CD-ATR 5116 Fanfare Ciocârlia onwards to mars !
How I Learned To Love Balkan Brass — A Look Back by Jan Reichow
W hen I was a child, brass
music would ring out from
the nearby cemetery in Bethel. It
was a choir of trombones playing
Bach chorales: the essence of church
music from the West, the music of
mourning, of solace and of final
send-offs. For me, the trumpets and
horns of the Christmas Oratorio
would later come to embody the
very epi­tome of joy. If someone
were to ask what attracted me – a
classically trained violinist – to
Balkan Brass orchestras, I would
have to tell a long story. But I could
also counter with a question of my
own: “Have you never heard of
‘Fanfare Ciocârlia’?“ At which
point I would offer them a colourful
CD. Actually, I would probably tell
my story anyway.
Like any other violinist who believes
they are destined for a career as
a virtuoso, I had come early to
Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen and
thought it to be the fruit of some­
one’s brilliant imagination, not
knowing that the author had filched
it from a Roma composer in Hungary.
A couple of years later, I was
preparing Ravel’s Tzigane for an
exam; again, I felt it was a piece
that lifted Sarasate to a new level.
As it turned out, however, according
to Max Rostal, the violin guru at
the time, the piece was a be­trayal
of true Gypsy music. Indeed, it took
decades to acknowledge and
appreciate the real folk music –
and give up the rigid stan­dards of
the bourgeois concert hall. So, who
composed Hora staccato? Who
improvised it? It was Grigoraş
Dinicu, a composer from a highly
musical Roma family who studied
violin at the conservatory in
Bucha­rest under Carl Flesch. Dinicu
was awarded a scholarship at the
Musikuniversität in Vienna, but
he was not allowed to accept it
because he was Roma. The world-
renowned classical virtuoso Jascha
Heifetz claimed Dinicu was the best
violinist he had ever heard, and
Heifetz was responsible for the
most-performed version of the
Hora Staccato. The other global hit
was Ciocârlia with its birdsong
imitations that allow every salon
violinist to shine. The piece goes
back to Dinicu’s grandfather, who
actually wrote it for the Romanian
pan flute. And that’s exactly how I
experienced the piece in 1972 as
played by the Romanian virtuoso
Gheorghe Zamfir. He was at the
beginning of his career and a guest
at WDR Cologne; he stood like a
mythical figure under the stone
arch of Cologne’s Roman-Germanic
Mu­seum. Was this the beginning
of my love of Romanian music?
Seven years after that, I travelled
as an official editor at WDR
broadcasting to the most remote
Transylvanian villages, and in 1984
I found myself at the Guča Trumpet
Festival in Serbia. There I heard
more unforgettable sounds, in­
cluding an ensemble that had won
the top prize and would soon play
the WDR Folk Festival at the Cologne
Cathedral. This opened up a path to
Southeast Europe. What began after
that was a Romania boom beyond
compare. If I had to name my
favourite pieces, they would include
a heart wrenching love song by
Romica Puceanu, but also those
joyful “hits” by Fanfare Ciocârlia:
one song beautiful enough to die for,
the other songs beautiful enough
to bring you back to life wherever
you choose. Perhaps in that far-off
village of Zece Prăjini? Or on Mars,
lifted up by the fair winds of the
latest CD? As long as Fanfare is
there to play something from
“Devil’s Tale”.
Without a doubt, the horizon didn’t
just suddenly open up to all sides in
1997; the WDR Folk Festival had
already been in existence for over
20 years at the time, but it was now
able to call itself a World Music
Festival. At the same budget, of
course. There was definitely a
moderate all-in­ clusive package
involved, including perhaps one
top fee, but the decisive focus was
still on the performances and maybe
also in the special interests of the
editorial team. What I will never
forget is the view from our office
windows onto the Cathedral Square
in Cologne, where stage con­struction
was already underway. I saw a
slightly scattered group of indi­
viduals approaching the stage like
undercover spies – men with hats
and dark suits on. Suddenly, I saw
they were carrying instruments.
Seconds later, a clarinet sounded,
and after that a wild ensemble of
sounds that made me jump out of
my chair. Unbelievable, after their
long journey, Fanfare Ciocârlia had
really arrived! And they exceeded
all ex­pec­tations! Indeed, we can’t
always assume that music that
sounds exciting in a village also
works in the heart of a big city. The
ex­hilaration was palpable. It is no
surprise that it spread throughout
the world over the course of 20 years.
And, today, when somebody asks
if it is real Gypsy music when an
individual composer is involved,
you merely have to refer them to
the tremendous openness of a
small town that owes its name
solely to a geographical delineation:
Zece Prăjini or “ten fields.” These
ten fields were given to them by a
Romanian sovereign when the in­
habi­tants were still serfs.
The composer Koby Israelite devoted
himself to “Blues from elsewhere”.
People also like to call it “Balkan
Blues” so as to give outsiders an
idea of the special atmo­sphere of
“Gypsy music”. I already mentioned
composers like Grigoraş Dinicu:
indeed, all good music is created
by highly talented individuals, even
if they remain anonymous and their
work meta­ m orphoses over the
course of time. As Ioan Ivancea,
Fanfare Ciocârlia’s clarinet player
and leader, who died in 2006,
once noted: “The farmers whose
festivities we played at were no
Gypsies. We played what these
people wanted to hear, their tra­
ditional music, Sirba and Hora, but
also Manele, pieces with a so-called
‘oriental’ twist. We take those
me­lodies and give them our very
special Gypsy touch, i.e. more
warmth, more colour, more shine.
We improvise and change the
rhythm.” And the tuba player
added that no one could match
their speed. Indeed, after twenty
hours performing brass band music
at a wedding celebration, the tuba
player of Fanfare Ciocârlia some­
times felt as if he had been blowing
up air mattresses non-stop from
8 am one morning to the same time
the next day. But I am sure their
music always sounded as ravishing
as on the morning of the first day.
Even today, it sounds just as wild
as back then on the Cathedral
Square in Cologne!
An active musician for 60 years,
Dr. Jan Reichow was Music Editor
and Head of Folk Music & Music
Cultures at Westdeutscher
Rundfunk (WDR) in Cologne until
2005. He was also responsible for
WDR’s annual World Music & Folk
Festival.
 Costica “Cimai” Trifan – trumpet, vocals, Radulescu Lazar – trumpet, vocals
Paul Marian Bulgaru – trumpet, Craciun Trifan – trumpet special guests:
Oprica Ivancea – clarinet, alto saxophone, Daniel Ivancea – alto saxophone Iulian Canaf – vocals, Vladut Ivancea – clarinet,
Constantin “Pinca” Cantea – tuba, Monel “Gutzel” Trifan – tuba Kai Schönburg – drums, Michael Metzler – percussion
Constantin “Sulo” Calin – tenor horn, Laurentiu Mihai Ivancea – baritone horn Koby Israelite – drums, percussion, accordion (track 14),
Costel “Gisniaca” Ursu – large drum, Nicolae Ionita – percussion Maite Hontele – trumpet (track 14)

