Amza & Dejo | Track Download

Good Example of Up Tempo Roma Music (Macedonian/Bulgarian Wedding Music)


More Commercialized (General Appeal) Style:



Amza Tairov is one of the most famous Tallava / Roma Music Musicians. Popular throughout most of the Balkan Roma Communities, Amza is known for revitalizing the synthesizer from a cheaper substitute for a original instrument into something regarded with respect in its own right in the Roma Community. With lightning fast finger work combined with lavish embellishments, the music has a ranges from fast paced dancing music to sorrowful notes lingering in the night.

In this particular collection, Amza is paired with a child singer (Dejo). The music is slower and the vocals seem to dominate unlike the Roma Music (Macedonian/Bulgarian Wedding music) that Amza has done as well.

Track List:

7 tracks, unlabeled.



Download Link:
Amza___Dejo__7_tracks_.rar



Disclaimer:

If you know the owners of this content, please contact The Balkan Hour. We are more than happy to remove links upon request. We also would happily post links for CD sales, future concerts or general information. The music here is meant to inform and to altruistically create a larger market for the music. Anyone can stop this link from Rapidshare by clicking this link:

KILL CODE FROM RAPIDSHARE (Removes Music, Don't Click Unless You Want to Remove the Link!!!!)

Внимание:

Ако знаете, собствениците на тази музика, моля свържете се с Балкан час. Ние също така ще бъде щастливо да публикувате връзки за CD продажби, бъдещи концерти или обща информация. Музиката тук има цел да информира и да създаде по-голям пазар за музика.

Sechcet (Sevched) + Cita | 2007 CD | DJ Pesho Studio

Sevchet: Pare Pare (Track 2)



Sevchet: Chokolada (Chocolate, Track 3)


Cita: Live Recording


This is a more well known CD by Sevchet with many Chalga hits on it such as Chokolada, Pare Pare and others. Cita is also featured on this CD but I can't identify the tracks on youtube for preview. I've attached a live recording of Cita instead. Definitely Check out this CD

Track Listing:

1. Gio Show
2. Pare Pare (Money, Money)
3. Chokolada (Chocolate)
4. Baro Biav
5. Track 5 (Cita 2007)
6. Bajarjum tut michai (Cita 2007)
   
7. Vodka Red Bull
8. Magiq (Magic)
9. track 9 (Cita 2007)
10. moda fantaziq

Download Link:
Sevchet___Cita_-_DJ_Pesho_Studio_-_CD.rar




Disclaimer:

If you know the owners of this content, please contact The Balkan Hour. We are more than happy to remove links upon request. We also would happily post links for CD sales, future concerts or general information. The music here is meant to inform and to altruistically create a larger market for the music.


Внимание:

Ако знаете, собствениците на тази музика, моля свържете се с Балкан час. Ние също така ще бъде щастливо да публикувате връзки за CD продажби, бъдещи концерти или обща информация. Музиката тук има цел да информира и да създаде по-голям пазар за музика.

Sevchet (Sevched) 2007 CD

Sevchet Dade Dade (Track 2)


Sevchet is one of more popular figures of Macedonian Tallava. He straddles many different styles of music ranging from Chalga/Pop-Folk to Rap to Wedding Music. He's definitely a figure to watch. I'll be posting one of his more famous CDs a littler later so be sure to check in again for more Sevchet

Track Listing:

1. Crazy
2. Dade Dade
3. Losno Jak Te Na Dikeltu (.wma file, SORRY!)
4. Adela
5. Evropa (Europe)
6. [title deleted, unknown]
7. Holla Holla
8. You Are Me Sexy Lover
9. Feat. HAJGARA BEND 2007 - HEJT KOLJO AMALA 2007
   

Download Link:

Sevchet - 2007 CD

Disclaimer:

If you know the owners of this content, please contact The Balkan Hour. We are more than happy to remove links upon request. We also would happily post links for CD sales, future concerts or general information. The music here is meant to inform and to altruistically create a larger market for the music. 

Внимание:

Ако знаете, собствениците на тази музика, моля свържете се с Балкан час. Ние също така ще бъде щастливо да публикувате връзки за CD продажби, бъдещи концерти или обща информация. Музиката тук има цел да информира и да създаде по-голям пазар за музика.

