Fiery Balkan brass, irresistible beats, Roma (Gypsy) accordion wizardry, and virtuoso jazz chops make Slavic Soul Party! America’s #1 brass band for Balkan-Soul-Gypsy-Funk. These nine musicians pump the sounds of life through a Balkan brass filter, reimagining the tradition while making new music out of immigration, integration, and ingenuity. Whether live, on television or radio worldwide, this dynamic brass/percussion ensemble is recognized for superior virtuosity blended with a huge helping of spontaneous fun.
Slavic Soul Party! has re-imagined Duke Ellington’s iconic Far East Suite as an Eastern European brass band discovering a uniquely American sound, reversing the “exotic tinge” and reveling in this subtle, funky, and brilliant music. Ellington’s suite (created with Billy Strayhorn) was inspired by a 1963 State Department tour to the Middle East, South Asia, and the Balkans cut short by the Kennedy assassination – they never made it to the “Far East” – and serves as a perfect foil for Slavic Soul Party’s blend of East European, Romani, and American sounds.