Trafik by Veretski Pass

After the smash reception of their eponymous first CD, the eccentric trio Veretski Pass is now releasing a second CD, TRAFIK. A true collage of Carpathian, Jewish, Rumanian and Ottoman styles, the suites contain dances from Moldavia and Bessarabia; Jewish melodies from Poland and Rumania, Hutzul wedding music from Carpathian-Ruthenia, and haunting Rembetic aires from Smyrna, seamlessly integrated with a large number of original compositions. In the anxiously awaited release, TRAFIK, this transgressive trio of virtuosic klezmer veterans delivers 30 tracks of musical contraband .

The pieces are titled with slang from all over the world and across time; e.g. klezmer loshn, the secret language of the klezmorim (east European players of Jewish instrumental music), blatnyak: Russian mob slang and Victorian thieves slang, and then grouped into 9 suites with such headings as Roadside Wedding, Seed and Darkmans Daughter. In Eastern Europe, the roots of world music go back centuries. Jews and Moslems, Magyars, Rumanians, Ukrainians and Roma played music together in an atmosphere of sharing, in a multicultural area where professional musicians had to know as many musical styles as the diverse languages of the people with whom they lived and worked.

Across the Veretski Pass, the mountain pass in the Carpathians through which Magyar tribes into crossed into the Carpathian basin in 895 AD, and through which the emigrating Jews first settled in Transcarpathia, the musical traditions were as varied as the people who lived there. Taking its name from this cultural hotbed, Veretski Pass confidently crosses the border between mature mastery and village madness. The trio has been critically acclaimed in their performances in concert halls all over the world, including Vienna, Krakow, Munich, Chicago and the prestigious Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Audio CD