Toni Kitanovski & Cherkezi Orchestra WOMEX 2012

Asan Rasid (trumpet)
Ivan Bejkov (bass)
Jasar Rasid (tapan, darbuka)
Salas Salas (drums, congas)
Tehamana Skenderovska (vocals, trumpet)
Toni Kitanovski (band leader, guitar)
Vilhen Memedov (tuba)

T.S. Eliot's image of arriving back in the place we started from and knowing it for the first time could apply to the musical adventurer, Toni Kitanovski. His path has taken him from his hometown of Skopje to the USA and back again, through the worlds of African music, jazz, classical and the avant-garde, studies at the Berklee School of Music, playing and composing for classical orchestras and jazz big-bands and close collaborations with musicians such as Greg Hopkins, Charlie Mariano and Oscar Salas. Back in his homeland he heard the Gypsy brass-band, Cherkezi Orchestra, playing at a party and suddenly realised a connection to the likes of Sun Ra, Coltrane and Mingus. Now, their spontaneous and intuitive collaboration brings together two distinctive musical traditions, leading the Balkan Gypsy trails to the streets of New Orleans.

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