Every year in the small central Serbian town of Guca, 50 or so bands come to compete against each other in the Guca Brass Band Festival. Doesn't that sound deadly--like hundreds of high school nerds in itchy uniforms battling against grown men wearing feathers. Not a pretty sight. But the Guca festival turns into days of parties, drinking and general trumpet-induced merriment in part due to what is now an obligatory appearance by elder statesman and multiple winner Boban Markovic. Festival attendees just can't get enough of the Gypsy-inspired Boban, and it's easy to hear why. Gypsy music has always been a compelling minor-key mix of melancholy and celebration, which Markovic can do in his sleep. But what's most phenomenal on his latest CD, Live in Belgrade (Piranha), is all the radical musical architecture he's built from a modest Gypsy blueprint. I can't stop listening to this weird stuff: One minute it's funk, the next it's raga, and the next it's a whacked-out version of "Hava Naguila." Because the music is so layered--and dominated by the tuba, don't you know--you could listen to this recording numerous times without getting bored, which is what I've been doing when I don't feel like going out or am stuck in the office getting carpal tunnel. You might dance or you might cry; Markovic is good for either one.

 Listen at your leisure.