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EASTERN
EUROPEAN MUSIC
FOLK AND ROM (GYPSY)
Page under construction.
Please send additions and corrections to
.
This site is intended as a
growing, annotated resource for those interested
in Eastern European folk and Rom (gypsy)
music. Its focus is the Balkans and Hungary,
but several links apply to all of Eastern
Europe or international music in general.
Some pertain to professional or academic
subjects, such as graduate programs or societies,
others on more casual sites, such as record
labels and festival calendars. This page
will eventually be split into several pages
that will include an introduction to Balkan
and Hungarian music.
There is also a bibliography
of resources in English regarding Communist
ideology's impact on Eastern European folk
and gypsy music.
Skip to a section: academic
resources, general
resources, labels
and catalogs, festivals,
artists by country,
language links.
Sections to come: Eastern
European groups and cultural societies in
the United States, government and music
museum links for each country, radio stations
(particularly online). Other section suggestions
welcome.
A few facts,
photos, sounds and trip anecdotes from
the creator's five-month stay in Eastern
Europe (Aug - Dec 2003).
Diacritical marks have been
omitted because most people do not
search with them and not everyone's screen
will show them.
LINKS
Links that open in a new window do so because
the page causes trouble otherwise. Most
sites are in English. Some are in other
languages with a little link somewhere for
the English site.
Academic Materials and Sites
Find academic resources on ethnomusicology
(graduate programs, bibliographies, links,
books, introductions to the discipline)
at the following sites...
Society
for Ethnomusicology
The Society promotes research, study, and
performance of music in all historical periods
and cultural contexts. Members' interests
range from Japanese shakuhachi performance
practice to popular musics in New York;
from the conservation and display of Native
American musical instruments to teaching
world music in public schools. Members of
the Society from Ethnomusicology are scholars,
students, performers, publishers, museum
specialists, and librarians from numerous
disciplines. They have a section
on ethnomusicology school programs.
University
of Indiana Ethnomusicology Institute
U of I has the largest ethnomusicology
archive in the United States, as well as a
great graduate program under the umbrella
of the Folklore department. They also have
a Russian
and Eastern European Institute. Their
music library also has a large digital component
-- part is a digitized musical score repository
(other colleges have this same software too),
and part is Variations2, a fabulous program
that allows students and faculty to manipulate,
hear, see and get infomration on library sound
materials. That is still only for students,
however. Finally, U of I hosts the Society
of Ethnomusicology.
UCLA
Dept of Ethnomusicology
UCLA has the third largest ethnomusicology
archive in the United States, and a respected,
large graduate program. They have a Balkan
focus that is not found elsewhere. The head
of the department, Timothy Rice, specializes
in Bulgarian music and is also the head of
the Society
for Ethnomusicology.
University
of Washington's Ethnomusicology links
U of W has the second largest ethnomusicology
archive in the United States, a small ethnomusicology
program and a view of the Space Needle.
UCSB's
Ethnomusicology Bibliographic Guide
This includes bibliographies, dissertations,
discographies, periodical indexes, directories
and the like.
Inside
World Music's links and on-site introduction
Several annotated links to ethnomusicology
sites sources, many academic and professional
in nature.
Alan
Lomax Collection
The official website for the most influential
and prolific American ethnomusicologist and
developer of the Archive of Folksong at the
Library of Congress (with father John Lomax).
Massive and informative.
List
of about 40 resources (grant sources, catalogs
etc) from Wesleyan student
Worldmusicportal's
list of Ethnomusicology Archives
General Resources
This section is currently biased toward
Hungary, so similar additions regarding
other countries would be particularly welcome.
Some descriptions are taken directly from
the sites, as they say it best.
Eastern
European Folklife Center
"The East European Folklife Center
(EEFC) is a non-profit membership organization
whose mission is to educate the general
public about the the folk music, folk dance,
and folklore in the Balkans through promoting
and sponsoring activities which honor and
celebrate the richness of these cultures;
and to foster understanding and respect
of all peoples through shared experiences
of Balkan cultures."
