hit was Ciocârlia with its birdsong imitations that allow every salon violinist to shine. The piece goes back to Dinicu’s grandfather, who actually wrote it for the Romanian pan flute. And that’s exactly how I experienced the piece in 1972 as played by the Romanian virtuoso Gheorghe Zamfir. He was at the beginning of his career and a guest at WDR Cologne; he stood like a mythical figure under the stone arch of Cologne’s Roman-Germanic Mu seum. Was this the beginning of my love of Romanian music? Seven years after that, I travelled as an official editor at WDR broadcasting to the most remote Transylvanian villages, and in 1984 I found myself at the Guca Trumpet Festival in Serbia. There I heard more unforgettable sounds, in-cluding an ensemble that had won the top prize and would soon play the WDR Folk Festival at the Cologne Cathedral. This opened up a path to Southeast Europe. What began after that was a Romania boom beyond compare. If I had to name my favourite pieces, they would include a heart wrenching love song by Romica Puceanu, but also those joyful “hits” by Fanfare Ciocârlia: one song beautiful enough to die for,

the other songs beautiful enough to bring you back to life wherever you choose. Perhaps in that far-off village of Zece Prajini? Or on Mars, lifted up by the fair winds of the latest CD? As long as Fanfare is there to play something from “Devil’s Tale”. Without a doubt, the horizon didn’t just suddenly open up to all sides in 1997; the WDR Folk Festival had already been in existence for over 20 years at the time, but it was now able to call itself a World Music Festival. At the same budget, of course. There was definitely a moderate all-in clusive package involved, including perhaps one top fee, but the decisive focus was still on the performances and maybe also in the special interests of the editorial team. What I will never forget is the view from our office windows onto the Cathedral Square in Cologne, where stage con struction was already underway. I saw a slightly scattered group of indi-viduals approaching the stage like undercover spies – men with hats and dark suits on. Suddenly, I saw they were carrying instruments. Seconds later, a clarinet sounded, and after that a wild ensemble of sounds that made me jump out of my chair. Unbelievable, after their

long journey, Fanfare Ciocârlia had really arrived! And they exceeded all ex pec tations! Indeed, we can’t always assume that music that sounds exciting in a village also works in the heart of a big city. The ex hilaration was palpable. It is no surprise that it spread throughout the world over the course of 20 years. And, today, when somebody asks if it is real Gypsy music when an individual composer is involved, you merely have to refer them to the tremendous openness of a small town that owes its name solely to a geographical delineation: Zece Prajini or “ten fields.” These ten fields were given to them by a Romanian sovereign when the in-habi tants were still serfs. The composer Koby Israelite devoted himself to “Blues from elsewhere”. People also like to call it “Balkan Blues” so as to give outsiders an idea of the special atmo sphere of “Gypsy music”. I already mentioned composers like Grigoras Dinicu: indeed, all good music is created by highly talented individuals, even if they remain anonymous and their work meta morphoses over the course of time. As Ioan Ivancea, Fanfare Ciocârlia’s clarinet player and leader, who died in 2006, once noted: “The farmers whose

festivities we played at were no Gypsies. We played what these people wanted to hear, their tra-ditional music, Sirba and Hora, but also Manele, pieces with a so-called ‘oriental’ twist. We take those me lodies and give them our very special Gypsy touch, i.e. more warmth, more colour, more shine. We improvise and change the rhythm.” And the tuba player added that no one could match their speed. Indeed, after twenty hours performing brass band music at a wedding celebration, the tuba player of Fanfare Ciocârlia some-times felt as if he had been blowing up air mattresses non-stop from 8 am one morning to the same time the next day. But I am sure their music always sounded as ravishing as on the morning of the first day. Even today, it sounds just as wild as back then on the Cathedral Square in Cologne!

An active musician for 60 years, Dr. Jan Reichow was Music Editor and Head of Folk Music & Music Cultures at Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) in Cologne until 2005. He was also responsible for WDR’s annual World Music & Folk Festival.

Produced by Henry Ernst. Recorded at UNDA Recording, Bucharest by Alexei Turcan, Popschutz Studio, Berlin by Arne Bergner, Merlín Producciones, Medellin by Gabriel Vallejo C. and in the village Zece Prajini, Romania by Henry Ernst. Mixed by Marc Elsner and Henry Ernst at Marx Audio, Berlin. Mastered by Marc Elsner at Marx Audio, Berlin.

special thanks to following inhabitants from Zece Prajini: Family Preda for generous hospitality and catering, Ms. and Mr. Calin for providing cosy recording space and to barman Soare for drinks on credit.

Liner notes by Jan Reichow, translated by Julie Hagedorn · Cover and graphics by Paul Hitter · Artwork by Claudia Bachmann

Management & worldwide booking contact: phone: +49 (30) 2858528 · fanfare@asphalt-tango.de

Executive production Helmut Neumann & Henry Ernst, Made in Germany & © 2016 Asphalt Tango Records GmbH Berlin – Germany · records@asphalt-tango.de · www.asphalt-tango.de

More music of Fanfare Ciocârlia on www.asphalt-tango.de and in all fine record stores.

Costica “Cimai” Trifan – trumpet, vocals, Radulescu Lazar – trumpet, vocalsPaul Marian Bulgaru – trumpet, Craciun Trifan – trumpet

Oprica Ivancea – clarinet, alto saxophone, Daniel Ivancea – alto saxophoneConstantin “Pinca” Cantea – tuba, Monel “Gutzel” Trifan – tuba

Constantin “Sulo” Calin – tenor horn, Laurentiu Mihai Ivancea – baritone hornCostel “Gisniaca” Ursu – large drum, Nicolae Ionita – percussion

special guests:Iulian Canaf – vocals, Vladut Ivancea – clarinet,

Kai Schönburg – drums, Michael Metzler – percussionKoby Israelite – drums, percussion, accordion (track 14),

Maite Hontele – trumpet (track 14)

1. Crayfish hora (2:55)

2. Mista Lobaloba (3:10)

3. 3 Romanians (3:22)

4. Trenul, masina mica (4:35)

5. Out to lounge (2:56)

6. I put a spell on you (feat . Iulian Canaf) (2:29)

7. Cucuritza (2:21)

8. Doina pentru un frânt inima (2:16)

9. Bunica bate toba (4:29)

10. Saints & dates (3:47)

11. Un t igan avea o casa (3:33)

12. The patron’s funeral (2:12)

13. Hora strengarilor (2:09)

14. Fiesta de negritos (feat . Puerto Candelaria) (3:30)

CD-ATR 5116

All tracks composed by Koby Israelite, except track 2 by Adrian Sical, tracks 4, 8, 11 public domain, track 6 by Screaming J. Hawkins, track 9 by Mihail Gincu, track 14 by Lucho Bermudez.

Tracks 1, 8, 9 arranged by Adrian Sical, track 11 arranged by Dejan Jovanovic, All tracks published by Asphalt Tango Records, except track 2 by Piranha Arts AG, track 6 by EMI

& © Asphalt Tango Records GmbH 2016 www.asphalt-tango.de · Total playing time: 45:00

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