Goran Bregovic & His Wedding and Funeral Orchestra

I found myself sitting outside a concert hall on a breezy midsummer eve, waiting for a friend to share a free ticket with me. I was about to see Goran Bregovic & His Wedding and Funeral Orchestra*. They had made the long trip across the pond to party Eastern European style in the ATX and the crowd was fully prepared. There were gypsies, hipsters, debutantes, and professorial-types but they all had an element in common. Their clothes flowed in that free and casual way that left no question about it - they were ready to dance. And dance they did. The whole lot of them. Because that's what Bregovic's music begs you to do. The all-male choir is spot on, the female vocalists are haunting, the brass and string players are mood setting maestros, and the drummer/vocalist is dreamy. Bregovic expertly guides you through it all. You clap, you dance, you sing along if you understand the language. You are merry.

Thanks be to Kasia.

*Sadly there's no music site but the Wikipedia article is a fairly intersting read.