European
Folklore Institute (in Budapest)
"The European Folklore Institute (EFI)
is a regional centre for the safeguarding,
revitalization and diffusion of traditonal
culture and folklore in Europe. The Institute
focuses on the core areas of identification,
documentation, conservation, preservation,
dissemination and protection of European traditional,
ethnic, and minority cultures (including the
fields of research, education, creative art
and revitalization). The Institute aims to
enhance international coordination, cooperation
and exchange of knowledge in the above core
areas." There is also extensive information
on Hungarian events, conferences, exhibitions
and festivals.
Hungarian
Institute for Culture
The Institute promotes community culture and
education under the guidance of the Ministry
of National Cultural Heritage. They have a
library, manuscripts archive and a research
department, and work to fund and organize
fine and industrial arts, and to preserve
the traditions of local ethnicities and overseas
Hungarians.
Hungarian
Dance House Guild
A small link near the top links to the English
version of this framed site. This is the definitive
resource, along with Fono
Records, for the dance house scene and
dance camps in Budapest and beyond. There
is also much information on the Living Village
Music CD series, books, and local and international
folk bands.
Ethnic
Dance House Lover's Association (in Budapest)
"The Ethnic Dance House Lover's Association
was established in the Dance House of the
Falkafolk Ensemble . The members of the group
as well as the dancers would like to make
use of their knowledge acquired during the
last years and would like to propagate the
folk traditions, music and dances of the Hungarian
nationalities and the Balkan nations. The
Association undertakes the organizing of Greek,
Bulgarian or Southern Slav Dance Houses, which
includes all the above. The Association is
ready to organize and arrange folk festivals."
where
to find a dance house in Budapest
This list, with events for every day of the
week, was put up in 2000, but there are phone
numbers and addresses to contact for current
information. Most of the listed houses are
still hosting events. The main page, Hungarian
Heritage, also has background articles
on the táncház scene and others
of general interest.
Fono
Records' schedule of dance houses and performances
Fono is the heart of the Hungarian folk music
scene, though they carry other artists and
host other events as well. Their site is up
to date, though the táncház
season begins in late September, so summer
visitors will not find much going on.
Baratsag
(Hungarian cultural preservation in the USA)
This online journal aims to preserve and promote
traditional Hungarian folklore to natives,
as well as foreigners with an interest. They
list many events and some links or other information.
a
bit on Romanian folk music from the Cerbul
de Aur site
This page on regional Romanian styles and
rhythms is on the website for Cerbul
de Aur, a Romanian folk dance troupe in
Hungary.
Bulgarian
Regions and Folk History (UCLA Bulgarian Women's
Choir)
This site has a few pages of history on the
musics of regions in Buglaria (Pirin, Thrace,
etc), as well as some information on Bulgarian
folk choirs.
Macedonia
Direct
This site sells folk music (with sound samples
online), instruments, books, wood carvings
and costumes. There is also a bit of information
on Macdonian
folk dances.
Macedonian sound samples
This is entirely in Macedonian, but it only requires clicking on links to songs (.mid and .ra files).
Macedonian culture and folklore
This is entirely in Macedonian, but it only requires clicking on links to songs (.mid and .ra files).
BalCanto
"the eastern groove bazaar"
This is an Prague based all-balkan music
info network and shopping site. Here you
may buy music from Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary,
Macedonia, Yugoslavia, former Czechoslovakia
and more. There is also information about
Balkan artists, instruments, history and
politics.Tamizdat
"Tamizdat is a nonprofit organization
that is committed to fostering the free exchange
of information and ideas between artists,
audiences, and industry. Tamizdat works to
build international communities by bridging
the cultural and economic gaps that separate
American and Western Europe from Central and
Eastern Europe. To do this, Tamizdat has created
an interlocking program of projects aimed
at providing the foundations and the framework
for cultural cross-pollination between artists,
music industry personnel, and most importantly,
between audiences everywhere." [The title
is taken from the term samizdat, self-published
and distributed government-banned literary
works in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.]
