COMPOSERS: and Turkey,Romania,Serbia,traditional dance of Bulgaria
LABELS: Cramworld
PERFORMER: Kocani Orkestar
CATALOGUE NO: CRAW 19
The Kocani Orkestar, who appeared in the UK just after the March column touched on Balkan brass bands is a Macedonian one of Turkish ancestry. Soft-toned trumpets take frantic, hard-hitting solos over tubas, accordion and drums. Guests such as the bellowing traditional oboe add variety to fairly stable textures, while the styles and sources reveal a healthy appetite, showing off Muslim embellishments and unisons one minute and a Chinese song with Latin rhythms (yes, really) the next.