FEELGOOD FOLK Clarinet master Ismail Lumanovski (left) and Marco Peris, Inspector Gadje manager and drummer, are featured in ‘Balkancisco.’ (Photo courtesy of Balkcancisco) Once a week, in San ...

A map of last December's YouTube hits shows that music fans in several Balkan countries still prefer their local bands to top international songs – though audiences in Croatia, Macedonia and Romania ...

Can you create dance music that gets the floor moving using only brass instruments? For over 100 years, Balkan brass has been answering "yes" to this question. Using only the raw sounds of trumpets, ...

Roma musicians in the Balkans are renowned for playing exuberant brass band tunes at weddings. Now the brash, electric keyboard-based party sound known as ‘tallava’ is making an impact outside the ...

It has the air of a boxing match with a rowdy and expectant crowd. On the left, one trumpeter appears, on the right, another. They eye each other up and as you are distracted by the musical phrases ...

"There is a continental European phenomenon. When the Berlin Wall came down, such a big cultural influence came to Western Europe. When you travel from Frankfurt to Vienna, then to Bucharest, which is ...

Balkan Beat Box describes its sound as "globalized urban mash-ups," with brass bands, wedding organs and a rooster's crow all finding a place in their recordings. Although the three band members were ...

Inspector Gadje performs with Ismail Lumanovski at a Kafana Balkan party at the Rickshaw Stop. The 18th annual edition takes place Saturday, March 8, 2025. Credit: John Nilsen At first glance, the ...

NEW YORK - Here’s a concept: an American-based band that plays music inspired by the folk traditions of the Balkans in southeastern Europe, and that is actually led by someone from that region. This ...

Clarinet virtuoso Ismail Lumanovski has already broken new ground several times in his short career. Best known as the driving force behind the New York Gypsy All Stars, he’s the first Roma reed ...

Balkan Beat Box, a trio formed by Gogol Bordello’s Ori Kaplan and Firewater’s Tamir Muskat, has been doing strange things with Mediterranean styles and electronic sounds for over a decade. A band with ...