Croatian
Klape songs (download mp3s)
This site is all about Dalmatian music and
includes several beautiful photographs and
a link to information on the Klape
Festival (in Croatian). Songs themselves,
with mpeg, real audio, and text in both Croatian
and English, are here.
Latvian Music
This site includes classical and other types of music -- links to publishers, artists, recordings etc.
Traditional Culture (and other sites) in Latvia
The Ministry of Culture's site on folklore, music and traditional culture in Latvia (several pages, though most are now only in Latvian).
Latvian Ethnomusicology
Self-proclaimed the only organized research / education institution or resource for Latvian folk music culture.
The site is mostly a list of links, many yet to materialize.
Non-Eastern European Resources
Turkish
Ministry of Culture - Musical Instruments
This site is included because it provides
uniquely detailed information about Turkish
folk instruments (many found in the Balkans),
including sound samples. Some instruments
are named differently in Slavic countries,
but English equivalents are included. More
generalized information about folk music,
including rhythm, is here,
and the main site page is here.
Folk
Music Instruments Glossary
This extensive dictionary of musical instruments
includes many links to sites on those instruments.
Many have audio and video accompaniments.
Most are from the home site, Hobgoblin
Music, which sells them.
Musical
Instrument Encyclopedia from the U. of Michigan
Excellent collaborative resource for descriptions,
selected references, images, cross-referenced
links, even multi-media for instruments around
the world.
World
Music Portal
As its title suggests, this site is a clearing
house of information -- CD and book reviews,
mailing lists, tours, editorials, etc.
Spin
the Globe
From the KAOS 89.3FM station in Olympia, Washington,
this online world music magazine of sorts
has CD reviews, an events calendar, a live
internet feed, news and links.
Roots
World Magazine
One of the best, most respected magazines
on the internet, Roots World has a ton of
reviews by locale, adn type, as well as new
releases. There are also interviews and other
articles on particular artists and pieces
and information dedicated to accordions and
bagpipes.
Harry
Smith Archives
Smith's multi-volume Anthology of American
Folk Music, released by Smithsonian
Folkways in 1952, and his contributions
to the field of musicology, as well as film,
art and bohemian lore. This is his official
page, with a biography, artwork, store, news
and a store.
Amazon's Ethnomusicology
or International
sections
They are huge, unordered lists, but they
have hundreds of relevant books and enthusiasts'
Listmania lists that describe their favorite
items.
Labels, Catalogs
and Radio
CD Roots
"The CDs you will find here are often
personal favorites, unusual music that often
defies a simple naming of genre. Some is
very traditional, from places you hear little
about, and ought to hear more. Some is extremely
avant garde, making its own rules as it
goes. My favorites combine deep traditional
roots with wild and innovative energy. What
they all share is a human touch, a personality
that goes beyond the mere making of music
and into the very heart of art."
Yu4you
As the title suggests, this catalog offers
Yugoslavian music of all types.
B92
Belgrade Radio
The music section of this station has amazing
releases, including compilations put together
by music director Bojan Djordjevic: Srbija:
Sounds Global releases (three of them
as of summer 2004), Belgrade
Coffee Shop (3 volumes as well), and
Rromano
Suno (Roma Dreams). The main station
page is here.
Asphalt
Tango
A Balkan label with many top artists from
Romania (Fanfare Ciocarlia), Macedonia (Kocani
Orkestar, Esma Redzepova), Hungary (Besh
o Drom, Romani Drom), Bulgaria (Joni Ilyev)
and Serbia (Earth Wheel Sky Band). Note
the production studio link is the top image,
and the record label is the bottom. Also
note that these links often close your browser,
so surfers beware.
Fono
As much a dance house, restaurant / bar, performance
space and production studio as a label / catalog,
Fono is the heart of the Hungarian folk music
scene -- though they have many Roma and foreign
artists, and many artists in Budapest who
record in other styles. Their elaborate website
lists their concert and event schedule. Their
more popular artists include Amaro Suno, Kalman
Balogh, Lajko Felix, Kerekes and Romanyi Rota.
