Customer Reviews

Rough Guide: Music of the Gypsies

5 star:		(4)
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3 star:		(1)
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This tapestry of *irresistible* gypsy music from Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, the Balkans (Kosovo, Macedonia), Rajasthan (India), Hungary, Romania, England and as far north as Finland, is woven into a timeless, seamless whole! Most *impressive* is the root sound that essentially remains unaltered no matter from which country the music arises. The improvisations and embellishments are indefinable and original spanning many centuries and musical styles. However, it is interesing to see that Finnish gypsy rhythm & melody is similar to that of Italy, Hungary, and Romania. Also, Balkan gypsy music by Madhe Krushe has strong influences of the traditional instruments played in Bulgaria, Macedonia, & Kosovo. The raw firey vocals of the Spanish gypsies unearth a vitality and dynamism no other singers emulate. The Greek gypsies express deep haunting passion and emotions, as only those of Meditarranean extraction can do ... Taraf de Haidouks & Kalman Balogh are world reknown Central European musicians, their music is synonomous with the culture and traditions of Romania and Hungary respectively. Rough Guide provides the greatest diversity of gypsy music I have yet enountered in any one CD! They cover Eastern and Western Europe, the Balkans, a bit of Asia, & most surprisingly Finland, too! This is an *incredible* *not* *to* *be* *missed* CD!!! BUY IT!!!
Erika Borsos (erikab93)

An excellent musical montage from around the world, this album is both a contemporary look into the passion of the Gypsy soul and an historical view of the traditions of these nomadic, intense and complex people. If you are interested in taking your emotional pulse, this CD is just what the doctor ordered.

This CD is a good collection of genuine gypsy music, but I have heard better. Gypsy Caravan by Putumayo is more accessible for the general public in my opinion. Another absolutely fantastic collection of Gypsy music can be found in the CD Latcho Drom. This CD is actually a soundtrack to a brilliant and beautiful documentary of that same name, and I would recommend anyone who is even remotely interested in gypsy music to see it. It is absolutely stunning!!

A superb collection of gypsy music from around the world. Having listened to it you will want to further explore this fascinating culture and its music.

I would like to offer a correction to the first editorial review given for this album. The Gypsy Kings are not from Spain, they are from Southern France.