Fanfare Ciocarlia

$16 in advance / $20 day-of-show


Fanfare Ciocarlia are one of the world’s greatest live bands, their energy and ingenuity having won them fans from Melbourne to Memphis, Tokyo to Toulouse. Having learnt their craft at the feet of their fathers and grandfathers, Fanfare’s members proudly approach every concert as a challenge to both entertain audiences and keep the true spirit of Gypsy music alive.

When the brass orchestra from the “hidden” village of Zece Prajini in northeastern Romania - take the stage, the crowd receives 100% Gypsy music. Zece Prajini’s isolation – in a misty valley, dirt roads occupied by flocks of geese and horse and carts - contains eighty Gypsy farming families who live a traditional rural lifestyle dictated by nature’s seasons. Under Communism, the village remained hidden from the outside world. The ancient Ottoman tradition of brass bands at weddings and funerals continued to exist here when it had long died out in the rest of Romania. When Henry Ernst, a young German music fan, wandered into the village in 1996 he found a living tradition that he knew the world would embrace.

Fanfare Ciocarlia - whose name translates as "lark's song" - conquered Europe in 1997, their furious live blast appealing to punks and headbangers, jazz and funk fans, world music aficionados and those who simply love music that sounds absolutely unique. Even the classical world embraced Fanfare Ciocarlia and they have since performed at prestigious philharmonic halls. The Romanians' breakneck speed, technical chops, ripping rhythms and sweet and sour horns is quite different from any other brass band on earth. Everyone who heard them agreed on one thing – no brass band had ever played as fast as this before.

Fanfare Ciocarlia went on to conquer the USA, Japan and Australia. The Gypsies may only have spoken their local Romany dialect but their music spoke an international language and audiences responded to their fierce Balkan funk by turning concerts into parties. The Times of London described it as “a heavy monster sound” and Fanfare’s recordings have taken their eerie Balkan groove into dance clubs across the planet. They star in several films: Ralf Marschalleck’s Iag Bari follows the band on tour across Europe; Fatih Akin’s Head On has them ripping up Hamburg’s clubs; they're on the cover of Garth Cartwright's book on Romany culturel, Princes Amongst Men; ( Sacha Baron Cohen commissioned them to record biker anthem "Born To Be Wild" for the Borat soundtrack: and they have been sampled and covered, championed and emulated, by countless DJs, bands and Gypsy orchestras. Their radical reinterpretations of popular Western standards – including the James Bond Theme and Duke Ellington’s Caravan – show how the Romanian orchestra effortlessly “Gypsify” any music they get their horns on.

Fanfare Ciocarlia have released eight albums, several of which have topped the European World Music charts. Their DVD Brass On Fire was acclaimed by Songlines magazine as “setting a new standard for music documentaries”. They have played over 1200 concerts and like to consider themselves “the hardest working band in the blow biz”. Put simply: nobody does it better, harder, faster, funkier than Fanfare Ciocarlia.