I have become a real fan of Eastern European horn driven music. The tradition of Balkan Brass Bands, passionate gypsy hybrid pop, the fragile marriage of the Ottoman Empire and European Pop Music creates something totally wild, a furious esthetic, music to dance, get married and buried to.

Many are aware of the music of Goran Bregovic, the composer who has scored the films of Emir Kustarica. Kustarica also plays bass guitar in the No Smoking Orchestra, a punkish variety of this passionate music. This is the music of Serbia and it is incredibly precise fast furious horn driven music.

The superstar for many years has been Boban Markovic, with his Orkestar Bobani, a dazzling revue with gypsies and singers. Boban brought his son Marko into the band when Marko was 14, already a trumpet virtuoso. Since then, Marko has matured into an artist walking the line between Miles Davis, Herb Alpert and Funkadelic, but in the context of his Southern Serbian Rroma roots.

An aside about The Orkestar Boban, the legend is that Bill Clinton was so amazed by Markovic that he suspended the NATO bombing of Serbia. This may or not be true, but it is a good example of the aura surrounding this music!

The latest recording by The Markovic father and Don team is called Devla:Blown Away to Dance Hall Heaven. It is Rroma Brass at its most furiously precise. The unison horn parts have the energy of the most adrenalin fueled thrash played with acute precision.

The music ranges in influences from hip hop and rap to Serbian Folk, Flamenco, experimantal jazz and almost cool jazz...I tried to find a good clip of the band as they are today playing and I found the clip from You Tube that gives an idea of what Balkan Brass played by the Markovics is....Play it loud for maximum effect!

This is an incredibly vital music that is finally having an influence on the rest of the world, but the Markovics are the real thing! Devla:Blown Away To Dance Hall Heaven,
available now for downloads, general cd release in America, Nov. 18.