Given its name (which translates in English to 'the Black Eyes') and given its choice of material - the traditional music of the often persecuted Gypsy and Jewish peoples of Europe - you might expect the Paris-based band Les Yeux Noirs to play songs saturated with sadness.

Yet the six-man outfit, which is coming to Dayton this weekend as part of a tour, makes music marked not by melancholy but by a decided joi de vivre .

The group's Saturday performance is the third and final offering of the new World Rhythms Series, which is part of a collaboration between the University of Dayton and Cityfolk, presenters of traditional-arts entertainment.

Les Yeux Noirs explores the musical traditions that arose out of the geographically spread-out histories of the Gypsies and the Jews.

Founded in the early 1990s by Parisian brothers Eric and Olivier Slabiak, classically trained violinists of Jewish and Polish heritage, Les Yeux Noirs combines the vivid and often dramatic textures of Eastern Europe's Yiddish klezmer bands with the cascading aural colors of Gypsy musical expression.

A particular influence comes from the French Gypsy jazz of guitarist Django Reinhardt. Les Yeux Noirs also is the name of a Russian Gypsy tune popularized by Reinhardt in the 1930s. But the group Les Yeux Noirs adds something more - the contemporary energy of a rock act.

The full combination of effect comes through on the group's live CD, released last year on the Harmonia Mundi label. The Washington Post wrote that the effort 'with 18 tracks drawn from all their albums and all their styles, is the best possible introduction to Les Yeux Noirs. . . . What makes it all work is superb technique, a sure grasp of each style and a passion that obviously connects with the responsive audience.'

Although the live release features a crew of eight musicians, the U.S. tour is spotlighting six: along with the Slabiaks are Pascal Rondeau on guitar; Gheorghe Ene, who goes by the name of Ionica, on accordion; Franck Anastasio on electric bass; and Francois Perchat on cello.

They play instrumental numbers as well as vocal pieces, with each man adding his voice to songs on which the language is often French but sometimes is Yiddish, Polish or Russian, embracing a world of influences.
 
Carol Simmons