Simon Thacker (classical guitar) & Justyna Jablonska (cello)
with special guests: Masha Natanson (voice/violin), Gyula “Julius” Csík (cimbalom), Gyula Lázár (double bass)
Slap The Moon Records (STMRCD06)
1. Abre Ramče (5.08)
2. Anii mei şi tinereţea (7.06)
3. Jolta (8.25)
4. Niška Banja (6.12)
5. La Ciolpani (8.07)
6. Ibrahim (5.04)
7. Ederlezi (8.32)
8. Phirado (6.36)
Songs of the Roma is a journey through layers and roots in the pursuit of a revelatory vision. Scottish polymath, classical guitarist and composer Simon Thacker draws on his immersion in the rich musical legacy of the Balkan and Romanian Romany, their origins on the Indian subcontinent and an audacious creativity for his second album in duo with Polish cellist Justyna Jablonska, alongside gifted special guests from Poland and Hungary.
Thacker and Jablonska are first joined by Lublin based singer-violinist Masha Natanson, who ran away from home at the age of 15 to learn the genuine traditional music of the Carpathian and Romany communities. They reincarnate Ederlezi, reimagined by Thacker to reveal new layers of spiritual intensity and elegiac beauty, with Natanson’s stunningly poignant vocal performance allied to Jablonska’s expressive cello. Niška Banja opens with an anarchic dialogue of cello and guitar, and is full of fiendish humour and kaleidoscopic energy. The trio whip up a storm of startling density in songs from beloved luminaries Esma Redžepova, the Macedonian “Queen of the Gypsies”, and Gabi Luncă, the Romanian-Romani lăutar.
While, for Thacker, folk songs are a means to connect to the deepest past, his instrumental music is a vision of the most distant future. He and Jablonska next join forces with cimbalom virtuoso Gyula "Julius" Csik and double bassist Gyula Lázár, both from Budapest, Hungary, and steeped in the Romany tradition. This unique
sonic palette is a base for Thacker to expand on decades of inspiration from greats such as Taraf de Haïdouks, Sonia Timofeeva and Fanfare Ciocărlia, as well as his pioneering experiences writing for and performing with leading performers from across the Indian subcontinent and the Flamenco heartlands of Andalucia. The result is the cosmically shimmering Jolta and boldly effervescent Phirado.
Simon Thacker and Justyna Jablonska have been performing together since 2013, releasing their debut duo album, Karmana, in 2016. Jablonska is based in Edinburgh, where she has carved out an exciting career at the forefront of both Western contemporary classical and non-traditional music. She has collaborated widely and recently completed her PhD. Jablonska is passionate about cross-disciplinarity and experimental performance.Together with performers rooted in the tradition, who possess the character to come on this voyage to the distant shore of the unknown, and with the formidable gifts to tackle music that often butts up hard against the limits of human possibility, Thacker and Jablonska’s collective creativity across countries creates an album of rare power and singular originality, paying homage to one of the world’s great music traditions: Songs of the Roma.
"A resounding sense of beauty discovered" 9/10
Liverpool Sound and Music