Albanian, Macedonian & Bulgarian Tallava / Roma Music - WRFL 88.1 - 03/02/2009

Listen to the Latest Show of The Balkan Hour:

Download Link Here

More Shows Here

Oka & aliosha | CD Download

Aliosha Video Clip:




Video of Okka (oka) with Ivo Papasov






Here is a CD of music Aliosha and Oka. Aliosha is (I believe) from Montana, Bulgaria and plays the clarinet. He also sings as well. Oka, or sometimes written Okka, is also from Bulgaria and plays the clarinet but I do not know his origins. Both are Roma and are well known throughout Roma Communities in Bulgaria and Macedonia.

Anyone can find more information about either of these artists by searching: Okka, Oka, aliosha, alioshka

Most of these recordings are live from weddings, graduations or other Roma holidays so the recording quality is sub-par. The spirit and sound is indescribable; it's 5-6 hours of ear splitting music with dancing and celebration.


Download Link:
Tallava__Roma_Music_-_OKA___ALIOSHKATA.zip


Disclaimer:

If you know the owners of this content, please contact The Balkan Hour. We are more than happy to remove links upon request. We also would happily post links for CD sales, future concerts or general information. The music here is meant to inform and to altruistically create a larger market for the music. Anyone can stop this link from Rapidshare by clicking this link:

KILL CODE FROM RAPIDSHARE (Removes Music, Don't Click Unless You Want to Remove the Link!!!!)

Внимание:

Ако знаете, собствениците на тази музика, моля свържете се с Балкан час. Ние също така ще бъде щастливо да публикувате връзки за CD продажби, бъдещи концерти или обща информация. Музиката тук има цел да информира и да създаде по-голям пазар за музика.

Balkan Music Goes Academic | Oberlin Music Blogs!

I just happened upon a gold mine of information about Balkan Music online in the form of series of blogs required by an Oberlin College music class. The class is being taught by Jennifer Fraser, an Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology at the Conservatory of Music at Oberlin College. The course covers a broad array of musical styles and regional genres ranging from Turkish Folk to Roma Music to Bulgarian Folk music (among others).

Here is what Jennifer Fraser has to say about the course and its blog initiative in her first blog post:

This site is dedicated to writing about and sharing our experiences interacting with these musics, along with articulating the connections between musical style and socio-cultural meanings; for example, how was music used to express sides during various Balkan wars in the 90s? How can you trace the history of socialism and roads to democratization and economic independence through musical practices in the Balkans? How do the cultural legacies of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires play out in the musical practices of today?

From my cursory browsing through the subject matter, it looks like a fascinating course that approaches Balkan music the way it should (in my opinion) be approached; through a historical, socio-cultural lens. Apparently, it just isn't me that is fascinated by the symbolic nature of Balkan music and its mixing of cultures. Regardless, I encourage those interested in Balkan music to browse through ETHN 209 and its blog posts. They the blogs are written by university students so the quality ranges between insightful to bland but it continues the conversation. These students study at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music so they are often have a much different approach to music compared to myself because they have a better understanding of the musical structure and also the historical background from other genres and styles. So, without further ado, here is the Ethnomusicology 209 course for Oberlin College:

ETHN 209 | Oberlin College | Professor Jennifer Fraser

While the entries are great, I and many other international readers probably won't want to wade through all of the individual websites to browse the collection of opinions about Balkan Music. To counter that, I have created a Google Reader of the entire class which compiles all the submissions of every student in a central place. It should update automatically whenever a student has a new post. But readers can also click the title of the post to go to the individual blog as well. Here is a public RSS Feed page that you can click to view all of the post in a centralized blog format:

http://tinyurl.com/oberlin-ethn-209

To subscribe to the RSS feed, you can just simply click the link here

Subscribe to Oberlin ETHN 209 RSS Feed (all blogs)

Sevchet | Tallava | Daily Dose

Sevchet - Rap/hip-hop/Romani



Sevchet is a Romani musician from Macedonian who straddles Tallava / Traditional Romani music and hip-hop / Rap. Here is a live recording of Sevchet (sometimes written Sevcet or Sev4et; 4=c=ch in Slavic languages sometimes online). This would probably be classified as Tallava but it would be also called just Roma music in Bulgaria.

Amza | Tallava / Roma Music | Daily Dose

Synthesizer King: Amza Tairof


Here is a solo performance of Amza Tiroif. Some things of note about Amza:

1. He's a one man band that compliments other musicians or can go alone
2. He plays a variety of music and there is a influence of Balkan Folk music (at least Bulgarian) but he improvises live and embellishes heavily.
   
