Fanfara Ciocărlia, a living legend of Balkan brass bands, returns to Timișoara, at Casa Tineretului (The Youth House), for a grand concert! “We wouldn't be surprised at all if a UFO landed on stage during the concert.” Timișoara, how are you feeling?
The Timiș County Youth Foundation invites the people of Timișoara to Fanfara Ciocărlia's concert on September 10th, at 7:00 PM at Casa Tineretului Timișoara, within the Time to Rock 2023 project, guaranteeing a show like you've never seen on this planet or any other.
Easily considered the world's most important brass band, Fanfara Ciocărlia's concerts are undoubtedly an otherworldly experience. They make a ruckus, clang brass, a simple beat makes your feet dance in the liveliest way possible.
Fanfara Ciocărlia, a living legend of Balkan brass bands, made up of 12 Romani musicians from the village of Zece Prăjini in northeastern Romania, celebrated 25 years of activity in 2021, then embarked on an extensive tour to promote the album "It Wasn't Hard to Love You."
Since its discovery in 1996, the audience has consistently grown: punks, headbangers, classical and jazz music lovers, world music fans – everyone loves their music, because Fanfara Ciocărlia manages to unite them all. So we wouldn't be surprised at all if a UFO landed on stage during the concert at Casa Tineretului! Anyway, the sky is the limit!
The story of Fanfara Ciocărlia began over 25 years ago, on a seemingly endless, twisted, and bumpy road that winds through hills that don't want to be called mountains – somewhere in northwestern Romania, near the border with Moldova. You see the last houses, seemingly thrown randomly into a Chagall painting, standing in mud, cracked and boldly colored, their wide-open windows gaping at passersby. Somewhere, the traveler suddenly turns left and, after crossing another cobblestone road, finally arrives at the origin of the most recent and incredible phenomenon in brass music: Zece Prăjini, where it all began for Fanfara Ciocărlia.
Here, in 1997, 12 musicians set out to conquer the world with deep tuba and tenor horn sounds, mixed with notes from trumpets and saxophones, all to convey Eastern European brass music to the whole world. The seriousness of their mission was confirmed with the launch of their first album in 1998, with a word from the senior trumpeter, Radulescu: “Just wait and see – at some point, we'll end up playing on Mars!” And from that moment, the band has traveled millions of kilometers, on countless tours, trying to reach the Red Planet.
A quarter-century later, after releasing 9 albums and countless performances, there is nothing left to rewrite about their music. Fanfara Ciocărlia's unreal talent for making Balkan brass reach notes of jazz, pop, and rock, all performed with insane precision and unrestrained tempos, has earned them a permanent place in the music scene, from punk to classical.
The album "It Wasn't Hard to Love You" (released in 2021), a musical ode to Fanfara Ciocărlia's listeners worldwide – represents the latest chapter in the story of the great band from a small village, a band that wants to bring smiles back to people's faces, a band that longs for a future full of thrilling concerts extending into late nights.
Over the years, Fanfara Ciocărlia's music has been heard on the soundtracks of films such as "Borat – Subsequent Moviefilm" (USA, 2020, d. Jason Woliner), "Hotel Beograd" (Russia, 2020, d. Konstantin Statskiy), "Becoming Bond" (USA, 2017, d. Josh Greenbaum), "Borat – Cultural Learnings of America" (USA, 2006, d. Larry Charles), and "Head On" (Germany, 2004, d. Fatih Akin), and the band has appeared in documentaries like "The New Gypsy Kings" (UK, 2016, d. Liviu Tipuriță), "Gypsy Caravan" (USA, 2007, d. Jasmin Dellal), and "Iag Bari – Brass On Fire" (Germany, 2003, d. Ralf Marschaleck).
They have collaborated with artists such as Eugene Hütz – Gogol Bordello (USA), Adrian Raso (Canada), Socalled (Canada), Basement Jaxx (UK), Transglobal Underground (UK), Erran Baron Cohen (UK), Boban & Marko Markovic (Serbia), Esma Redzepova (Macedonia), Dzambo Agusevi Orchestra (Macedonia), Dunkelbunt (Austria), and have received numerous awards: Top of the World Music Charts Europe for the albums “Baro Biao” (1999), “Iag Bari” (2001), “Gili Garabdi” (2005), “Queens and Kings” (2007), “Balkan Brass Battle” (2011), “Devil’s Tale” (2014), and “It Wasn’t Hard To Love You” (2021), Best World Music Album for “Iag Bari” as well as the BBC Radio 3 award for Best World Music Act from Europe.
After the concert in Timișoara, the tour continues in Romania with 4 more concerts: Bucharest (November 8, Arenele Romane), Cluj-Napoca (November 10, Zazen. Street Food Garden), Brașov (November 11, Kruhnen Musik Halle), and Iași (November 12, Sala Unirii).
Event Partners: RADIO GUERRILLA, TVR Timișoara, BUBU Bookinghouse & Events
Time to Rock Partners: EMBARGO Cultural Association and PLAI Cultural Center.
Media Partners: Pressalert, Zile și Nopți
The Fanfare Ciocărlia concert is part of the Time to Rock concert series, a component of the Time to Rock 2023 project.