Customer Reviews

Songs & Dances From Albania

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This immediately became my favorite Balkan album. Some of the haunting, yearning sounds of this album penetrate to the quick of my soul. It's indescribable music. Anyone who likes the Greek, Turkish, Romanian, Gypsy sounds will undoubtably love this album. I can't recommend it highly enough, Tracks 1, 2, 8, and 9 are especially beautiful. Track 2 is a medley of tunes that have a unique feel to them.

This CD is Balkan music at its very best!!!
A tantalizing clarinet teases the emotions and draws out the melody making every sensuos note irresistible ..... at first s-l-o-w-l-y .....then the music speeds up, with unique chords and progressions, interspersed with sharps & flats, producing the Albanian/Balkan melodies & rhythms that have me jumping up and dancing just about every time I listen. The music increases speed to a feverish ecstatic rhythm with the clarinet as the lead instrument, accompanied by an accordian, lahute (a one-stringed upright instrument similar to the Serbian or Slavic gusle), cifteli (another stringed instrument unique to the region), and one or two drums. The folk instruments, the zurna and kaval, are replaced by the clarinet, with no apologies needed. The melodies are sometimes familiar, similar to those of Northern Greece, Macedonia (Pristina) and Serbia (Kosovo) but that's not so surprising since they belonged to Albania not too long ago. Fortunately, music has no **borders** or **politics**! If Balkan music is your passion, look no further, buy this CD! I can't praise this CD enough! (Also, highly recommend "Kurbeti: Music of Albania's Gypsies" and "Kosovo: the Music of Albanian Kosovars"). Erika Borsos (erikab93)