Tariff Day, High Dukes
Now, I was absolutely blown away by this. In fact, I still have few words to describe it and would rather you just experienced it for yourself.
- Go read your other websites, do your chores and run your errands.
- Come back later when you’ve got some free time.
- Get yourself something to drink.
- Find a comfortable chair.
- Turn up your speakers.
I’ve edited this video from it’s original length down to approximately 30 minutes long and you’ll want to watch it from start to finish.
Keep in mind that sharing this video eats up a lot of bandwidth for me. If you don’t have 30 minutes right now to watch, then come back another time. Please play nice so I won’t have to remove it from the site.
Amazing, eh? You can support this internationally-recognized, award-winning music by purchasing your own selection of Taraf de Haïdouks in the USA, the UK, your nearest shady Romanian cd kiosk, Deutschland, Japan, or by downloading online.
Or, if you happen to have RealPlayer installed (and I don’t know why you would want that thing but…), you can see and hear another live performance online for free.
Special thanks to MusicBlog for bringing this band to my attention.
September 27th, 2006 at 12:44 am
I really liked these guys! — It was interesting for me to hear something different! I’ve never seen anyone play a string instrument by pulling on the string! That’s crazy cool! These guys know there instruments inside and out!! Very Energetic! == Thanks for sharing!
September 27th, 2006 at 11:20 am
AF - Glad you enjoyed it! I wish I could have shared more, but it’s already fairly lengthy as it is. I think they are absolutely brilliant and clearly a national treasure of Romania. They play a mix of traditional Romanian music, traditional Romanian ţigani music, and a bit of Romanian/Roma combination. Clearly they are masters, including the older guys who one might expect to be arthritic or something.
The musicians are cultural Roma (aka gypsies, ţigani) but notice how much ethnic variety there is in the faces making it sometimes difficult to tell whether someone is a gypsy or not. Of course, that’s because the Roma people have intermixed with other “races” both in Romania and elsewhere which is completely natural but remains one of those unspoken issues.
September 27th, 2006 at 3:04 pm
Well, my drink was as glass of water. A comfortable chair is non-existent and, I had to keep the volume at a decent level. I enjoyed it though!
This reminds me of Bosia a bit. I enjoyed it quite a bit, although my dial up connection kept loosing it. I got a good five mins of play time though. I’ll go to the Russian site I download music from to see if they have this!
Thanks again!
John
September 28th, 2006 at 12:25 am
welcome, welcome :)
September 28th, 2006 at 12:53 am
If you need to take it down, I can host it for you.
September 28th, 2006 at 11:33 am
john - Nothin’ wrong with a little h2o, particularly if it’s the morning hours or you’re in a dry county. I think you’re right about the Bosnia connection as there’s kind of a similar thread in much of Balkan music. However, I think this group is at the top of a very short list of masters.
Andu - Oops! Now you’ve gone and done it. So far, I’m hanging in there with bandwidth, but if there’s a upcoming spike (never know who’ll link to this page) then you’ll be the one I’ll call on for sure.
-or-
Hey, thanks for volunteering! I’m just about to post it on Digg and Slashdot…
October 2nd, 2006 at 5:53 pm
Live CD/DVD
It’s great.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BHAOAS/002-8063099-0399250
Product Description
Winners of the coveted BBC World Music Award, Taraf de Haïdouks are the finest, wildest and most soulful Balkan Gypsy band claiming Johnny Depp and Kronos Quartet among their biggest fans. On the deluxe The Continuing Adventures Of Taraf de Haïdouks, various aspects of the band’s outstanding history and talents are explored: an exciting concert filmed in London’s Union Chapel, an extensive documentary shot in Romania, interviews with the band and distinguished fans (such as Johnny Depp), rare material filmed during Taraf’s travels around the world, and a bonus 50-minute live audio CD. The DVD contains 5 films and 2 still-image bonuses (discography & photo gallery). The beautiful bonus cd contains 8 live tracks, including 3 previously unreleased.
August 1st, 2007 at 3:11 pm
[...] you’ve never heard them play before, I recommend you give the Taraf de Haidouks sample video a try.[...]
August 3rd, 2007 at 3:30 am
The diversity in their music is fascinating as well as their tempo changes. Each musician is uniquely talented. And you could see the respect on the faces of the musicians when the “older gentleman” performing the special violin spot joined them. These guys should be performing worldwide as Buena Vista Social Club has done. (btw, the finale was awesome)