Produced by Henry Ernst. Recorded at UNDA Recording, Bucharest by Alexei Turcan, Popschutz Studio, Berlin by Arne Bergner, Merlín Producciones, Medellin by Gabriel Vallejo C.
and in the village Zece Prajini, Romania by Henry Ernst. Mixed by Marc Elsner and Henry Ernst at Marx Audio, Berlin. Mastered by Marc Elsner at Marx Audio, Berlin.

special thanks to following inhabitants from Zece Prajini:

Family Preda for generous hospitality and catering, Ms. and Mr. Calin for providing cosy recording space and to barman Soare for drinks on credit.

Liner notes by Jan Reichow, translated by Julie Hagedorn · Cover and graphics by Paul Hitter · Artwork by Claudia Bachmann

Management & worldwide booking contact: phone: +49 (30) 2858528 · fanfare@asphalt-tango.de

Executive production Helmut Neumann & Henry Ernst, Made in Germany

& © 2016 Asphalt Tango Records GmbH Berlin – Germany · records@asphalt-tango.de · www.asphalt-tango.de

More music of Fanfare Ciocârlia on www.asphalt-tango.de and in all fine record stores.
 1. Crayfish hora (2:55)
2. Mista Lobaloba (3:10)
3. 3 Romanians (3:22)
4. Trenul, maşina mica (4:35)
5. Out to lounge (2:56)
6. I put a spell on you (feat. Iulian Canaf) (2:29)
7. Cucuritza (2:21)
8. Doina pentru un frânt inima (2:16)
9. Bunica bate toba (4:29)
10. Saints & dates (3:47)
11. Un ţ igan avea o casa (3:33)
12. The patron’s funeral (2:12)
13. Hora strengarilor (2:09)
14. Fiesta de negritos (feat. Puerto Candelaria) (3:30)

All tracks composed by Koby Israelite, except track 2 by Adrian Sical, tracks 4, 8, 11 public
domain, track 6 by Screaming J. Hawkins, track 9 by Mihail Gincu, track 14 by Lucho Bermudez.
Tracks 1, 8, 9 arranged by Adrian Sical, track 11 arranged by Dejan Jovanovic, All tracks published
by Asphalt Tango Records, except track 2 by Piranha Arts AG, track 6 by EMI

& © Asphalt Tango Records GmbH 2016

www.asphalt-tango.de · Total playing time: 45:00

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CD-ATR 5116