Gypsy Fiddling

Video Find of the Day

This is the sort of thing that got me hooked on the genre. No regrets.

Virtuoso of the Gypsy Music,Csardas (Sándor Lakatos)

Bangó Margit

Video Find of the Day

This is fun, even though I have no idea what they're singing about. In case you're confused, Bangó Margit is the one on your left. This is the earliest video I've found of her.

Horvath Pista and Bango Margit

All Over the Map

Video Find(s) of the Day

It may prepare you for this to tell you that in 1996 this guy put out a CD called "Gilles Apap & the Transylvanian Mountain Boys".

AMAZING Mozart 3 - 3rd movement Cadenza



The next 5 videos are a series of Mr. Apap interacting with Indian musicians. (That's not much preparation either, I suppose.).

Gilles Apap in India



Gilles Apap in India2



Gilles Apap in India3



Gilles Apap in India 4



Gilles Apap in India Final

Komm Zigany

Video Find of the Day

Gypsy, sort of the way Porgy and Bess is African-American. But interesting.

Nikolai Schukoff - Graefin Mariza [II]

Bulgarian Gypsy

Video Find of the Day

Another category it's hard to find good videos in is the Bulgarian gypsy category, AKA Kocek, AKA Bulgarian belly dancing music. I think most of the problem is the video producers put so much effort into showing off the dancers that the music suffers from neglect. This one has a good balance.

Bulgarian gypsy - Sevgilim Apaz taifa - Mis Dibi

That's Some Fusion

Video Find of the Day

Californians from India sing in French to Gypsy-inspired music, in a YouTube featured video that relates the cultural tossed salad graphically.

Rupa & the April Fishes "Une americaine a Paris" video

Romica Puceanu

Video Finds of the Day

I'm still exploring tillydean's channel (see Romanian Gypsy Gold, below). Romica Puceanu is featured in some of his earlier posts, and the videos are fantastic.

I have an ulterior motive for posting these here. It gives me a chance to point out that tillydean has provided a link to a page that has many more recordings of Puceanu, and some biographical information. That page is part of a site presenting other Romanian music. The links:

Romica Puceanu/ Romanian Gypsy Singer

Romanian Music/ MP3 files

These pages are the work of Robert Garfias, Department of Anthropology, UCI (University of California, Irvine), who has done field work in Romania in the 70s. They're the motherload of Romanian Folk Mp3s. I've died and gone to heaven. Thank you Robert Garfias, and thank you tillydean for the link!

Romica Puceanu - As munci la plug si coasa



Romica Puceanu - Ce frumoase-s fetele

Hell No, We Won't Go

OK, OK, we'll go but we'll dance on the way.

Video Find of the Day

I'm still trying to figure Verbunk out. What I'm getting is that it originated as a solo dance protesting conscription in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It's become a folk tradition that is also performed as a group dance.

Reformkori örökségünk: verbunk és csárdás



Romafest Gypsy Dance Theater - Verbunk

Meanwhile, in Clejani

Video Find of the Day

While we were wondering what Oprah had to say about bipolar children and whether we should cut out all trans-fats or if a little wouldn't kill us, Clejani, RO, was waking the dead.

Gypsy kids from Clejani, RO

Porajmos

Video Find of the Day

A video depicting scenes of the Gypsy Holocaust, the Porajmos. The song accompanying the photos is the Romani anthem Gelem, Gelem, which was written in response to the killing and refers to it.

KLEZMER SCHLEZMER!

Video Find of the Day

Here's one of the first video providers on YouTube that I subscribed to. What we have here is a guy living somewhere in the vicinity of Manchester, UK, who has taught himself banjo, guitar, fiddle, lyre, etc., and plays Klezmer, traditional Irish, traditional Norwegian music, in Hillbilly, and/or Heavy Metal Style. In what appears to be his bedroom. For YouTube. How can anyone not love that?

You may want to protect your ears by turning the volume down.

Klezfiddle1!

Jewish/Gypsy Music Fusion



"ALE BRIDER" - HELLISH HEAVY METAL VERSION!!

Ciocarlia

Ciocarlia is Romanian for "skylark." It's also the name of a wildly popular Romanian folk tune associated with gypsies. In all performances the middle features instrumental bird song imitations. That accounts for much of my love for Ciocarlia.

Classical music fans know Ciocarlia as a major portion of George Enescu's Romanian Rhapsody in A Major, Opus 11, No. 1. Here's an odd cinematic version featuring a harmonica player.



Here's a version, said to be due to Grigoras Dinicu, in which the bird song is provided by violin, which is more customary. The basic melody predates Grigoras Dinicu.



But guitarists do it, too.



Electronic guitarists do it, Turkishly.



Electronic organists in restaurants do it.



Even tourism promoters do it!