From the wilds of Romania, the frenetic band of musicians that is Taraf de Haïdouks play the instruments of their fathers and grandfathers: violins, accordians, double basses, and the cimbalom, a large hammered dulcimer.
Discovered by two Belgian world music fanatics in 1989, members of the group performed in the streets of their rural home town of Cjelani, 25 miles outside of Bucharest, preserving a centuries-old musical tradition.
After the dictatorship fell in the summer of 1990, the Belgians returned to Clijeni to bring 11 villagers back to Brussels to record a CD and begin rehearsing for what would become a hugely popular tour of music festivals across Europe. Freedom and success had come to Taraf de Haïdouks.
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