Bright Balkan Morning: Romani Lives and the Power of Music in Greek Macedonia (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Bright Balkan Morning: Romani Lives and the Power of Music in Greek Macedonia Mark Levy Bright Balkan Morning: Romani Lives and the Power of Music in Greek Macedonia. By Charles Keil ; photographs by Dick Blau ; text by Charles and Angeliki Keil ; soundscape compact disc by Steven Feld . Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2002. [ xxiv, 325 p. ISBN 0-8195-6488-5. $37.95.]. Illustrations, bibliography, index, compact disc. This book contains a wealth of information, insight, and vivid description concerning the lives of settled Roma (Gypsies) in the town of Iraklia (formerly Jumaya) in Greek Macedonia. The Romani mahala (neighborhood) of this town is known for its musicians, who specialize in zurna (a double-reed conical-bore shawm or oboe) and dauli (a large cylindrical, two-headed drum played with sticks). These musicians and their families and friends are presented, as individuals, in an extremely human and heartfelt way. The numerous large format black-and-white photographs by Dick Blau (over 150 of them), as well as the reproductions of historical and family photographs, are spectacular, and the translated interviews are riveting and heart-wrenching. The work suffers, however, from a lack of serious in-depth fieldwork and a virtual absence of discussion of the sound aspects of this music. In a similar vein, the accompanying compact disc contains "soundscapes" of ambient sounds connected with New Year's celebrations in this region, but unfortunately lacks high quality zurna and dauli recordings which could have been cross-referenced or keyed to corresponding passages in the text. This review will begin with a description of each chapter of the book, followed by an evaluation of the methodology, approach, and focus of the work. [End Page 142] In an informative forward to the book, Ian Hancock provides an overview of Romani history based primarily on linguistic evidence. Chapter 1, with the hyperbolic title "The Most Important Instruments in the World," describes the wide distribution of double reed and drum music throughout Asia, Europe, and North Africa. This discussion could have been more thorough if significant publications regarding the global distribution of double-reed instruments were mentioned (for example, Wanda Bryant's "The Keyless Double Reed Aerophone," Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society 16 [1990]: 132-77). Three contexts for zurna and dauli music are described in this chapter: baptism parties, weddings, and saints' days. Activities at these events accompanied by zurna and dauli include feasting, dancing, the ritual shaving of the groom, processions, and wrestling. This chapter also provides perspectives on economic aspects of these musicians' lives as professional instrumentalists, including the process of getting hired and dividing proceeds. Musicians describe in their own words the annual cycle of events at which they play; their values concerning the proper behavior of professional instrumentalists; and their views on relationships between Roma and non-Roma, and between musicians and dancers. Chapter 2, "Layered Identities and Improvised Traditions: Roma in the Byzantine-Ottoman-Greek Continuum," provides valuable historical perspectives on Roma in the Balkans, and on the multiple layers and mixes of ethnic groups, languages, and identities in this region. The authors characterize the musical repertoire of zurna-dauli ensembles as an eclectic mix which can serve all of these groups (local Greeks, Roma, Slavic-speaking Macedonians, Bulgarians, Vlachs, Greek speakers from Thrace, Pontic Greeks, etc.). Wedding rituals, especially when involving intermarriage between families of differing regional or language backgrounds, are described as flexible and adaptable, continually reinterpreted and adjusted in the moment. There are numerous references to the concept of kefi, a joyful or ecstatic state of emotional release and conviviality, induced by zurna-dauli music in various situations, generally in conjunction with dance or table music. The authors claim that a commonly shared Byzantine and Ottoman history has created cultural (including musical) commonalities throughout many regions of the Balkans. In their view, Romani zurna and dauli players have facilitated connections between different groups through their ability to cater to everyone's musical preferences. Chapter 3, "The Roma of Jumaya," provides historical, cultural, and economic perspectives on the market town of Jumaya/ Iraklia, focusing on the pervasive patron-client relationships between non-Roma and Roma. Roma occupy the lowest social and economic...