[Dixielandjazz] not OKOM (or Dixie) but Wild!: Boban Markovic Orkestar

[Dan Augustine]

DJMLers--
     I echo what Brother Richoux says. I just 
bought their new CD, which is called _Boban I 
Marko_ (Piranha CD-PIR1790, 2003; 
www.piranha.de), which features the leader Boban 
Markovic on flugelhorn and his son Marko Markovic 
also on flugelhorn, and it's difficult for me to 
think that a large part of the tunes and solos 
aren't improvised, perhaps simultaneously 
sometimes.
     This is my first CD of this Balkan band, but 
for years i've been buying CDs of similar bands:
   Frank London's Klezmer Brass Allstars (with Austin tuba-player Mark Rubin)
   Fanfare Ciocarlia (gypsy brass band)
   Zlatne Uste Balkan Brass Band, _Golden Lips_ (no, not "Candy Lips")
   Fanfare Paysanne de Zece Prajini, _Music du monde_
   Sandy Lopicic Orkestrar, _Border Confusion_ (yes, i think it's jazz,
       with some great vocals by three women)
   Ivo Papasov and His Bulgarian Wedding Band (incredible clarinet solos,
       gotta be jazz, but very hard to find '1')
Of tangential interest is also the two-tuba group 
called TubaTuba with Dave Bargeron (USA; used to 
be with Blood, Sweat & Tears) and Michel Godard 
(France), who play jazz-tuba duets and solos (i 
have two of their CDs).
     Stretching one's ears by listening to other 
types of jazz and other types of music is fun, 
and every once in a while you run across a 
recording that you like a lot, like (for me) the 
_Border Confusion_ CD above.  I don't understand 
a word they're singing, nor the cultural 
references and history, but it don't matter 
'cause underlying it all is human feeling that 
well-conceived and well-executed music can echo 
within you.

     Dan
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>From: David Richoux <tubaman at batnet.com>
>Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2004 22:23:11 -0700
>Subject: [Dixielandjazz] not OKOM,
>	(or Dixie) but Wild!: Boban Markovic Orkestar
>
>Hi all,
>
>There is a band from "The Balkans" called the 
>Boban Markovic Orkestar that is touring through 
>Northern California right now - their main 
>performance will be at the Monterey Jazz 
>Festival next week but they will also be at a 
>few other venues in the area. I had not heard of 
>them before, even though I do try to keep up 
>with all sorts of "world brass" but I am sure 
>glad I bought two of their CDs! This group is 
>based in the more traditional Eastern European 
>Brass ensemble style but mixes in elements of 
>both further eastern and more western styles of 
>music and it is quite WILD! The CD producers 
>call it Gypsy Brass but it is more complicated 
>than that.
>
>The instrumentation usually is: 4 flugelhorns, 4 
>tenor horns ( I think these are what we call 
>Euphoniums, Baritones and Alto Horns - not what 
>used to be called Tenor Horns in the USA and UK 
>- more of a mixed range) , 1 Helicon tuba and 3 
>drummers and many other instruments drop in on 
>the recordings. Tempos range from slow ballads 
>to super speed dance tunes in time signatures 
>that still count as "odd" for most western ears. 
>Don Ellis tried to introduce this flavor of 
>jazz/folk/brass/ back in the 1960s and there 
>have been a few bands in the US that have also 
>brought this style to us (Les Misérables from 
>the 1980s and Zlatne Uste more recently, and a 
>new mixed tradition group Klezmer Brass AllStars 
>are just a few - look for them!)
>
>Anyway, there are whole different worlds of 
>"sort of OKOM"  out there - it is not an easy 
>thing to learn and the audience is slow to grow, 
>but it is some wild and crazy, fun stuff to 
>listen to - even if you don't understand the 
>lyrics or know how to clap along in 21 beats per 
>measure.
>
>I think "everybody" will be talking about this 
>group after their Monterey performance - check 
>out what happened a few years ago when they were 
>in New York City: 
>http://www.allaboutjazz.com/creviews/c1002_02.htm
>
>I know King Oliver or Jelly Roll probably never 
>heard of any kind of Balkan Brass Band but that 
>does not stop this from being interesting music, 
>IMHO...
>
>Dave Richoux

-- 
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**  Dan Augustine    Austin, Texas   ds.augustine at mail.utexas.edu     **
**    "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, and try again.  Then  **
**     give up.  There's no use being a damned fool about it."        **
**        -- William Claude Dunkenfield ("W. C. Fields")(1880-1946)   **
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