Les Yeux Noirs Balamouk [World Village 468008 (2002)

The name of this group comes from the Russian Gypsy tune made famous by Django Reinhardt in the 30s. The French sextet combines Gypsy music and klezmer to create a new kind of central European music. Although it may not seem immediately obvious, the Gypsies and the Jews have much in common, both historically and culturally, and so the group's fusion, with additional references to Manouche jazz, makes sense. Two violin-playing brothers, who also sing, make up the core of Les Yeux Noirs, whose album features both traditional tunes and originals, as well as vocals and instrumentals. The songs, which are sung in Russian, Yiddish, and Roma, mostly tend to start off slowly and then build up momentum as the other instruments join in till they build into a kind of frenzied crescendo. Such is the case with "Trionica," for example, in which the cimbalom kicks in at breakneck speed, which is then matched by the accordion, neither instrument letting up till it's over.