They celebrate the traditional songs of European Jews and Gypsies but with decidedly contemporary arrangements.

            The band plays at 8pm Friday, Feb 27 in the Alberta Bair Theatre in Billings. They also perform 8pm Saturday, Feb 28 in the O’Shaughnessy Center in Whitefish.

            Les Yeux Noirs, French for “The Black Eyes” is the name of a Russian Gypsy made popular by Django Rheinhardt in the 1930’s.

            The French sextet, led by two violin-playing brothers Eric and Oliver Slabiak, plays its own variety of Gypsy and Yiddish music along with a bit of monouche (or French Gypsy) jazz, according to the groups press release.

            “We don’t have a message about the tragic history of the Jewish and Gypsy people. To play this music in the 21^st century is the message. This music survives like the people.  The character of these people is very intense and dramatic, and one reason the Gypsy and Jewish people exist today is that they never give in to the sadness,” Eric Slabiak told the San Francisco Examiner.

            The brothers played a concert violin from an early age and are conservatory trained, but after an introduction to Gypsy music by an introduction to Gypsy music by an uncle, quit the conservatory, found like-minded musicians and 10 years ago formed Les Yeux Noirs.

            The band’s arrangements leave plenty of room for rhythm and spontaneity, while highlighting the musical complexity of the melodies, according to the press release. Their most recent album, “Balamouk” was nominated for a French Music Award.