Fanfare Ciocarlia - Queens and Kings

My favorite balkan madmen strike again. Queens and Kings came out just this year, and it is dedicated to the memory of Ioan Ivancea, the metaphorical and literal patriarch of the family that is Fanfare Ciocarlia (BTW, it's him on the cover with his clarinet). The band celebrates his passing with an abandon rivaled only by the proverbial New Orleans Dixie Jazz funerals. In the past Ciocarlia was primarily an instrumental outfit, but on this disk they bring in guest singers for each of the songs, cherry-picking the stars of the gypsy music. Several generations are represented, from the elders - Saban Bajramovic, Esma Redzepova - to the new crop of gypsy musicians - Florentina Sandu, Jony Ilev.
This album is put together like a live show: the familiar hits are given a reworking and interspersed with new material. I personally wasn't too happy with the new versions of Sandala and Ma Maren Ma (incidentally, both sung by Saban Bajramovic), but that's not surprising as the originals are truly impossible to improve upon. I still cannot decide whether I like the remake of Iag Bari, here entitled Que Dolor and translted into spanish(?). On the other hand, Ibrahim, which showed up as an instrumental on Gili Garabdi, truly takes off into stratosphere with addition of Esma Redzepova's vocal. New songs (new to me, at least) are just as good. The album concludes with a traditional cooky mainstream pop cover. They've done Neil Sedaka's "One-Way Ticket To The Blues" as "Rumba Tziganeasca" on Radio Pascani, they covered The James Bond Theme on Gili Garabdi, and here they transform the old Steppenwolf biker anthem into a gypsy dance.


Fanfare Ciocarlia - Queens and Kings
REUP: 320kbps, 112mb on mediafire
01. Kan Marau La (Dan Armeanca) 4:31
02. Que Dolor (Kaloome) 3:55
03. Sandala (Saban Bajramovic) 2:49
04. Pana cand nu te iubeam (Mitsou) 4:06
05. Cuando tu volveras (Kaloome) 4:30
06. Duj Duj (Mitsou & Florentina Sandu) 3 :56
07. Ibrahim (Esma Redzepova) 3:05
08. Ma Maren Ma (Saban Bajramovic) 3:50
09. Mukav Tu (Florentina Sandu) 2:09
10. Nakelavishe (Esma Redzepova) 2:58
11. Ma Rov (Ljiljane Butler) 4:38
12. Mig Mig (Jony Iliev) 3:19
13. Farewell March (Ioan Ivancea) 1:36
14. Born to be wild 3:11