New York City (New York), USA – Aiming to offer a broad perspective
on various cultures and musical genres in a city that’s considered at the
crossroads of many cultures, the New York Gypsy Festival is presenting groups
from the burgeoning gypsy music scene collectively for the first time. Taking
place October 29 through November 6, 2005 at The Roxy, Symphony Space and
various downtown clubs in New York City, the festival will highlight local and
international talent of gypsy (Romani) music. Covering a wide geographical region including Bulgaria, Turkey, Russia and the
Balkans, the rich diversity of this music is on full display at this festival.
The highlight is the show on November 6th at The Roxy featuring New York City’s
very own, Gogol Bordello, a gypsy punk rock band with a wild energy. Also on the
bill that night is Husnu Senlendirici (founder of the gypsy-funk band Laco Tayfa)
who will fly in from Turkey for an exclusive jam session of The Clarinet
All-stars featuring Senlendirici, Lefteri Bournias (Greece) and Ismail
Lumanovski (Macedonia). Additionally, The Hungry March Band, a 20+ piece
marching band, the 12-piece powerhouse brass band Zlatne Uste, DJs and gypsy
dancers will round off an 8-hour marathon.
The festival also includes appearances by Bulgarian masters
Ivo
Papasov &
Yuri
Yunakov and Russian ska band Leningrad (produced by World Music Institute
and Metpo.com, respectively). Dancing is an important aspect of the Romani
folklore and the festival aims to highlight that aspect with dance performances
by ethnic dancers.
The New York Gypsy Festival is produced by two seasoned event production & nightlife patrons: Serdar Ilhan, who put together the hugely successful Jazz
Made In Turkey Festival at Lincoln Center in 2004 and co-owns Maia Meyhane, and
Alex Dimitrov, who built an underground phenomena with Mehanata, The Bulgarian
Bar.
Says Ilhan, “New York’s cultural diversity makes sense to put together this
festival here. We are trying to open the door to world music and more
specifically gypsy (Roma) music in the US by an accessible festival.”
The programming for the festival was done very carefully in order to allow the
mix of many genre-bending acts from punk-rock to jazz, hip-hop, global beats,
funk and cabaret music with an underlying gypsy aesthetic.
The festival will continue throughout the week at downtown venues Maia Meyhane,
Mehanata and Nublu with local bands and DJs presenting an eclectic mix of world,
gypsy and dance music in a cozy atmosphere.
For more information go to:
www.nygypsyfest.com.
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
