© 2024 KRVS
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Fanfare Ciocarlia: globalFEST 2014

By Anastasia Tsioulcas
Published January 16, 2014 at 6:00 AM CST
Members of Romania's Fanfare Ciocarlia perform a blazing set during globalFEST at New York City's Webster Hall on Jan. 12, 2014.
1 of 3  — Members of Romania's Fanfare Ciocarlia perform a blazing set during globalFEST at New York City's Webster Hall on Jan. 12, 2014.
Members of Romania's Fanfare Ciocarlia perform a blazing set during globalFEST at New York City's Webster Hall on Jan. 12, 2014.
Such brass bands are the descendants of the military bands popular across the Ottoman empire in the 19th century — but with a style all their own.
2 of 3  — Such brass bands are the descendants of the military bands popular across the Ottoman empire in the 19th century — but with a style all their own.
Such brass bands are the descendants of the military bands popular across the Ottoman empire in the 19th century — but with a style all their own.
For roughly two decades, this mighty band of Romani (Gypsy) musicians from a small village in northeastern Romania have traveled the world with their songs, and become the subjects of two films in the process.
3 of 3  — For roughly two decades, this mighty band of Romani (Gypsy) musicians from a small village in northeastern Romania have traveled the world with their songs, and become the subjects of two films in the process.
For roughly two decades, this mighty band of Romani (Gypsy) musicians from a small village in northeastern Romania have traveled the world with their songs, and become the subjects of two films in the process.

If any band has figured out how to marry breakneck speed with astonishing chops, it's Fanfare Ciocarlia (pronounced "fan-FAR-eh cho-car-LEE-ah"). With a playlist that veers from traditional Romani (Gypsy) tunes to covers of "Born to Be Wild" and Duke Ellington's "Caravan," this brass band from northwestern Romania has set the pace, literally, for close to two decades.

And as soon as this oversized outfit of horns, winds and drums arrived on the main globalFEST stage, the folks in the audience knew exactly what to do: They began pogoing ecstatically until the floorboards shook.

SET LIST:

  • "Vivaldi"

  • "Ruseasca Lui Filon"

  • "Sirba Monastirea"

  • "Ciobanasul"

  • "Ciocarlia"

  • "Lume, Lume"

  • "Hurichestra"

  • "Caravana"

  • "Nicoleta"

  • "Asfalt Tango"

  • "Iag Bari"

    • Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

    NPR Music
    Anastasia Tsioulcas
    Anastasia Tsioulcas is a correspondent on NPR's Culture desk. She is intensely interested in the arts at the intersection of culture, politics, economics and identity, and primarily reports on music. Recently, she has extensively covered gender issues and #MeToo in the music industry, including the trial and conviction of former R&B superstar R. Kelly; backstage tumult and alleged secret deals in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against megastar singer Plácido Domingo; and gender inequity issues at the Grammy Awards.
    See stories by Anastasia Tsioulcas