NYGF Party #3: Brass Music Mania with Zlatne Uste, June 13 May 16, 2009

In typical nomad fashion after two wild parties at (Le) Poisson Rouge, the monthly NY Gypsy Fest parties are moving onto another venue. Drom will host 5th Anniversary Season Party #3 with two bands that are redefining brass music coming out of New York. Heavyweights Zlatne Uste Brass Band are not only one of the foremost presenters of traditional Balkan dance music in the US, but their repertoire spans the most important stops in the traditional music of the Balkans – in this case Serbia, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Gypsy traditions (plus every year they host the mighty Golden Festival, an 8-hour long Balkan music marathon). Coming out of the village of Brooklyn, Raya Brass Band is the latest fiery Balkan band delivering the swirling, dynamic music of northern Greece and East Europe. For this edition we welcome straight from the West Coast special guest DJ Amar, who has been holding it down at Electric Vardo, San Francisco’s  favorite monthly Global Gypsy Party, and the spectacular tribal fusion dancer Vorona. 

NY Gypsy Festival presents 

5th Anniversary Season Party #3 

Brass Music Mania! 

Saturday, June 13 

10pm – 4am

Zlatne Uste – Music from Serbia, Macedonia & Bulgaria by powerhouse 12-piece band

Raya Brass Band – Exuberant dance music from Greece & Eastern Europe

with special guest DJ Amar – Balkan-Bhangra Mashup

Resident DJ of Electric Vardo, San Francisco’s favorite monthly Global Gypsy Party

Tribal Fusion Dance by Vorona

Electric + Eclectic Visuals by Amar

at Drom

85 Ave A between 5th  & 6th St, New York City

Tel: 212-777-1127   21+ w/ID

$15 tickets at www.dromnyc.com

www.nygypsyfest.com

 

 

In typical nomadic fashion after two wild parties at (Le) Poisson Rouge, the monthly NY Gypsy Fest parties are moving onto another venue. Drom will host 5th Anniversary Season Party #3 with two bands that are redefining brass music coming out of New York. Heavyweights Zlatne Uste Brass Band are not only one of the foremost presenters of traditional Balkan dance music in the US, but their repertoire spans the most important stops in the traditional music of the Balkans – in this case Serbia, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Gypsy traditions (plus every year they host the mighty Golden Festival, an 8-hour long Balkan music marathon). Coming out of the village of Brooklyn, Raya Brass Band is the latest fiery Balkan band delivering the swirling, dynamic music of northern Greece and East Europe. For this edition we welcome, straight from the West Coast, special guest DJ Amar, who has been holding it down at Electric Vardo, San Francisco’s  favorite monthly Global Gypsy Party, and the spectacular tribal fusion dancer Vorona. 

 

NY Gypsy Festival presents 

5th Anniversary Season Party #3 
Brass Music Mania! 

Saturday, June 13 
10pm – 4am

 

Zlatne Uste – Music from Serbia, Macedonia & Bulgaria by powerhouse 12-piece band

Raya Brass Band – Exuberant dance music from Greece & Eastern Europe

with special guest DJ Amar – Balkan-Bhangra Mashup

Resident DJ of Electric Vardo, San Francisco’s favorite monthly Global Gypsy Party

 

Tribal Fusion Dance by Vorona

Electric + Eclectic Visuals by Amar

 

at Drom
85 Ave A between 5th  & 6th St, New York City
Tel: 212-777-1127   21+ w/ID
$15 tickets at www.dromnyc.com

Gypsy-meets-Brazil Party on Fri, May 15!! April 23, 2009

Hot on the heels of the wild success of the NY Gypsy Festival kick-off party, where 700+ fans packed the club late into the night, comes the sequel featuring more lively sounds form the East – and South. Le Poisson Rouge will host once again a night of superb musicianship and party atmosphere when Gypsy and Brazilian sounds collide for what promises to be a rapturous evening.  

 
Headlining the second edition is one of New York’s hardest working bands – the mighty Slavic Soul Party. The 11-piece band’s fiery Balkan brass, hip-grinding American grooves, and ecstatic songs, both new and old, have attracted a wide range of fans from East European to Mexican and Asian immigrant backgrounds and even American jazz, soul and brass lovers. Highlighting that brass element, Brooklyn’s very own Forró Brass Band (the latest creative output of Nation Beat ringleader Scott Kettner) will play the lively stylings of northeast Brazil with hints of New Orleans. 

