The double CD Balkan blues, released by the Network label, offers a good overview of the music in the Balkan countries Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Macedonia, Bosnia, Serbia and Greece. The Balkan region used to belong to the Ottoman Empire, which encouraged cultural exchanges between different ethnic groups. That is why the music excels in musical richness and variation and sounds quite oriental,
… for example because of the many melodic decorations. The vocals are often full of poetry and pathos, and the instrumental (dance) music contains many virtuoso passages and improvisation. The vocalists Esma Redzepova, Komna Stojanova, Ross Daly and Loudovikos can be heard; the violinist Aleksandar Sisic, taragot player (a kind of low clarinet) Dumitru Farcas, lute player Christos Zotos, cimbalon player Toni Iordache, The Bulgarian All Star Orchestra and the wind orchestra Kočani Orkestar. As always with Networks double CDs, the CD booklet contains (trilingual) extensive information and is richly illustrated. (SvdP)more
