"rats & gentle people" - STriCat

• artist:
  STriCat
• release year:
  2007
• style(s):
  • Balkan
  • Jazz
• country:
  Netherlands
• formats:
  • CD (Compact Disc)
• record submitted by:
  Stichting Kulsan
• label:
  Karnatic Lab Records
• 
  buy this record

What is there to discover in eastern European crossover music these days? Well take STriCat - a trio of cymbalom, accordion and trumpet. From a thorough grounding in Romanian and Bulgarian traditions, these gentle-men follow a liberal path and like to push musical borders to the limit. Their experiences with jazz, rock, contemporary and improvised music are also woven into their own compositions. Above all, their hunger for harmonic and rhythmic challenges never lets the listener forget that groove is irreplaceable.

"This trio of cymbalom player Bokkie Vink with AKB (Amsterdam Klezmer Band) veterans Gijs Levelt and Theo van Tol on trumpet and accordion took Romanian Gypsy music under their loving wings, with a few excursions to Bulgaria. While showing a definite respect for tradition, these men cannot be accused of piety.
Smooth Balkan swing is smilingly complemented with sharp hard bop interventions on trumpet or staccato riffs borrowed from James Brown. The performance was precise and contagious; especially impressive were the breathtaking precision salvos from Van Tol's accordion."

Ton Maas, de Volkskrant, 23-4-2007

Links

• www.stricat.com
• www.myspace.com/stricat
• STriCat@iTunes
• Karnatic Lab Records