Mierlița - Stranger in Chișinău

Mierliţa (mir-LEE-tsa) plays rich, swingy, highly-ornamented Romanian music in the Lautari (Roma, or “Gypsy”) style. Intricate melodies and harmonies intertwine with an infectious jazz rhythm section to provide the core of this virtuosic quartet’s sound. Fiddlers Jon Cannon and Abigale Reisman, both students of Lautari master violinist Marin Bunea, bring a contemporary perspective to a full traditional repertoire alongside guitarist Sasha Kern and upright bassist Kirsten Lamb. Mierlita has given acclaimed performances all over New England including appearances at the New England Folk Festival and the Folk Arts Center of New England’s popular Balkan Music Night. Their debut full-length CD, “Stranger in Chisinau,” was released in March 2015.

Orkestar Kriminal - Tummel

Almost two years to the day after they launched a first EP, Montreal's Orkestar Kriminal  returned to the stage armed with their debut album, Tummel. The 8 piece band who forged themselves a reputation of being a "gang of tough punks" will release their new repertoire of criminal tunes from the 1920s and 30s on vinyl, due out January 21st, 2016.
"Tummel", the Yiddish word for "chaos", summarizes the racket the band can create. This latest effort was produced and engineered by Howard Bilerman and recorded live-to-tape at Montreal's famous analogue studio, Hotel2Tango. "What really makes it special is that we used recording techniques from the 1920s", explains Giselle Webber, head of the orkestar gang "we recorded it as a live set and controlled the sound by placing everybody at a specific distance from the microphone". Tummel is a collection of songs from Moldova, Morocco, Greece, Ukraine, Poland and Argentina. The limited edition vinyl will contain 10 songs, and the digital album, released this past March on the digital label Sainte Cécile, contains 3 bonus tracks from Russia and Mexico!
Orkestar Kriminal is comprised of improv performers who interpret inspired renditions of slum-based "world music". They sing gutsy and adventurous criminal songs that originate from a dangerous and forgotten era. The band formed in 2012, three days before the POP Montreal Music Festival, so that Giselle's former orchestra could scam free passes to the festival.