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 having 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 aut desperate lovers by serenading sweethearts under their windows.They play traditional Romanian Gypsy music, handed down from generation to generation. From three years old kids to seventy years 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 over through a lot of practice.Fanfare Zimbrul is one of the most famous Gypsy brass bands of the Moldavian part of Romania, which is north east of the Carpathians having border with Ukraine. The group consists in 10-12 musicians, mostly related to each other.They articulate the many facetted rhythms and harmonies of the dance music with an impressive perfection. Fanfare Zimbrul is steadfast in the tradition of Gypsy brass music which developed aut of the Turkish military brass bands in the early 19 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.