Balkan brass

Fanfara Transilvania

Balkan brass, popularly known by the Serbian name Truba (Serbian Cyrillic: Труба, "Trumpet"), is a distinctive style of music[1] originating in the Balkan region as a fusion between military music and folk music.[2] In recent years[when?], it has become popular in a techno-synth fusion throughout Europe, and in pop music in the Anglo-American sphere and throughout the world. Songs like Worth It by Fifth Harmony and Talk Dirty by Jason Derulo have brought the style to a new audience. In traditional form, it is popular throughout the Balkans, especially in Serbia, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Romania, although the turbo-folk variety attracts larger audiences. The energetic and fast beats encourage dance and are egalitarian, often resulting in participation by the entire audience; this unpretentious relationship with audiences, highly charged energy and loud and joyful performances by highly skilled musicians has contributed to its successes. Fans of bands inspired by Balkan bands, such as Gogol Bordello, often state that it is a type of music better experienced than listened to.

It is sometimes accompanied by a kolo, a traditional South Slavic communal dance where in its simplest forms, the two steps forward, one step backward choreography, is designed to encourage the participation of all.

Performers are called trubači (трубачи) in the Serbo-Croatian, or less commonly, trubari. Some of the best known examples of acclaimed music in this style are the Goran Bregović Band and the Boban Marković Orkestar. Roma have adopted this tradition and make up a large percentage of Balkan brass bands.

The Serbian film maker Emir Kusturica has, through his films (Black Cat, White Cat), made the style popular in the international community outside the Balkans.

The biggest brass band event in the world, the Guča Trumpet Festival, is a 5-day annual festival with 300,000 visitors, in Guča, Serbia.[3]

  1. ^ "Balkan Brass Bands Music", NationalGeographic.com, archived from the original on 22 September 2012, retrieved 27 September 2012
  2. ^ Mitchell, Laurence (2007). Serbia (2nd ed.). Bradt Travel Guides. ISBN 9781841622033. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  3. ^ History Archived 2011-07-02 at the Wayback Machine at Gucasabor.com