Romanian Gypsies On Line

Dig this blog if you will: Romania Gypsy and Folk Music Expedition

"Steve Gibons travels through rural Romania searching for music and people." And how. He went, he saw, he took pictures and made recordings and then uploaded it all here. Steve is a fine fiddler based in Chicago who I met @ KlezKamp a few years back. I had just come from Romania myself, buying violins in Rehgin. But I never got out into the hinterlands on my own like he did. This could be the best use of the "blog" form I've yet encountered.

While we're on the subject, one of my favorite singers of any style was the amazing Romica Puceanu, a Romanian gypsy singer in the "urban" lautari tradition. You can find the odd track here or there on German compilations, such as "Gypsy Queens." But imagine my joy when I found this site, loaded with downloadable MP3's of her stuff. Navigate the site and be rewarded with rare files you won't find elsewhere.

Even more goodness was sent to me unsolicited from an odd little record company called Lost Trails. Check out the Taraful din Naipul here. Greasy small village ensemble playing like you own them money. These kids went and found this stuff, and all you have to do is have a fast enough connection to download it for free.

Not to appear ungrateful for all this free stuff, I humbly present my own field recordings. Made backstage here in Austin prior to a Taraf de Haidouks gig. It's bassist Vlad Viorel playing his scorching solo to "Turcesca. Here he is with an accordionist laying down a typical Sirba. Enjoy!

This was the magic internet I was promised!

If Jeff Foxworthy was Jakob Foxstein

From photographer and shomer shabbat resident of West Virginia Lloyd Wolf:

You may be A JEWISH REDNECK if:
You light Shabbos candles with a cigarette...
Your belt buckle is larger than your yarmulke...
You think Hora is a high-priced call girl...
You fire a shotgun at the sound of Haman's name...
You have a gun rack in your Sukkah...

Why my hometown is cooler than yours...

Part one of a very long series:


Billy Dee, playing at Ginny's Little Longhorn, every Tuesday night. No cover. Cold beer. Good looking girls on the dancefloor. 1/2 mile from my house. The man, and his stellar band, is Country Western Music made incarnate. He was the house bassist at Gilley's for 6 years and has played with Johnny Paycheck, Vern Gosdin and David Allen Coe, just to name a few. I was his sub in the Dale Watson band for many years, but now he's stepped out front with his own band (featuring Watson alum Ricky Davis on steel) and released 2 amazing CD's of his own material.

Saw him at the Airport Bar just this afternoon, sitting there telling stories and singing the saddest damn songs I ever heard, mostly all his own. He's lost some weight, shaved the beard and looks like a million bucks these days. Seek him out and be well rewarded.

That's why.

He's a great fiddler BTW

My pal Lloyd Wolf sent me this, and it bears repeating given the events of recent history.

Speech delivered on the floor of the US Senate, prior to the vote for war in Iraq by US Senator Robert Byrd

Today, I Weep for my Country...

I believe in this beautiful country. I have studied its roots and gloried in the wisdom of its magnificent Constitution. I have marveled at the wisdom of its founders and framers. Generation after generation of Americans has understood the lofty ideals that underlie our great Republic. I have been inspired by the story of their sacrifice and their strength.

But, today I weep for my country. I have watched the events of recent months with a heavy, heavy heart.

No more is the image of America one of strong, yet benevolent peacekeeper. The image of America has changed.

Around the globe, our friends mistrust us, our word is disputed, our intentions are questioned. Instead of reasoning with those with whom we disagree, we demand obedience or threaten recrimination. Instead of isolating Saddam Hussein, we seem to have isolated ourselves. We proclaim a new doctrine of preemption which is understood by few and feared by many. We say that the United States has the right to turn its firepower on any corner of the globe which might be suspect in the war on terrorism. We assert that right without the sanction of any international body. As a result, the world has become a much more dangerous place.

We flaunt our superpower status with arrogance. We treat UN Security Council members like ingrates who offend our princely dignity by lifting their heads from the carpet. Valuable alliances are split.

After war has ended, the United States will have to rebuild much more than the country of Iraq. We will have to rebuild America's image around the globe.

The case this Administration tries to make to justify its fixation with war is tainted by charges of falsified documents and circumstantial evidence. We cannot convince the world of the necessity of this war for one simple reason. This is a war of choice. There is no credible information to connect Saddam Hussein to 9/11. The twin towers fell because a world-wide terrorist group, Al Qaeda, with cells in over 60 nations, struck at our wealth and our influence by turning our own planes into missiles, one of which would likely have slammed into the dome of this beautiful Capitol except for the brave sacrifice of the passengers on board.

