Balkan Fields

About Balkan Fields

Dean Brown tambura, guitar

Melinda Fields accordion

Mel Fitzhugh electric bass

Henry Goldberg tupan, darbuka, riq Melinda Hunt vocals

Ralph Iverson violin, gadulka, sax

* For Dancing and Listening

* Versatile & Multi-talented

* Bulgaria, former Yugoslavia,

Romania

Balkan Fields performs pan-Balkan music which is fresh, exciting and perhaps somewhat new to dance audiences. Along with well-loved standards, the group also includes arrangements and original compositions by group members, Bulgarian pop tunes, accordion/violin duos written by Ivan Milev, and some “off-the-beaten-track” Balkan tunes which work really well for dances many people who love Balkan dancing already know. Some were recovered from old ailing cassettes (remember those?), some were brought back from various workshops here in the US and abroad.

Individually, each member of the group became spell-bound at some point in their lives by the driving irregular rhythms, haunting melodies, unique instrument combinations and exotic scales found in the music from this region. This multi-cultural experience has been life-changing for each musician, resulting in frequent trips to the Balkans, the purchase and mastery of ethnic instruments, novel spice combinations in the kitchen, periodic stabs at Cyrillic, the discovery of rakiya (really strong plum brandy) and inclusion in the wonderful Balkan-American community that sustains Balkan music and dance addicts throughout the US. Sharing this passion with American audiences is always a joy.

CD or downloads available through CD Baby under the title Balkan Fields.