Taraf de Haïdouks

Taraf de Haïdouks are a troupe of Romanian Roma musicians, from the town of Clejani, the most prominent such group in Romania in the post-Communist Era.

They are known in their native Romania as "Taraful Haiducilor". Roughly, this means "band of outlaws", but "taraf" is also the traditional name for a group of "lăutari" (traditional Romanian Gypsy musicians). "Haidut" or "haydut" is a word of Turkish origin which means "outlaw"; in Romanian it has a rustic or archaic connotation. Most of those who know the band in the Western world know them by way of French-speaking areas, where they are known as "Taraf de Haïdouks", since French lacks a genitive case.

The group formed in 1989, shortly before the death of dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu, but actually they discovered Romanian ethnomusicologist Speranta Radulescu, who first recorded them in 1983 for the archive of "The Institute for Ethnography and Folklore". The original group encompassed about a dozen musicians; later configurations were to include as many as thirty. Early contacts in the West included Swiss ethnomusicologist Laurent Aubert and Belgian musician Stéphane Karo.

Members

Some of the core members of the group:
*Nicolae Neacşu ("Culai"): violin and vocals; died December 2002
*Dumitru Baicu ("Cacurică"): cymbalum; died September 2007
*Ilie Iorga: vocals; actually from Mârşă near Clejani
*Ion Manole ("Şaică" or "Boşorogu"): violin, vocals
*Gheorghe Anghel ("Caliu"): violin
*Gheorghe Fălcaru ("Fluierici"): flute, double bass
*Ionica Tanase: cymbalum
*Constantin Sandu ("Dinu"): cymbalum, vocals
*Florea Pârvan: double bass
*Marin Sandu ("Ţagoe"): double bass
*Paul Guiclea ("Pasalan"): voice, violin
*Marin Manole ("Marius"): accordion
*Constantin Lautaru ("Costica Boieru"): violin, voice
*Viorel Vlad: double bass
*Robert Gheorghe: violin

Albums

Commercially released

*"Musiques de tsiganes de Roumanie" (1991)
*"Honourable Brigands, Magic Horses And Evil Eye" (1994)
*"Gypsy Music from Romania" (1994)
*"Dumbala Dumba" (1998)
*"Taraf de Haïdouks" (1999)
*"Band of Gypsies" (2001)
*"The Continuing Adventures Of Taraf de Haïdouks" (2006)
*"Maškaradǎ" (2007)

Non-commercially released

Before the Haïdouks organized themselves as a group, many of them were recorded on an ethnomusicological album:
* "Musique des Tsiganes de Valachie; les lăutari de Clejani" (1988) [OCORA 3149025011190]

The following albums were produced by Fundaţia Alexandru Tzigara-Samurcas in Bucharest, in association with Euroart, the cultural fund of the Department for European Integration of the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs of Romania.
*"The End of the Millenium ["sic"] in the Romanian Village" / "Fin de Millénaire dans le Village Roumain" / "Sfârşit de mileniu în satul Românesc", a collection of recordings 1989-1997, released 2000, liner notes in English, French, and Romanian. Only some of the musicians on these recordings are affiliated with the taraf, but several, even from other villages, have toured with them.
*"Outlaws of Yore" / "Les 'Haïdouks' d'Autrefois", two volumes (labeled "I" and "II"), recorded at the Museum of the Romanian Peasant, Bucharest, March 1991, released 2001, liner notes in English and French.

Books

'Hopa, tropa, Europa' ("Hop and trot around Europe") by Speranţa Rădulescu, (Museum of the Romanian Peasant, 1992) describes the group's first European tour.

Film

Two performances of the group were in the 1993 French film "Latcho Drom" by Tony Gatlif. In 2001 the Taraf appeared in Sally Potter's film "The Man Who Cried" alongside friend and fan Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Cate Blanchett, and John Turturro. They were one of the five Gypsy bands to be featured in the movie "Gypsy Caravan" (2007).

References

Liner notes of "Outlaws of Yore"

External links

* [http://lautari.ro/taraful-haiducilor/ Blog entry about Taraful Haiducilor] on a Romanian-language blog about "lăutari". Includes a photo of members of the group.
* [http://www.divanoprod.com/ Divano Productions] for tour dates, photos etc.
* [http://www.crammed.be/taraf/index.htm Crammed] record label
* [http://www.musictowers.com/news/features/live-taraf-de-haidouks/ Review of the Barbican show 2007]