'Balkan Brass Battle' pits two leading Gypsy brass bands against each other - Serbia's 'Boban and Marko Markoviæ Orchestra and Romania's 'Fanfare Ciocãrlia,' together and separately, to thrilling effect.

These two bands are like the Duke Ellington and Count Basie of Balkan brass, with razor-sharp playing and arrangements even at the fastest of tempos while keeping the dancers happy. Boban and his son Marko have been professional musicians all their working lives, injecting Jazz and Turkish flavours into their 10 horn, 3 percussion powerhouse of a band, while staying true to their Gypsy roots. Fanfare Ciocarlia come from the tiny village of Zece Prajini in Moldavia in Romania's Northeast, a place where no brass band tradition previously existed. From next to nothing they created a furious sound from their mix of brass, percussion and woodwinds, playing at local weddings and festivities on weekends while working as subsistence farmers or in factories during the week. A trip to Western Europe in 1996 wowed audiences who recognised their energy as closer to hardcore or punk than to any Western Brass Band tradition.

On this CD, the bands play together on 4 tracks and pit themselves against each other on others - for instance, their very different arrangements of Ellington and Tizol's 'Caravan.' It's too much fun for one Daily Planet show but we'll do what we can!