3. He's from Macedonia, but plays all over the Balkans for Roma concerts/parties.

It also says something of the staying power of the Synthesizer in Roma Music (Mentioned Previously). Obviously, the instrument has been legitimized within the region just by virtue of the demand of musicians that play it.

Cita + Amza | Tallava | Daily Dose

Cita Live


Okay, I know, it looks pretty cheesily filmed and Cita has an amazing mullet. But he CAN sing and that's what really matters, right? Cita is the Roma singer with the shorter hair. He had a TV special with Amza (with the long hair, more in the next Daily Dose) in Macedonia; the beer advertisement is for a the Skopje / Skopie beer company.

I want you to notice a pattern, of sorts, with tallava: Its usually solitary or with minimal accompaniment; its heavy on synthesizers; crisp "barabani" drums lead the beat.

Enjoy!

In Search of Tallava . . . UPDATE

My continued search for Tallava has led me into some interesting conversations in my Mahala (Neighborhood in Bulgarian but also commonly the term for the Roma Neighborhood). I've had some great conversations about the music and generally no one recognizes the music by that name. In defense, I probably really mispronounce it (Tal - la - va).

Seeing how most of the Bulgarians and Roma in my limited sample pool of five people from my town have never heard of the name Tallava, I decided to seek out opinions of people online. After searching a little, I asked some YouTube members what they think Tallava is. Romeo was kind enough to respond and add his perspective on Tallava. He is a musician in America and his YouTube page is ROMEOKLARINET. Here is what he had to say about the Tallava genre:

Tallava is not kuchek, cocek or oro (horo in Bulgaria *Editor's Note*) and it is not Albanian Roma style. This style that was ORIGINATED in Kosovo. The Roma people in Kosovo invented this style. One of the people to start this awesome style was a guy by the name of TAFA. Tafa was a roma singer in kosovo that sang in Albanian. Others musicians caught on such as LUMI, CITA, and so forth. Now most of Balkans imitate this style called TALLAVA.

I would recommend browsing through Romeo's Favorites on YouTube. He has selected a lot of Romani artists that I plan to highlight on this blog, plus it allows you to see the somewhat fluid nature of Roma music throughout the Balkans. Influences from Bulgaria are liked in Serbia / Albanian; and vice-versa. Its common for Roma in the town I live in to have Roma music from Serbia, Albanian and Macedonia (not mention Chalga/Pop Folk from all over the Balkans)

TAFA from Kosovo


I believe this is TAFA but honestly is really difficult to find anything by his name TAFA. I mean, I'm using AOL video for crying out loud . . .

Tafa, most popular singer of the "Talava"genre, with bank notes given to him by his enthusiastic audience. Photo: Svanibor Pettan
___________

I'm going to post so more examples of Tallava this upcoming week, one per day, some come back often for your daily dose of Tallava

Aliosha | Daily Dose | Ridiculously Good Roma Music in Bulgaria

Aliosha is a Romani Clarinetist that also sings from Bulgaria. Originally from, I believe, Montana, Bulgaria, he has earned a reputation within the Roma Community as a one of the better Romani musicians. His style of music, as with much of Bulgarian Roma music, is much more different than what is considered Serbian (Brass Band) Roma music or Romanian Roma music (violins). He also is well known for his singing of the Tallava style of music as well.

He typically plays at weddings and other events with a mixture of Romani Kuchek and Bulgarian folk music (but with a distinctive sound to it). Occasionally, he plays with Sasho Bikov (barabani drummer), Okka who plays soprano sax and Orkestar Univers.

An interesting dynamic of Bulgarian roma music is that the musicians often don't play as a "set" but often mix and match musicans based on availability,

When searching for Aliosha, use a combination of Bulgarian and transliterated Englished.

• Aliosha
• Alioshkata (The Aliosha)
• Альошката (The Aliosha)
• Альоша (Aliosha)
  



Here are some examples of his music via YouTube and vbox7.com (Bulgarian YouTube). One thing you should keep in mind is almost all of these recordings are made by amaeturs and the sound quality isn't going to be matching professional recording studios:



Aliosha playing live with at Roma Wedding in Bulgaria



Aliosha with Fekata (also plays clarinet)