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While in Paris, I had the chance to meet and hear many Rromani musicians playing in the Metro. For many years, I have been involved not only in the production and engineering of my own label, but also the importation of other interesting music into Japan, where I live. I have had the opportunity to enjoy a number of recordings from the Balkans, including those by Saban Bajramovic and Fejat Sejdic, as well as compilation recordings from the Brass Festival in Guca, Serbia. I have always wanted to be involved in a production of this type of music, not only for the intensity and vibe, but with the full realization that I can present it in a very unique sonic way.
So, when I met three Rromani brass players on one of the metro platforms, I decided to hang out and hear what they had to say musically. I discovered that, like almost all of the Romanians working the Metro, they played what they thought the French wanted to hear, not realizing of course that quite often, the French don't want to hear anything. I spent about 2 hours with the musicians riding back and forth on the trains and asked them to play their own music.
It was then that people started to get up from their seats and put their loose change in the plastic cup the musicians always had handy for this purpose. And, as I had expected (from my first look in their eyes) these cats could really play! And, they realized that there was an audience for their music; the only trouble, they told me, was that it was difficult to play fast tempo music on a moving train..... (Todd Garfinkle, MA Recordgins) |
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