They also have released several compilations,
particularly on Transylvanian music and songs
from Gyimes.
Kuker
Music
"Kuker Music is a Bulgarian label whose
main goal is to produce and distribute music
projects from Eastern Europe. We work with
artists who make music in the field of jazz,
folklore and New Music. Our activity is divided
in 3 parts: Koreni
[folk music], Creative and Across."
Ethnophonie
The site for this Romanian music label is
in its native language, but there is an interview
in English with label head Speranta Radulescu
from Passion
Music. They were the first to record the
now famous ensemble Taraf De Haidouks, and
recordings feature members of this band. Passion
discs also sells several
of their albums.
Piranha
This label also focuses on Latin, Jewish,
African and the Orient, but they do have a
marvelous Balkans section as well, including
Boban Markovic, Boris Kovic and Fanfare Ciocarlia.
They are the parent label of Asphalt
Tango.
Network
Network has music from around the world, but
also releases beautiful double-disc sets with
images and essays, such as Golden Brass Summit
-- Fanfares en Délire, Russian Gypsy
Soul, Road of the Gypsies -- L'épopée
Tzigane, Gypsy Queens -- Flammes du Coeur
and Balkan Blues -- Souffles de l'âme.
All are linked from their Anthologies
page.
Deep
Down Productions (the Balkans, Georgia,
much more)
This quality world music CD store was founded
in 1997 by Mike Whitla. In addition to CDs
from several countries (several from Bulgaria
and North America), it includes a Bulgarian
bibliography and background information
on the
Ukraine and Indonesian
music. Here are the Bulgarian
and Georgian
(including a Georgian travel
log) pages. Contributors are often ethnomusicologists
that are selling their recordings.
Music
of the World (catalog)
"Music of the World is a record label
specializing in traditional and contemporary
world music. Since its founding in the early
80s, the label produced over 85 titles on
CD, many of which are featured on this website.
This site contains descriptions of many of
our recordings and interesting articles on
musicians from all over the world."
Balkan
Media (CD catalog)
This site is a massive clearing house of
all sorts of music from the Balkans (a lot
of pop as well). There is a Traditional
Music heading on the bottom right of the
genre listings.
Passion
Music
"We stock a whole range of some of
the best Eastern European folk music and
Latin Salsa music CDs anywhere, all of it
being dispatched from from our premises
in the UK. Our stock is the best we can
find in Hungarian, Bulgarian, Balkan, Gypsy,
Latin Jazz and Salsa music."
Non-Eastern European Labels and Catalogs
Yazoo
Records
"Yazoo's mission has been, and will
continue to be, to make available as many
classic performances of early rural American
and ethnic music as we can and at the highest
standards we possibly can. The goal is to
broadly disseminate these wonderful performances,
the likes of which will not be seen again,
and to insure their preservation in excellent
sound quality via these CDs, as in many
cases only one to five copies of the original
78 rpm recordings have survived." A
remarkable label and producer of the six-volume
set (plus other area-focused discs), The
Secret Museum of Mankind, and Song
of the Crooked Dance, a compilation
of early Bulgarian recordings.
Buda
Musique du Monde
"The Buda Musique catalog offers more than 400 references and an average of 20 new releases per year.
In less than a decade, Buda Musique has set up one of the most important collections dedicated to the music of the world both traditional and urban."
ARC
World Music Catalog (fabulous)
"
Here you will find over 300 albums listed of music from all over the globe. Music of the Australian Didgeridoo through to the Celtic Harp to American Indian Dances to North African Percussion and on and on... " ARC has high-quality, authentic field recordings, as well as more commercially-oriented, though still top notch, releases. You may search by category (mostly by country) or artist.
