Gypsy Roma Traveller Leeds
The permanent site of the Gypsy Roma Traveller Communities
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Music Festivals
Khamoro
Preparations of World Roma festival Khamoro are currently running! Already now we can reveal you something you can look forward to on this year’s 10th anniversary. It will take place in Prague from 25th to the 31st May 2008.
Talented and very influential
The Music of Travellers
Throughout history, and across the globe, Gypsies have not traditionally had access to education. Consequently many have been non-literate and with no system of writing, musical scores have meant nothing. This has been the main reason for the absence of written Gypsy music.
Listen to Gypsy Roma Traveller Music on the internet
The typical Gypsy musician has no need of written notes. He carries hundreds of tunes in his head and will learn a new tune by listening to it a few times and memorising it. Often the Gypsy musician will make the tune his own by adding to it and improving it.
In his book "Men of the Road" Charles King writes of an encounter he had with the leader of a Gypsy orchestra in Hungary.
"I asked him to play "Greensleeves" but he had not heard of it so I hummed the air through to him just twice. He put his fiddle to his chin faced the band and played it over to them.
"He began the tune again, then they all joined in - and how they transformed that simple English air! violins, clarinet and cello blending in a sweetness of sound, while the running chords of the cimbalom wove a pattern of sonorous fire."
Dance
Dances and music of the Rroma
Simona Jovic introduces her website "Dances of Rroma people"
"When I’m talking about "authentic" rroma dances, it’s not in purist sense. These dances represent a mix of different traditions adopted and enriched by Rroma, who went and settled around the world. The result is a quite specific and unique style which characterizes all the rromany music and dances. "Authentic" here means that the dances presented correspond to these actually performed by the Rroma today. So there is a big difference between these dances and the superficial "gypsy fantasy" dance style, invented by the Gadjé. Instead of showing an accurate picture of the rromany culture, they keep old clichés about this people alive. According to me,the important thing is to represent the music and dances of the Rroma with respect, taking into account their lifestyle, their art and their traditions. It’s difficult to classify them, they can be different from country to country and in each region there are lots of variants. Si this is only a global classification and it doesn’t pretend to be exhaustive..."
The site is in English and French
Musical links
Music Session
A Session at the Pointer on the occasion of a welcome visit to Leeds by the Traveller Pipers, John and Larry Rooney in 2005. Download mp3 files of the session at the bottom of this page.
There is no such thing as Gypsy music
From Basement Jaxx to Beirut to Gogol Bordello, bands are looking to the Balkans for inspiration. Read this interesting article by Dorian Lynskey from the Guardian's website.
Baron J. Band
A great gypsy band, originally from Slovakia, now in Peterborough, UK.
Taraf de Haïdouks
Maskarada is the new album by the world's leading Balkan Gypsy band. As you may have read on our Classical Inspiration and Classical Admiration pages it was not unusual for composers to draw on Gypsy and folk music. On this album Taraf de Haïdouks have turned the tables and have taken classical pieces by Bartók, Khachaturian, Albeniz & more, and have "re-gypsyfied" them, giving them an exhilarating make-over.
Listen to the clips below that we have been given permission to host.
2. Lezghinka
If you like what you hear you shouldn't have too much trouble tracking down your own copy. Amazon have it in stock and you can find out more about band and order copies from the record companies website.
Other stories
Influential
The Travelling community has always had talented musicians, but their music has also influenced some of the world's master composers. Get a taste of the musical nature of the Gypsies and their influence by following these links:
Irish Music
On a more local note, Leeds and the Yorkshire area is rich in Irish traditional music which of course has had a strong contribution from Travellers. Find out more about Irish music here.
Also read and listen about
Learning Resource
See clips from our DVD, "Open Roads Open Minds". Find out more about the resource, view video clips and order copies. There are audio and video clips with live music.
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