Fanfara Zimbrul

Their tempo is breathtakingly fast, their instruments dented and beloved, their music gets you off your feet: the 10-12 person Romanian Gypsy brass band from Chetris (a tiny village with less than two hundred Gypsy inhabitants) is the number one address in their region for births, weddings, and funeral music. They are even at hand to help out desperate lovers by serenading sweethearts under their windows. They play traditional Romanian Gypsy music, handed down from generation to generation. From three-year-old kids to seventy-year-old grandpas, each person in the village is a skilled and fully trained musician. Sometimes they gather and play music only to cheer themselves up or to make fun of each other. Nevertheless, this art is passed on through a lot of practice. Fanfare Zimbrul is one of the most famous Gypsy brass bands of the Moldavian part of Romania, which is northeast of the Carpathians, having a border with Ukraine. The group consists of 10-12 musicians, mostly related to each other. They articulate the many-faceted rhythms and harmonies of the dance music with impressive perfection. Fanfare Zimbrul is steadfast in the tradition of Gypsy brass music, which developed out of the Turkish military brass bands in the early 19th century during the reign of the Ottomans. These traditions have been preserved for generations, and Fanfare Zimbrul proudly plays this ancient Gypsy music with breathtaking speed – up to 200 beats per minute – combined with Balkan area music, producing wonderfully rhythmic tunes. These 12 musicians know extremely well the various music styles and repertoire, although most of them cannot even read musical notes; still, they are able to play any tune after hearing it only once.