Earth Wheel Sky BandEarth Wheel Sky Band
Waltz Rromano (Asphalt Tango
Records, CD ATR 0303, 2003)
The recently-created Asphalt Tango label made an impressive double splash last
year with their Besh o Drom and Jony Iliev releases. Their Gypsy/Balkan focus is
still fresh, as these wild and wonderful songs by Serbia's Earth Wheel Sky Band
show. Gypsy music has no problem turning up the heat in its bigger, brassier
incarnations, but the stripped-down format heard here is incendiary as well.
Guitarist, vocalist, composer, activist and Boris Kovac sideman Olah Vince is
joined by a standup bassist, violinist, cymbalom player and percussionist to
create music so jauntily rousing that the slower moments (like the sweet "Music
Rroman") make you marvel at the group's versatility.
Let's be clear, though. Most of this is intended to get your blood racing,
and it succeeds like nobody's business. The kicker is that even at breakneck
tempos, the pure beauty of the music shines through as the feel moves easily
from ominous to evocative to lamenting to party-hearty. Hammered cymbalom
strings form the backbone of melodic mood, creating a rich gumbo alongside the
bass and galloping dumbek drum with guitar, violin and recurring vocal
exhortations circling the action. "Listen to this music, dance, shout, be Gypsy,
be free" is the advice the liner notes give, and by golly, you can't think of a
reason not to. The singular free spirit that Gypsies seem to embody is set to
music on this disc, captured for all to enjoy.
Buy Waltz Rromano.
World Music Central
http://worldmusiccentral.org/article.php/20040210015059569