|
|
 |
Global Hit (Real Audio)
|
| Click Here to go back. |
The World (Public Radio Intl), Global Hit (Real Audio) >>
Roma Sound is not from Rome necessarily, although it can be. Roma Sound describes a renaissance in eastern European gypsy music. For our Global Hit today, The World's Marco Werman tells us about one of the genre's leading exponents.
From the very first notes of Jony Iliev's CD, you'd be excused from wondering where it comes from.
But as soon as the minor keys of the accordion emerge, you are transported to eastern Europe. And then the voice of Jony Iliev comes in, and you settle in for the ride.
Jony Iliev is from Kjustendil, a town 100 miles southwest of Sofia, Bulgaria's capital. The houses that line its muddy streets are home to more than 20,000 gypsies. Jony Iliev claims that Kjustendil is paradise when it is sunny. But when it rains, it is the saddest place on earth.
Jony Iliev is the youngest of eight brothers. So he took the hits as the runt in his family. And as gypsies, he and his siblings also had to deal with being social outcasts. As a kid, he used to dream of fleeing Bulgaria, and going to Greece. In his dream, he'd return to Kjustendil as a famous singer.
Luckily for Jony Iliev, he was born into an already musical family. By the age of ten, he was singing with wedding bands, charming the guests of honor. These days, Jony Iliev performs with his brother Boril who plays accordion, and virtuoso clarinet player, Martin Lubenov. Their band is a major player in a rebirth of gypsy music.
There are any number of swinging gypsy bands coming out of eastern Europe these days. But it's difficult to find one with a voice as passionate as Jony Iliev. His new album is "Ma maren ma." It translates from Romany roughly as "don't hit me."
For The World, I'm Marco Werman. 07/16/03 >> go there
|
| Click Here to go back. |
|
 |
|
|
|