 

Genre-bending mixologist DJ Joro-Boro, who plays anything from balkan dancehall to favela turbo funk, will be at hand for your dancing pleasure, while breathtaking Brazilian dancer Rainy and the radiant colors of face painter Painteresse Elyzabeth will provide eye candy for the night.

 

 

NY Gypsy Festival presents
5th Anniversary Season Party #2

Friday, May 15  
10:30pm – 4am

Gypsy-meets-Brazil!! 
Slavic Soul Party - Balkan-Soul-Gypsy-Funk Big Band
Scott Kettner’s Forro Brass Band - Infectiously live music from Northeast Brazil
+ DJ Joro-Boro - Carioca Balkaniada Mashup Bomba
Brazilian Dance by Rainy
Face Painting by Painteresse Elyzabeth

 

at (Le) Poisson Rouge
158 Bleecker St, NYC 
$15 tickets at www.lprnyc.com

 

Video Highlights from Kick-Off Event on LinkTV April 20, 2009

Our thanks go our to our friends at Link TV, who produced this 6-min long video with footage culled from our opening night party.

 

View Video

Lucid Culture Blog Reviews Opening Night Extravaganza April 15, 2009

“This was kickoff night for the New York Gypsy Festival, 2009, taking last fall’s week of delirious fun at Drom to the next level … And it was a mobscene, but a comfortable one, a sold-out room full of unpretentious, multi-ethnic twentysomethings, a throwback to Saturday nights at Mehanata ten years ago with not a single $500 bedhead haircut or pair of Elton John-sized glasses anywhere in sight. These people just came from all over to party. Nobody was disappointed.”

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NYGF Kick-Off Party Pictures April 14, 2009

WOW – what an amazing night of music. Thanks to Selim Sesler, Romashka, Frank London, NY Gypsy All-Stars, DJs Wonderlust, Mephulia and 700+ fans for making our launch party such a massive success. We’ll be back in May for the second warm up party. Here are some pictures from the night at Le Poisson Rouge. More pix at the Facebook link below:

 

Photo (C) Cem Turer

Photo (C) Cem Turer

Photo (C) Cem Turer

Photo (C) Cem Turer

Photo (C) Lotta Zachrisson

 

Photo (C) Lotta Zachrisson

 

 

More Pictures (via Facebook)

“A ferocious bill … Be ready to get some exercise” April 9, 2009

 

The kick-off party for the festival has been written up online with more sites coming in daily. Here’s a bunch: 

 

Time Out NY 

WNYC 

All About Jazz

Brooklyn Vegan

5th Anniversary Season Kick-Off Party March 14, 2009

Enter the wild, underground world of the Gypsies on April 11, 2009 when an all-star cast of performers, DJs, dancers and colorful characters gather to launch the 5th anniversary season of the NY Gypsy Festival. The 6-hour marathon will feature live bands and DJs in a circus-like atmosphere with dancers, palm readers and visuals at Le Poisson Rouge.

 

Headlining the soiree is one of Turkey’s top clarinet players, Selim Sesler, who played two packed shows at Joe’s Pub two years ago. Described as “The Coltrane of the Clarinet” by The Guardian, Sesler will join the mighty NY Gypsy All-Stars for a must-see clash of the clarinets, and high energy Balkan funk & jazz.

 

Also appearing are the 9-piece dance combo Romashka playing brassy Balkan beats & heart-twisting Russian tangos and heavyweight trumpeter Frank London, who brings his infectious energy and klezmer-brass sounds to the kick-off party. In their NY debut, Finnish duo Wonderlust are taking the Gypsy sound into club world by mixing music from both the west and east side of the Volga River. DJ Pepe rounds off the night with music from the Bosporus straight up the Danube River, right over the Hudson. West Village venue Le Poisson Rouge will morph into an Eastern gypsy town with visuals & decor by Wonderlust, palm reading by Mephulia and gypsy dances by the beautiful Kristina Melike – a feast not just for the ears but also for the eyes.