The brutality seen on September 11th and in other terrorist attacks we have witnessed around the globe are the violent and desperate efforts by extremists to stop the daily encroachment of western values upon their cultures. That is what we fight. It is a force not confined to borders. It is a shadowy entity with many faces, many names, and many addresses. But, this Administration has directed all of the anger, fear, and grief which emerged from the ashes of the twin towers and the twisted metal of the Pentagon towards a tangible villain, one we can see and hate and attack. And villain he is. But, he is the wrong villain. And this is the wrong war. If we attack Saddam Hussein, we will probably drive him from power. But, the zeal of our friends to assist our global war on terrorism may have already taken flight.

The general unease surrounding this war is not just due to "orange alert." There is a pervasive sense of rush and risk and too many questions unanswered. How long will we be in Iraq? What will be the cost? What is the ultimate mission? How great is the danger at home?

A pall has fallen over the Senate Chamber. We avoid our solemn duty to debate the one topic on the minds of all Americans, even while scores of thousands of our sons and daughters faithfully do their duty in Iraq.

What is happening to this country? When did we become a nation which ignores and berates our friends? When did we decide to risk undermining international order by adopting a radical and doctrinaire approach to using our awesome military might? How can we abandon diplomatic efforts when the turmoil in the world cries out for diplomacy?

Why can this President not seem to see that America's true power lies not in its will to intimidate, but in its ability to inspire?

War appears inevitable. But, I continue to hope that the cloud will lift. Perhaps Saddam will yet turn tail and run. Perhaps reason will somehow still prevail. I along with millions of Americans will pray for the safety of our troops, for the innocent civilians in Iraq, and for the security of our homeland. May God continue to bless the United States of America in the troubled days ahead, and may we somehow recapture the vision which for the present eludes us.

He's a great fiddler too.

Are you a Yankee?

Or a Red Stater?

Find out here.

To my great surprise, I'm only 61% Dixie. So evidently my Oklahoma Public School system education beats being a Jew by only a slight margin.

See how you score.

Fun with Google Tranlastions

Here's the 1st reveiw of Frank London's Klezmer Brass All Stars latest CD "Carnival Conspiracy."

Die Gesangssprache auf Frank Londons neuer Klezmer-CD ist so bunt und vielfältig wie in echt: jiddisch, ukrainisch, spanisch und das hebräische Askenasisch sorgen neben den fünf rein instrumentalen Stücken für globale Musik. Von ausgelassener Fröhlichkeit und derber Vergnügungssucht heimgesucht, begeistert die Musik nicht nur zu Zeiten des offiziellen Karnevals. Selbstverständlich bringt Frank London den nötigen Ernst mit, um das schwierige Thema Karneval angemessen zu beschreiben. Starkes Blech und witzige (Tex-Mex)Gitarren sorgen für ungebändigte Freude an im Karneval erlaubte Tabuübertretungen und kleine Gemeinheiten. Londons kräftige Trompetengebläse schneidet mit lässiger Schärfe tief ins Fleisch der überwiegend traditionellen, von ihm bearbeiteten deftigen Trink- und Tanzlieder.

(German to English:)

"The singing language on franc of London of new Klezmer CD is as multicolored and various as in genuine: jiddisch, Ukrainian, Spanish and the Hebrew Askenasisch provide beside the five purely instrumentalen pieces for global music. From omitted froehlichkeit and crude entertainment craze afflicted, the music inspires not only at times of the official Karnevals. Of course franc London bring along necessary Ernst, in order to describe the difficult topic Karneval appropriately. Strong sheet metal and funny (Tex Mex)Gitarren provide for ungebaendigte joy on in the Karneval permitted taboo infringements and small meanness. Of London strong trumpet blowers that cuts predominantly traditional deftigen drinking and dance songs worked on by it with leave sharpness deeply in the meat."

Hey! They like my guitar playing!

Mark vs. Jimmy Sturr Revisited

Had the pleasure of performing last weekend with the jovial Mark Halata & Texavia at New Braunfels annual Wurstfest. Being the only Jew at a 2 week festival of German Culture and Pork Sausage in Texas is a fairly pychadelic experience in an of itself. But where else can you get Warsteiner Dunkel on draugh? It appears this with be annual gig for us. And strangely it marks the 3rd year in a row that we've shared the stage of the Kleine Tent with Lynn Marie and her Box Hounds (essay to follow later) and also played opposite Jimmy Sturr's show in the Grosse Hall.

I'm here to report that avery little has changed since the big Boston Globe fracass of a few years back (see essay here for all the grisly details.) His band this time around seemed a bit, how shall I say, er, "rougher" than previous teams he's fielded. I had the great misfortune of staying at the same hotel and encountered his boys in the hall ways covorting with thier "guests." I originally mistook them for a Steppenwolf Tribute band, until I saw them onstage later that evening, all mullets and black leather "cowboy" hats. The whole thing looked like a scene from a Polka version of "Spinal Tap."

Hilarious if it wasn't so sad.

BTW: Here's the shirt I wore onstage, got it special for this very event. Gotta keep those Krauts neighborly, especially when they're gathered in large groups, clad in ill-fitting lederhosen and tanked on beer and pizza rolls.