NY Gypsy All-Stars

Nuyorbalkan: New York Gypsy All-Stars Jump the Turnstiles of Balkanalia, Turkish Roots, and Gypsy Soul with Funky Refinement

A Greek bassist ducked into a little bar in New York's Alphabet City and heard the Eastern Mediterranean and Southern Balkans pouring across the packed room. The clarinet was keening and singing, and he knew every tune.

From this blown-away moment of discovery, the New York Gypsy All-Starssprang, uniting bi-musical virtuosi raised on the lush sounds of Macedonian, Greek, Turkish, and American roots and forged in the halls of the world's best music schools. With composerly ears and a madcap relish for ill and crunky sounds, the quintet of crack musicians tears through the tollgates separating the region's interlocking roots on the long-awaited album of original pieces, Romantech (Traditional Crossroads) and on tour in February with concerts in cities including Chicago and NYC.