Taraful Haiducilor
Taraful Haiducilor (a.k.a. Taraf de Haďdouks) are a troupe of Romanian Gypsy musicians, from the town of Clejani, the most prominent such group in Romania in the post-Communist Era.
They are known in their native Romania as "Taraful Haiducilor". Roughly, this means "gang of thieves", but "taraf" is also the traditional name for a group of lăutari (traditional Romanian Gypsy musicians). "Haiduc" or "haďdouk" is a word of Turkish origin which means "bandit"; in Romanian it has a rustic or archaic connotation. Most of those who know the band in the Western world know them by way of French-speaking areas, where they are known as "Taraf de Haidouks", since French lacks a genitive case.
The group formed in 1989, shortly before the death of dictator Nicolae Ceauseşcu. The original group encompassed about a dozen musicians; later configurations were to include as many as thirty. Early contacts in the West included Swiss ethnomusicologist Laurent Aubert and Belgian musician Stéphane Karo.
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Members
Some of the core members of the group:
- Nicolae Neacşu ("Culai"), violin and vocals, died December 2002
- Dumitru Baicu ("Cacurică"), cymbalum
- Ilie Iorga, vocals, actually from Mârşă near Clejani
- Ion Manole ("Şaică" or "Boşorogu"), violin, vocals
- Gheorghe Anghel ("Caliu"), violin
- Gheorghe Fălcaru ("Fluierici") flute, double bass
Other members and collaborators
- Constantin Sandu ("Dinu"): cymbalum, vocals
- Florea Pârvan: double bass
- Marin Sandu:("Ţagoe"): double bass
Albums
Commercially released
- "Musiques de tsiganes de Roumanie" (1991)
- "Honourable Brigands, Magic Horses And Evil Eye" (1994)
- "Gypsy Music from Romania" (1994)
- "Dumbala Dumba" (1998)
- "Band of Gypsies" (2001)
Non-commercially released
Before the Haidouks organized themselves as a group, many of them were recorded on an ethnomusicological album:
- "Musique des Tsiganes de Valachie; les lăutari de Clejani" (1988)
The following albums were produced by Fundaţia Alexandru Tzigara-Samurcas in Bucharest, in association with Euroart, the cultural fund of the Department for European Integration of the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs of Romania.
- "The End of the Millenium [sic] in the Romanian Village" / "Fin de Millénaire dans le Village Roumain" / "Sfârşit de mileniu în satul Românesc", a collection of recordings 1989-1997, released 2000, liner notes in English, French, and Romanian. Only some of the musicians on these recordings are affiliated with the taraf, but several, even from other villages, have toured with them.
- "Outlaws of Yore" / "Les 'Haïdouks' d'Autrefois", two volumes (labeled "I" and "II"), recorded at the Museum of the Romanian Peasant, Bucharest, March 1991, released 2001, liner notes in English and French.
Books
Hopa, tropa, Europa (Hop and trot around Europe) by Speranţa Rădulescu, (Museum of the Romanian Peasant, 1992) describes the group's first European tour.
References
Liner notes of "Outlaws of Yore"