When the Mahala Raï Banda, an energized and raucous Gypsy folk dance band, plays the Bailey Performance Center in Kennesaw, it will be a pointed reminder that in the confluence of ethnic and political tension, some things never change.
Decades after the historically embattled Roma community -- the Gypsies -- were almost annihilated in the World War II death camps, suffering losses second only to the Jews, mainstream politicians in Eastern Europe continued to refer to them as “weeds” or “vermin.” More recently, the French government decided to relocate or deport members of the Roma -- sparking protest across Europe.
Yet in music the Roma have so profoundly influenced Eastern European national styles that today there’s little distinction between Gypsy and Hungarian or Romanian folk music. In works by classical composers from Haydn in the 18th century to Bartók in the 20th, the Gypsy sound has been used as a potent musical spice, even if it was labeled something different.
Kennesaw State University professor Karen Robinson, a theater director, said the Bucharest-based Mahala Raï Banda and its music “holds particular sociological significance as part of the music of the oppressed. The music represents the Gypsy people, who are one of Europe's most discriminated minorities."
Indeed, the band weaves together many sounds absorbed by the traditionally nomadic Roma, a heady brew that includes almost everything that rings the Mediterranean and beyond.
Raï is a delicious folk-pop style from Arabic North Africa, itself drawn from French, Spanish and Middle Eastern music, and with reggae roots. There's also Spanish flamenco, the hot jazz of Django Reinhardt and Balkan (or Gypsy) national styles, all set to a steady dance beat.
The band includes violins, vocals, the accordion and a horn section to rival a Dixieland jazz band. And songs like “Lest Sexy” or “Tabulhaneaua,” from the band’s 2005 self-titled debut album, are equally at home with the Jewish Klezmer tradition.
The online iTunes service categorizes the album simply as world music. The band’s widest exposure has been the single “Mahalageasca,” which, for better and worse, was on the soundtrack of the satiric “Borat,” a film that managed to offend just about everyone.
At KSU, the Mahala Raï Banda will perform as well as speak to music and art students. The events are in collaboration with the New York Gypsy Festival, which is supported by the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York.
It’s the first KSU event in what’s billed as the Year of Romania, including various lectures, performances and films -- and in which the Romanian government has included its long-demonized Roma people as a cultural asset.
Pierre Ruhe is classical music critic of www.ArtsCriticATL.com
Concert preview
Mahala Raï Banda. 8 p.m. Sept 20. $10. Kennesaw State University's Bailey Performance Center, 1000 Chastain Road, Kennesaw. 770-423-6650, http://baileycenter.kennesaw.edu .
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