Crammed
(World section)
Crammed has been releasing modern (hip hop, electronic) and traditional foreign acts
for more than 20 years. Crammedworld is one of their many sub-labels. "a new sub-label specialized in all possible and impossible 'world musics': hardcore ethnomusicological field recordings, music by people who listen a lot to hardcore ethnomusicological field recordings, state-of-the-art ruthless ethno-disco ripoff, Third World urban hooligan combos... easy listening music for exotic restaurants, etc..."
Taraf de Haidouks and Kocani Orkestar have albums here.
Smithsonian
Folkways
"Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution, the national museum of the United States. We are dedicated to supporting cultural diversity and increased understanding among peoples through the documentation, preservation, and dissemination of sound." Massive catalog (300+) of essential authentic music from around the world, and also Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music.
Rounder
A large folk- and field-recording oriented label that also carries more modern folk and pop.
Notable sub-collections include The Alan Lomax Collection (several series such as Deep River of Song, Southen Journey, Caribbean Voyage, etc), Anthology of World Music Series and The Library of Congress Archive of Folk Culture.
Wergo
German, composer-oriented label that also carres music from around the world.
Traditional
Crossroads (CD catalog)
A middle-eastern focused label that
also has some Eastern European and world
music as well. "Traditional Crossroads
is a ground-breaking Audiophile World Music
Label dedicated to releasing music of various
cultures utilizing state-of the-art recording
technology and high-quality packaging. Traditional
Crossroads provides the most sophisticated
record engineering and thorough liner notes
for every release, from the latest recordings
of Cuban jazz to reissues of turn-of-the-century
middle-eastern legends. Founded in 1993
by Harold Hagopian, a classical record producer
for RCA with a passion for middle-eastern
music, Traditional Crossroads has built
a record catalog of the best middle-eastern
musicians, known or discovered."
Le
Chant du Monde
There is no English web site for this label,
and this one has two pop up ads, but the company
itself releases amazing artists and complations.
Arhoolie
A catalog with music from around the world.
Gallo
(catalog of world music)
While fosucing on the middle east, Gallo also has recordings from China, South America, India and places in between.Real
World (visit the WOMAD Catalog)
This label, run by Peter Gabriel, has several genres, including live recordings and artists from around the globe. World of Music and Dance (WOMAD) is a festival held at different international locales
featuring world talents.
World
Music Institute
A label and organization that supports
cultural exchange between nations and ethnic groups
and sells several world music collections.
World
Music Store
"Worldmusicstore.com is the web site of Multicultural Media, a company dedicated to providing the best and widest selection possible of traditional and contemporary world music and dance compact discs, videos, and DVDs.
The site is designed to meet the needs of music educators and researchers around the world, librarians, music and dance faculty, media centers, as well as world music and dance fans. The site is organized into geographical regions and countries, provides a powerful and easy-to-use search engine, and gives detailed descriptions of the titles. Shoppers can buy titles using credit cards, or by issuing purchase orders from bona fide institutions."
Piranha
[also in above section] This label focuses
on Latin, Jewish, African and the Orient,
but also have a marvelous Balkans section.
They are the parent label of Balkan-based
label Asphalt
Tango.
Festivals
Budapest
Festival City - Festival Center
"As of January 1, 1996 the Budapest Festival Center Kht. has been the official organizer of various cultural events of the Municipality of Budapest. Since 1996, the three major annual festivals of Budapest, the Spring Festival, the Budapest Fair and the Autumn Festival have been organized, as exclusive coordinator, by the Budapest Festival Center Kht.
It is our responsibility to ensure that these events, while demonstrating their distinct qualities, shall have a common trait -- a high artistic standard. [We wish to] further the image of Budapest as a Festival city both within and beyond the borders of Hungary."
Guca / Dragacevo
Trumpet Festival [link
two link
three] (Serbia)
August. Serbia's largest festival, a wild three-day village event of 50 or so brass bands wandering the streets, competitions, beer and roasting pigs.
It is estimated that more than 300,000 people attend over the duration.
