Described as “a journey through layers and roots in the pursuit of a revelatory vision“, classical guitarist Simon Thacker’s new disc, Songs of the Roma, (released this week on Slap the Moon Records) draws on his immersion in the rich musical legacy of the Balkan and Romanian Romany, their origins on the Indian subcontinent. The album features Simon Thacker on classical guitar and Justyna Jablonska on cello, alongside special guests from Poland and Hungary, Lublin based singer-violinist Masha Natanson, cimbalom virtuoso Gyula “Julius” Csik and double bassist Gyula Lázár, both from Budapest.
The album features new creative versions of songs that originated from Roma writers and also existed as folksongs before being transformed by the Roma (often best known in their Roma form). The album features eight tracks including two new pieces one of which, Phirado is the video featured above. Simon Thacker says of this, “I think that every album (of mine) should contain at least one track that opens a portal to another world for future exploration. Both Jolta and Phirado, especially, appear to offer this possibility.”
Phirado is a Romani word of many meanings: nomad, vagrant, wanderer, provocative, the past participle of phirel ‘walk’, and courted or wooed. Multiple meanings, many layers.
Further details from Simon Thacker’s website.
