various artists,
Gypsy Groove
(Putumayo, 2007)


One of the hottest styles in world music these days
is the blend of traditional Gypsy (or Roma, as they prefer to be called),
Balkan and Eastern European music with hip-hop and electronic beats.

- from the liner notes, Gypsy Groove

Who knew?

Gypsy Groove is a recent release from Putumayo, one of the world's greatest purveyors of global music traditions. In this case, however, the tradition has evolved; far from the sounds you might hear by a Roma caravan fire somewhere in Eastern Europe, this music has migrated to the nightclubs and dance floors of a modern age.

That's not to say the music isn't recognizable as gypsy; instruments including violin, cimbalom, rubob and accordion vie for attention with remix loops, electronic percussion and Balkan-language rap. This music will get your heart pumping, your toes tapping, your feet itching to dance.

Musicians on the album include Shantel, Gipsy.cz, Karen Gafurdjanov, Kistehen Tanczenekar, Luminescent Orchestrii and the Amsterdam Klezmer Band. There is not a bad track on the disc.

It was only a matter of time before hip-hop and Gypsy music,
both promiscuous musical cross-pollinators,
would come together.

- from the liner notes, Gypsy Groove

And how!




Rambles.NET
review by
Tom Knapp

20 February 2010


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