Tanchaz
(Hungary) [find a dance house year round
on the Táncházak page]
March. Hungary's tanchaz movement gained popularity in the 1970s and now there are several around the country, particularly in Budapest -- and not just Hungarian music. Romanian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Greek and Turkish are also available. For this reason, it is just as good to visit in October for the regular events throughout the week, but the festival is a more formal, condensed version.
Valley of
the Arts in Kapolcs (Hungary)
July - August. Jazz, contemporary, rock and folk music as well as theater, art, dance and other events.
Koprivshtitsa
(Bulgaria)
August. This massive festival in the mountains convenes every five years and is known as one of the more authentic showcases of music, dance and artistic traditions.
Strakonice
(Czech)
August. This bagpipe bi-annual festival in the town of Strakonice, in the southwest of the Czech Republic."
The town of Strakonice is situated in the heart of the Prachen Region - the country always famous for bagpipe playing. The "Prachensky" ensemble with its bagpipe band took up the regional traditions in 1949. This ensemble had held the South Bohemia Festival of Songs and Dances since 1955 and organised the first meeting of Czech and Slovak bagpipers in 1956. Then on the occasion of the 600-year anniversary of foundation of Strakonice in 1967 the first International Bagpipe Festival took place."
Omis (Croatia)
(official site in Croatian, or this site in English)
June. Omis is a small town along the Dalmatian coast, where klapa ("company" or "group," pl. klape) join each year to sing. These urban groups of four to eight men sing sweet, romantic harmonies.
Vychodna
(Slovak)
July. Begun in 1953.
Local (and some foreign) folklore groups bring music and dancing, plus fine art and architecture, exhibitions of the folk costumes and garments and folk woodcarvings and ceramic arts
to this mountainous area.
Liptovska Teplicka (Slovak)
August. Folk singers and dancers convene in the hills. Schedule and nice images here, but not much information.
Macedonian
Festivals
A lsit of a few festivals, including two in Ohrid -- the Balkan Festival (July) and the Summer Festival (July - August), which includes theater.
Dubrovnik
(Croatia)
July. A summer festival in this notedly beautiful waterfront town along the Dalmatian Coast.
International Folklore Festival in Zagreb (Croatia)
July. "In 1966, the International Folklore Festival was established and Zagreb has ever since been a vivacious meeting point for members of different nations and cultures, a stage for their music, dance, and other heritage.
"
Viljandi (Estonia)
July. This three-day festival has folk music, dance, handicrafts and participatory workshops for visitors.
Druga
Godba (Slovenia)
May - June. Ljubljana hosts this near two-week event with folk and ethnic music from around the world.
Okarina
Etno Festival (Slovenia)
August. Another internationally oriented festival, often in Bled -- a small town based on a picturesque lake and castle. Past performers include groups from from Madagascar, India, France, Brazil and Nepal.
Hungarian
Arts Festivals Federation
"The Hungarian Arts Festivals Federation has been representing Hungary's professional art festivals, both at home and abroad, since 1990.
The ever growing number of festivals is indicative of the growing interest, both in and outside Hungary, that is emerging in Hungary's cultural heritage, as well as in the cultural heritage represented by the artists and ensembles of other nationalities who participate in the festivals. The organisers of these festivals strive, beyond planning the cultural events, to present the historical and natural values of a given region, its rich folk heritage, and its unique cuisine. In doing this they hope to make our country attractive to visitors.
The festivals, significant events in Hungary at the turn of the millennium, are presented in the site in alphabetical order.
" Much of the site is in Hungarian.
Non-Eastern European Festivals
Euro-Festival Homepage
"This website represents an organization of more than 93 quality festivals in 31 European countries and 4 non-European countries. On this site you can find a general view of these festivals in the Festival section. We also have a detailed list of thousands events and performances in the Calendar section, with an archive since January 2000." FROG's
European Folk Festival Links
Folk and Roots Online Guide's country-by-country list of festivals and reviews. Nearly all Western Euroepan.
Europeade
(European)
July (or August). An international folk festival of Flemish origin that most often includes Italy, Germany, France and the Scandinavian countries.
