Do you like klezmer?  How about contemporary New Orleans jazz/brass bands like the Dirty Dozen Brass Band or even English “silver” bands?  Then don’t miss this wild set by the Boban Markovic Orkestar, a Serbian gypsy brass band.  (The brass and percussion outfit was augmented for this recording by guest musicians on accordion, saxophone, and on conventional drum kit on a few tracks.)

Tracks on Boban I Marko range from frantic with flashy brass blasts and rapid rhythm changes to calmer, more reflective pieces.  The brass players even make their instruments cry as do the best klezmer musicians.  There’s a fascinating exchange of solos between one of the ensemble’s brass men and guest violinist Dejan Kostic on “Biseri Srbije part 1” (“Pearls of Serbia”).  In fact there are brilliant horn solos scattered throughout this recording – I wish the CD booklet credits had been more detailed so that listeners would know which musician had played those fantastic riffs.

On an interesting note, the Boban Markovic Orkestar became a father/son project for this album as Boban’s son Marko joins the ensemble, thus the title.  –KR