Museum Musica

Romania, 1988, Lăutărească, Romani folk, Romanian folk

Le Taraf de Clejani – Roumanie : Musique des Tsiganes de Valachie: I cannot find a listening link for this. So what exactly is the Lăutărească genre? No idea…let’s look it up. According to my best beloved RYM, it’s “Romanian folk strongly influenced by folk music from Turkey, Russia, and Western Europe, and even from Byzantine Church music. It is very akin to Jewish klezmer because it frequently involves the same instruments, such as violin, cimbalom, and accordion. This music is associated with the Romani ethnic group, even though the majority of artists are Romanians.” So, an ethnic distinction that means absolutely nothing to me. Time to educate myself! What I love about this music is how it builds upon itself, and how it keeps going but remains fresh, not growing stale. Very good at letting the music out to range for a while and then roping it back in, only to let it loose again. If you ever wanted to listen to music and jump on creaking floorboards while dust motes swirl around you, this is it.