Of lovers, gamblers, and parachute skirts

Description

To celebrate its 25th anniversary, the formidable Rom group reconnects with the old styles that enchanted the Western audience in its early albums: Romanian ballads, old Gypsy love songs, and dances of yesteryear, not to mention the swirling instrumentals with Turkish accents... Let the party continue! For the first time since the passing of its oldest members, the Taraf de Haïdouks explores again some aspects of its vast repertoire and takes a retrospective look at its career. Far from practicing a "traditional" fixed and monolithic music, it has never ceased to absorb and recycle new elements. In this anniversary album, the Taraf de Haïdouks has taken all these threads to weave a shimmering tapestry of styles, paying tribute to the generation of its parents. Since the release of its first album (1991) and its participation in Latcho Drom; (the famous film by Tony Gatlif), the Taraf de Haïdouks has established itself as the emblematic group that symbolizes the wonderful vitality of Balkan Gypsy music. The Taraf has multiplied collaborations: concerts with the Kronos Quartet at the Royal Festival Hall in London, participation (as models/musicians) in Yohji Yamamoto's fashion shows, presence in the soundtracks of films such as "Terminus Paradis" by Lucian Pintilie, "Train de vie" by Radu Mihaileanu, or "The Brothers Grimm" by Terry Gilliam, and a notable appearance on screen (alongside Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci) in "The Man Who Cried," the film by British director Sally Potter, for which they also contributed to part of the music. The members of the group seem to navigate all this turmoil while maintaining their sense of humor and their philosophy of life... They still reside in their modest village of Clejani, in the heart of the Wallachian countryside.