The Brooklyn-based trio Dolunay (Turkish for “full moon”) is pleased to announce the release of their debut album. Playing traditional Turkish and Rumeli songs and original instrumental compositions, Our House features songs of obscurity, rarely heard since the long-lost days of 78-rpm records. While Dolunay pays tribute to the cosmopolitanism of the Ottoman Balkans, the ensemble also captures the intimacy of the region’s timeless songs and melodies while adding its own flair through orchestration with different instruments, changing meters and translating lyrics. These are songs about people’s homes, their families and lovers, their villages, overcoming life’s familiar challenges—the everyday things that create a sense of identity against the backdrop of history and the sweep of the mountains.

Dolunay is: Jenny Luna – vocals/percussion, Adam Good – ud, and Eylem Basaldi – violin. The album features guest percussionists Polly Tapia Ferber and Jerry Kisslinger.

$15 or $8.50 digital at Bandcamp [http://dolunay.bandcamp.com]. Email for more information.

A Nest of Gold, by Yvonne Hunt. Thessaloniki: Kyklos, 2015.

Many of you know Yvonne Hunt as a dance teacher who has taught at the Mendocino Balkan Music & Dance Workshops over the years and who has written numerous articles and a wonderful book on dance and culture of Greece. Yvonne’s latest publication is a hard bound, nearly five-hundred-pages-long-book titled A Nest of Gold, the result of over thirty years of painstakingly thorough research of the dances and culture of the Serres Prefecture of Greece. It is accompanied by a CD and a DVD that include samples of dances and music she has recorded over the years. It is printed in both Greek and English and contains many color photos. In my years of following the trail of folk music and culture of Greece and Serres in particular, I have never encountered a more meticulously in-depth and detailed investigation on the subject, filled with many insights and fascinating connections. Beautifully bound and designed, this book will delight and inform the most demanding readers. It is my privilege and honor to recommend her work to our community.

For your own copy, contact Yvonne directly.

Bulgarian Harmony: In Village, Wedding, and Choral Music of the Last Century, by Kalin S. Kirilov. Surrey, England: Ashgate, 2015 (SOAS Musicology Series).

An in-depth study of the Bulgarian harmonic system is long overdue. More than two decades since the Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares choir was awarded a Grammy (1990), there is no scholarly study of the captivating sounds of Bulgarian vertical sonorities. Kalin Kirilov traces the gradual formation of a unique harmonic system that developed in three styles of Bulgarian music: village music from the 1930s to the 1990s, wedding music from the 1970s to 2000, and choral arrangements (obrabotki)—creations of the socialist period (1944-1989), popularized by Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares. Kirilov classifies the different approaches to harmony and situates them in their historical and cultural contexts, establishing new systems for analysis. In the process, he introduces a new system for the categorization of scales.

Kirilov argues that the ready-made concepts that are frequently forced onto Bulgarian music—“westernization,” “socialist” or “Middle Eastern influence,” are not only outdated but also too vague to be of use in understanding the sophisticated modal and harmonic systems found in Bulgarian music. As an insider who has performed, composed and arranged this music for 30 years, Kirilov is uniquely qualified to interpret it for an international audience.

$109.95 through Ashgate

This is a live release from Eugene, Oregon’s one and only klezmer band. It’s already been called Indo-Afro-Peruvian-klezmer fusion. Sometimes contemplative, other times a shout to get up and dance, The Klezmonauts’ music holds no allegiance to any single approach; instead, they freely toss their individual influences into the mix. Fretless electric bass and percussion hold together intricate melodies that weave dreamy scenes that conjure up life in the old shtetls of Europe with a modern fusion of world instrumentation.

Catchy original and traditional klezmer with world, jazz musical influences; clarinet, violin, mandolin, electric bass, cajon, doumbek, sitar and sarod. Members include Chip Cohen, Mike Curtis, Michael Rubinstein, Jeremy Wegner and Ken Sokolov.

Available at CDBaby.

New recordings and books by folks in the EEFC community. Names in bold type indicate EEFC Workshop campers, staff, teachers, and other EEFC supporters.

JANAM blends Balkan and American roots and original music, creating rapturous acoustic textures, whirling rhythms and stunning vocal harmonies. Janam features Juliana Graffagna, voice, accordion; Dan Auvil, percussion, kaval, voice; Tom Farris, laouto, guitar; Gari Hegedus, oud, saz, mandocello, violin; and Lila Sklar, violin, voice. http://www.janamband.com

“We recorded 1o of our favorites,” says Juliana Graffagna. “A mix of colorful original tunes by Gari and me, and beautiful songs from Crete, Romania and the Appalachians. Our friends and fab musicians Dan Cantrell, Eric Perney and Myles Boisen make stunning appearances on the album and the discs are beautifully designed by Dan Auvil.

Available at CDBaby.

Tipsy Oxcart plays electric, sweaty, bumpin’ Balkan music, channeling the spirit of 36-hour weddings to keep the crowds dancing until the sun comes up. Serving up originals and fresh, upbeat arrangements of urban dance tunes, the band deviously infuses the sounds of Southeastern Europe with elements of jazz, funk, and more. Dig naughty violin solos, atomic accordion grooves, freak-me-out clarinet, and the baddest rhythm section this side of the Mediterranean.

Connell Thompson (reeds), Maya Shanker (violin), Dani Danor (drums), Ayal Tsubery (bass), Jeremy S. Bloom (accordion). The album also features guest percussionist Nezih Antakli.

“Our story may be interesting to the community since we represent the next generation of Balkan music-makers here in the states (the band is mostly in our mid-twenties),” says accordionist Jeremy S. Bloom. “We see ourselves as doing something a bit different by approaching so-called ‘authenticity’ differently than many of the other bands out there. We try to appeal to both folk dancers and our peers who have zero exposure to this kind of music. For that we constantly immerse ourselves in Balkan musical tradition, but also have a willingness to remain true to our own musical identities. Sometimes it pisses people off, but we really take pride in this aspect of the group. We observe an environment filled with either bands trying very hard to ‘authentically’ reproduce Balkan styles, or on the other side, bands which market their music as Balkan/’Gypsy’ with no true understanding of the musical traditions they’re referring to. We like the place we’ve found outside of that spectrum.”

Check their website for updates.