Music Review: "Bosnia: Echoes of an Endangered World", "King Ferus: Ferus Mustafov, Macedonian Wedding Soul Cooking", and "Gaida Orchestra: Bagpipe Music from the Rhodope Mountains"

Lynn Maners Pima Community College/University of Arizona

"Bosnia: Echoes of an Endangered World" Music Track eight returns to the sevdalinka form for a and Chant of the Bosnian Muslims." Smithsonian lovely unaccompanied performance of "II' je vedro, Folkways CD SF 40407 il' oblacno" ("Is it clear or cloudy?")

This CD is an excellent compilation of the musical Tracks nine through eleven represent the Muslim performance, both religious and vernacular of the religious experience in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Muslim population of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Track nine is the ezan, or call to prayer, while tracks Using both commercial sources and field recordings ten and eleven are chanted excerpts from zikrs, or (from 1984-5), Ted Levin and Ankica Petrovic (the Sufi religious rites, in Bosnian dervish orders. latter formerly of the University of Sarajevo's Music Faculty) illustrate a variety of Bosnian musical The final selections on this CD, tracks twelve through forms, both urban and rural. Field recordings (1989- fourteen return us once again to that musical form 90) by Mirjana Lausevic, (currently a graduate most associated with Bosnia and Herzegovina, the student at Wesleyan), also appear in this collection. sevdalinka. Track twelve, "Saraieveski Pocetak/Sarhos Aljo", is a remnant of an older urban Tracks one and two are sevdalinkas, or love songs, style in which the singer is accompanied on saz, a and represent an urban Muslim musical style, based larger version of the more rural oriented sargija. The on a Turkish model, but modified by contact with song itself is preceded by a long instrumental Western musical practice. Track one, "Kad ja introduction which sets the emotional tone for the Podjoh..."(from a commercial recording) was and is song to follow. This introduction may be a reflection practically the national anthem of Sarajevo, as it of the Turkish musical practice in which the makam, spoke of walking to Bembasa, a popular section of or scale, in which the song is to be performed is town. In my experience of listening to sevdalinkas, established. Track thirteen is a very commercialized, and their darker variant, the kara sevda, in pre-war studio recorded version of a sevdalinka, here Bosnia, sevdalinkas often contributed to the creation accompanied by accordion-the instrument of an emotional tone called ceiff signifying a state of ethnomusicologists love to hate for its habit of relaxed intimacy. displacing traditional instruments. The final track, ""Voljeli se Mujo I Nizama" ("Mujo and Nizama fell Tracks three and four represent two popular rural in love") returns to traditional instrumentation, albeit musical styles found in northern Bosnia, that of the studio recorded, and a traditional theme, albeit sargija (long necked lute) and violin duet, performed shortened from its vernacular performance. in relatively close musical intervals and zurna (a double reeded instrument) and davul (drum) In summation: I highly recommend this CD for those ensembles. seeking a broad overview of Bosnian Muslim musical practice. While I might have chosen different Tracks six and seven are typical Bosnian gangas, selections or performers (notably, I prefer Himzo sung respectively by men and women. Ganga are Polovina's interpretation of "Kad ja Podjoh..."over considered as the most typical form of that of Nada Mamula's used here), most styles and unaccompanied mountain music and are genres are well represented in this collection. The CD characterized by a loud, almost shouted performance is also accompanied by a useful booklet on Bosnian and are typically melismatic (more than one note per history and musical practice by Levin and Petrovic. syllable). "King Ferus: Ferus Mustafov, Macedonian Tracks seven illustrates an evolving musical style Wedding Soul Cooking" Ace/GlobeStyle CD# called becarac, which is sung by both men and CDORBD 089 women. Incorporating elements of both Western and Eastern practice, the becarac in this recording opens From a reviewer's or even casual listener's point of like a ganga by a single singer who is then joined on view, this CD presents an interesting challenge; the the last word of the song by an Eastern influenced music is so compelling that it's almost impossible to polyphony. sit still and simply listen to it! If you play this CD for a class as an example of Macedonian Gypsy wedding music (although some tunes are pop or jazz), you'd This CD is a collection of one specific type of gaida better be prepared to teach them to cocek, because music, that of the kaba (low) ga-ida from the they won't be able to sit still. (Cocek is generally an Rhodope mountains in Western Bulgaria. Tuned up tempo melody in asymmetrical meter, typically lower than its smaller brother the Thracian gaida 9/8 or 9/16 and is associated with the Rom or Gypsy which if often used to accompany dancing, the kaba population of former Yugoslavia and especially gaida is occasionally featured in mass unison Macedonia). ensemble playing ( the so-called sto gaidi, or 100 gaidas-though no more than 18 kaba gaidas are heard Ferus Mustafov is an extremely talented musician on performing in ensemble on this recording) or used as saxophone and clarinet and brings this talent, along a single instrument in accompanying singers. with those of other musicians, to interpretations of traditional pieces, such as his track five,, "Staro The fourteen tracks on this CD were recorded for Cunovo O.-o/Velesko,Oro" whose roots in the Japanese JVC by members of youth and a "veteran"' traditional dance tune "Cupurlika" most folk dancers ensembles from villages in the region around will recognize, likewise track seven "Romankso Smolyen in the Rhodopes. Presented are examples of Gajda" is recognizably the folk dance tune "Ravno the various performance forms in which kaba gaida is Oro". found, the solo (two examples), duo (two examples), solo accompaniment of a singer (three examples) and Many of the other cuts on this CD exemplify the mass performance (seven examples). One tune is cultural borrowing from many regions and peoples presented by both the youth and veteran ensembles. both inside and outside Macedonia. Notable in this instance are track six ' "Turska Igra" in a style known As a somewhat lapsed kaba gaida player myself, I as Arabesk, track 11 "Dada Sali" for its Albanian found this CD a useful reminder of the complex influence, and track 14 for its Bulgarian influenced aesthetics of the kaba gaida, especially when used as "Kocovo Oro". Other tracks reveal a much stronger an instrument to accompany a female singer. pop and jazz influence and are not rearrangements of Although somewhat hampered by fairly minimal traditional tunes. liner notes, there is enough information presented to act as a useful introduction to this specific variant of In summation: a wonderful piece of modern Balkan a widely practiced Eastern European musical popular dance music, with a strong influence from tradition. In summation: I recommend this CD to both indigenous jazz and contemporary musical those who might wonder if there are more than just practices. I wouldn't recommend it to those seeking "mysterious voices" coming from Bulgaria. traditional Macedonian Gypsy music, but it does demonstrate the viability and adaptability of some traditional forms of Balkan folk music. The liner notes for this CD are also interesting and descriptive. Those interested in more Balkan jazz are encouraged to seek out the CDs of Ivo Papasov, notably "Balkanology" on Rykodisc.

"Gaida Orchestra: Bagpipe Music from the Rhodope Mountains" JVC CD # VICG 5224

Part of the "World Sounds" series from Japanese JVC (the liner notes are in Japanese and English) this "Bulgaria" collection will answer the musical question for you-just what is that instrument playing over the opening credits of the syndicated, and silly but fun television series, "Xena, Warrior Princess"? It is of course, a gaida or folk bagpipe from Bulgaria. As most readers of this journal will be aware, some form of the single drone, single chanter bagpipe is found almost everywhere in our region of study, from the dudy of Poland and Hungary to the cimpoi of Romania and the gaida of (former) Yugoslavia, Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria and Greece.