An intended symbol of friendship among nations.
Kaustinen
(Finland)
July. A week-long festival of various types of Finnish music, though the focus is folk . Occasional international. Several Canadian events are included in 2004.
Falun
(Sweden)
July. A folk and international music event in the capital of the country's main tourist area.
Hungary
Kalman
Balogh, Kalman
Lendvay, Kalyi
Jag, Ferenc Santa, Romanyi
Rota, Besh
o Drom, Zengo Group, Kanizsa Csillagai,
Ando
Drom, Kerekes,
Sandor Lakatos, Sondorgo
(Yugoslavian in style) , Rila
(Bulgarian in style)
Bulgaria
Bulgari
(also here),
Ibro
Lolov, Yves
Moreau's field recordings, Rila
(from Budapest), The
Bistritsa Grannies and their Grand-Daughters,
Ocora's
Bulgarie field recordings, Trio
Bulgarka,
Song of the Crooked Dance (early 1900s compilation),
Etropole
Brass, Le
Mystere des Voix Bulgares (Bulgarian State
Women's Choir; another
link), Pirin
Folk Ensemble, Theodossii
Spassov, Yasko
Argirov, Traditional
Songs and Dances from Bulgaria (ARC Recordings).
San Francisco-based
women's choir Kitka, who do Bulgarian
and other Eastern European songs.
Macedonia
Kocani
Orkestar (also
here), Malesevski Melos, DD Synthesis,
Esma
Redzepova and Usnija Redzepova
Romania
Fanfare
Ciocarlia, Ardealul
Ensemble, Fanfara din Cosmesti, Taraf
de Haidouks, Maria
Tanase (1930s answer to Edith Piaf)
Serbia (and former Yugoslavia)
(mostly gypsy brass) Jova
Stojiljkovic Besir, Orkestar
Salijevic, Srbija: Sounds Global
discs one
and two,
Tamburaski Orkestar, Boban
Markovic, Jovica Ajdarevic, Emir
Kusturica's No Smoking Orchestra, Mica
Petrovic, Zlatne Trube, Starogradske,
Rade Petrovic, Fejat Sejdic, Slonovski
Bal, Zlatne
Uste (US band with Serbian style brass).
From Bosnia: Saban
Bajramovic, Goran
Bregovic, Bjelo Dugme (Bregovic's early
band)
Czech Republic
Cechomor
(with Jaz Coleman from Killing
Joke), Gothart
(Balkan in style), Cilagos
(gypsy), Vera
Bila and Kale (also gypsy. listen to
samples here)
Georgia (only across the Black Sea
from Bulgaria and fascinating, so...)
Elessa,
Anchishati
Choir, Georgika,
Kavkasia,
Drinking
Horns and Gramophones: First Recordings
(1902 - 1914), Ensemble
Mzetamze, Rustavi
Choir (site has good intro to Georgian
polyphony)
Learn a few Eastern European Words
Note: The Cyrillic alphabet differs slightly
among the countries that use it: Bulgaria,
Macedonia and Serbia (and Russia). The Wikipedia
sites are great.
Slavic and East European Language Resource Center
Hungarian
phrases (with audio pronunciation files)
English-Hungarian
dictionary
Hungarian
pronunciation guide (good luck!)
General
Slavic language info from Wikipedia
Serbian
(Cyrillic) alphabet
Serbo-Croatian
grammar
Serbian
vs. Bosnian vs. Croatian from Wikipedia
English-Czech,
Czech-English Dictionary
Czech
language primer (great)
Bulgarian
alphabet and orthography
English-Bulgarian
Dictionary (Cyrillic alphabet)
Elementary
Bulgarian grammar
Macedonian
alphabet (Cyrillic) and a few phrases
Romanian
alphabet
Romanian
with pronunciation (and annoying pop-up
ads)
Romanian
in depth (great)
Romanian
language history and guide from Wikipedia
Romani
language (gypsy) - a strange collection of
phrases
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