Folk magazine about the present and the past, from freak folk to minstrels. In this episode, we roughly follow the migration of the original Gypsies to the West, from Rajistan to the British isles.
Of course this tour is not complete, because we don’t visit the south of France with its manouches or to Spain with its flamenco. And we don’t include the many dance orchestras formed by Sinti or Roma. These are often prejudiced, because this music has widely become known as Gypsy music. We will prove that that type of music is much broader and can also excellently be played by non-Gypsies.
We start at the authentic and still contemporary Rajistan, the birth place of Gypsies. Singer and contortionist Gulabi Sapera often performed with Frenchman Thierry Robin. The pair made Rakhi, an album on which both authentic and contemporary compositions can be heard. Some very old wine in very new bottles. After that, we travel onward to central Europe, past the Russian trio Loyko, to the Hungarian group Kalyi jag (black fire) that plays traditional Gypsy music from the border region of Hungary and Romania with some simple instruments, or even without, since Gypsies couldn’t always afford instruments.
At the end of the last century, there was a surge of tarafs, Gypsy orchestras from Romania. The best-known is probably Taraf de Haidouk. But we journey on to Brittany, where Erik Marchand made a cross-over with Breton musicians and compositions, and the Roma music of the Taraf de Caransebes. We finish in Scotland, with Ewan MacColl. This British musician wasn’t Gypsy himself, but in the late fifties, made a series for the BBC: ‘The Radio Ballads’. Marvelous musical documentaries, including ‘The Travelling People’ on the travelling wagon inhabitants of northern Scotland and Ireland.
Thierry Robin & Gulabi Sapera – Rakhî – Naive Y 226131.
01. Agni Sha Kshi. (Sapera-Robin, trad). 3.44.
02. Bichu Rap. (Sapera-Robin). 4.31.
03. Ruma de India. (Sapera-Robin, trad). 4.07.
Loyko – Road of the Gypsies – World Network 56.984.
04. All the Cards. (trad). 3.25.
05. Road of the Gypsies. (Sergie Erdenko). 3.14.
06. Brothers in Law. (trad). 4.39.
Kalyi Jag – Fekete tüz – Hungarton SLPX18132.
07. The band played till the morning. (trad). 1.49.
08. Oral bass improvisations. (balogh Bela). 2.10.
09. As many girls there were. (trad) 2.20.
10. I have a pipe and a hat. (trad). 2.16.
Erik Marchand et le taraf de Caransebes – Dor – BMG 74321 588 792.
11. Ton Moldav. (Duro-Marchand-trad). 4.12.
12. Hora de Saint Vincent. (Hervieux-trad, Molard). 2.27.
13. Kanenn Ma Mesterezed. (Plin-Kolo). (trad-Marchand-trad). 5.50.
Ewan Maccoll & Peggy Seeger – No Tyme Lyke the Present- EMI2556.
14. Freeborn Man. (MacColl). 3.57.
Dick Gaughan, Tony Captstick & Dave Burland – Songs of Ewan MacColl – Rubber RUB027.
15. Thirty Foot Trailer. (MacColl). 4.34.
Ewan MacColl – Black & White, The Definitive Collection – Cooking Vinyl COOK 038.
16. The Moving Song. (MacColl). 3.19.
