Gypsy music, an eclectic style the Roma people originated during their wanderings from India through the Middle East to Europe, has spawned a new species of followers. Gogol Bordello and its theatrical band of punks got the ball rolling and, coincidentally or not, a slew of other independent musicians—from Devotchka’s cabaret-folk to the soaring, orchestral sounds of Beirut—emerged shortly thereafter with Gypsy-influenced albums (although the term “gypsy” is often considered derogatory these days). And with every trend comes the inevitable: a festival to celebrate it.
The New York Gypsy Festival, which began in 2005, is back from Sept. 23 to Oct. 3 with a blend of future-oriented and tradition-infused performances from Beirut, Balkan Beat Box, The New York Gypsy All-Stars Band, Iva Bittova and George Braz Duo, Lumanescent Orkestrii, 17 Hippies and Bengas. A second leg of the festival is planned for November at the soon-to-be-opened club Drom, with dates to be announced.
Zach Condon, the singer and multi-instrumentalist ringleader of Beirut, found his love of Gypsy music at age 16 while working in a movie theater during a Balkan film festival. He became fascinated with a contemporary Romani brass band, Kocani Orkestar. After quitting high school, he rambled across Europe and crossed paths with myriad Gypsy bands and was hooked.
“It wasn’t a musical journey. It was more like, ‘What am I doing with my life?’” he says. “When I got home, I had to try to make that music.”
He was swept up in the energy of the Gypsies—the raw excitement of their bittersweet melodies—and the music that is “so incredibly sad, and so incredibly joyous” at once.
After he released Gulag Orkestar—essentially a solo album—last year, Beirut shot from obscurity to the tops of many year-end Best Of lists. In the past year, he’s assembled the orchestra he’s dreamed of—an eight-piece band on organs, horns, strings, accordion, upright bass, assorted percussion and other sundry instruments—whenever the mood strikes.
Beirut’s new album, The Flying Club Cup, finds Condon and the rest of the troupe exploring even more intricate compositions and adding French elements. Given the range of instrumentation and the number of styles they tackle, the level of musical sophistication belies the amount of time they’ve worked together.
Condon asserts that Gypsy music has gained popularity among independent musicians and fans because it contains familiar elements that draw listeners in, despite other aspects that may sound exotic to some ears.
“It’s the place between music we’ve grown up with—classical, jazz and rock ‘n’ roll—and the entire East. It’s a gateway,” he explains. “It’s not such a giant leap of faith to enjoy it as your own.”
Like Condon, Ori Kaplan of Balkan Beat Box became addicted to Gypsy music after hearing Kocani Orkestar’s first album, his initial experience of a Roma brass band.
“I listened to it like a mantra…’til I was singing all the intricate parts,” Kaplan explains via email from Vienna.
Kaplan grew up in Israel with a passion for klezmer and playing clarinet and he later became a saxophonist. He moved to New York in the 1990s and eventually joined Firewater—an art-punk band with global music influences that also included his Balkan Beat Box band mate Tamir Muskat—and Gogol Bordello.
He formed Balkan Beat Box with Muskat, who plays drums and handles the programming, and for each of their hip-hop inflected albums, they offer a revolving cast of international collaborators, fusing disparate styles into a coherent whole under the umbrella of Gypsy music.
“It’s in the back of our ears, not a planned effort,” Kaplan says. “The sounds of different cultures were always there when we were growing up. I was in and around Tel Aviv with all the punk rock and pop and New Wave, but yet with Egyptian music on the radio and a Turkish bar next door.”
Beirut, Balkan Beat Box, and The New York Gypsy All-Stars Band perform Sept. 26,
Delacorte Theater, Central Park (at 80th St.), 212-539-8750, nygypsyfest.com; 7, $25. (Beirut also Sept. 20 at Brooklyn
Masonic Temple & Sept. 24 at Society for Ethical Culture)
The New York Gypsy Festival, which began in 2005, is back from Sept. 23 to Oct. 3 with a blend of future-oriented and tradition-infused performances from Beirut, Balkan Beat Box, The New York Gypsy All-Stars Band, Iva Bittova and George Braz Duo, Lumanescent Orkestrii, 17 Hippies and Bengas. A second leg of the festival is planned for November at the soon-to-be-opened club Drom, with dates to be announced.
Zach Condon, the singer and multi-instrumentalist ringleader of Beirut, found his love of Gypsy music at age 16 while working in a movie theater during a Balkan film festival. He became fascinated with a contemporary Romani brass band, Kocani Orkestar. After quitting high school, he rambled across Europe and crossed paths with myriad Gypsy bands and was hooked.
“It wasn’t a musical journey. It was more like, ‘What am I doing with my life?’” he says. “When I got home, I had to try to make that music.”
He was swept up in the energy of the Gypsies—the raw excitement of their bittersweet melodies—and the music that is “so incredibly sad, and so incredibly joyous” at once.
After he released Gulag Orkestar—essentially a solo album—last year, Beirut shot from obscurity to the tops of many year-end Best Of lists. In the past year, he’s assembled the orchestra he’s dreamed of—an eight-piece band on organs, horns, strings, accordion, upright bass, assorted percussion and other sundry instruments—whenever the mood strikes.
Beirut’s new album, The Flying Club Cup, finds Condon and the rest of the troupe exploring even more intricate compositions and adding French elements. Given the range of instrumentation and the number of styles they tackle, the level of musical sophistication belies the amount of time they’ve worked together.
Condon asserts that Gypsy music has gained popularity among independent musicians and fans because it contains familiar elements that draw listeners in, despite other aspects that may sound exotic to some ears.
“It’s the place between music we’ve grown up with—classical, jazz and rock ‘n’ roll—and the entire East. It’s a gateway,” he explains. “It’s not such a giant leap of faith to enjoy it as your own.”
Like Condon, Ori Kaplan of Balkan Beat Box became addicted to Gypsy music after hearing Kocani Orkestar’s first album, his initial experience of a Roma brass band.
“I listened to it like a mantra…’til I was singing all the intricate parts,” Kaplan explains via email from Vienna.
Kaplan grew up in Israel with a passion for klezmer and playing clarinet and he later became a saxophonist. He moved to New York in the 1990s and eventually joined Firewater—an art-punk band with global music influences that also included his Balkan Beat Box band mate Tamir Muskat—and Gogol Bordello.
He formed Balkan Beat Box with Muskat, who plays drums and handles the programming, and for each of their hip-hop inflected albums, they offer a revolving cast of international collaborators, fusing disparate styles into a coherent whole under the umbrella of Gypsy music.
“It’s in the back of our ears, not a planned effort,” Kaplan says. “The sounds of different cultures were always there when we were growing up. I was in and around Tel Aviv with all the punk rock and pop and New Wave, but yet with Egyptian music on the radio and a Turkish bar next door.”
Beirut, Balkan Beat Box, and The New York Gypsy All-Stars Band perform Sept. 26,
Delacorte Theater, Central Park (at 80th St.), 212-539-8750, nygypsyfest.com; 7, $25. (Beirut also Sept. 20 at Brooklyn
Masonic Temple & Sept. 24 at Society for Ethical Culture)
