submitted on Fri, 08/22/2008 - 06:35 in Jazz Group by Mike_Longo 
Balkan brass bands are large aggregations with lots of brass, a tuba/drum/percussion backbeat (one of the most infectious things on earth) and hot soloing by trumpets, saxophones, clarinets and assorted other instruments. They have for some time been drawing large crowds in NYC nightspots such as the Knitting Factory, Brooklyn's Barbes and even boast their own yearly NYC Golden Festival. Bands like Romashka, Zagnut Cirkus, Frank London's Brotherhood of Brass and Slavic Soul Party pay homage to the "old country" super groups such as trumpeter Boban Markovic's legendary brass band but do so by putting their own American take on the genre. They intertwine klezmer, Rom, Latin, funk, jazz and other ethnically driven musics into the overall mix for a sound that gets you dancing and, of course, drinking. Orkestar Zirkonium, from the somewhat unlikely quarter of Seattle, Washington, is the latest offering in this eclectic and highly danceable genre...
Source: allaboutjazz
Author: Elliott Simon
