Moj dilbere
A Bosnian song from the sevdah tradition, in what I hope is a sardonic female voice. It can accompany the women’s dance, danced by both sexes in the U.S., called jeni jol. Some recordings include an additional vocal phrase now omitted by some performers, including us.
Read MoreLule te bukura ka Tirana
A beautiful song from Merita Halili, the superb Albanian singer living in New York. “Don’t despair, I’m still yours.” Our good friend Greta from Tirana loves dancing to this song when we play it live at Georgia’s, our favorite Greek restaurant in Seattle. We sing it in a lower key than Merita does.
Read MoreVoljela sam, voljela
A song in 7/8 meter about unrequited love. Written by Milic Vukasinovic, who went on to become the drummer for the famous Sarajevo rock band Bijelo Dugme, it sold a million copies in 1978 and made a star of Bosnian sevdalinka singer Hanka Paldum. We play it as a lesnoto dance tune.
Read MoreOsman Aga
Muharem Serbezovski sings about a guy who offers to buy Osman Aga’s daughter for a barrel of rakija. Osman Aga’s response is not recorded. We play this as a cocek with disco tendencies.
Read MoreMilo mou kokkino
A song from the Macedonia region of Greece, in which a husband wonders why his wife is not at home. We play it for the dance kalamatianos in 7/8.
Read MoreBjala roza
This popular modern Bulgarian song in 9/8, as sung by Slavka Kalcheva, can be a bit of a tongue-twister for those of us who don’t speak Bulgarian… and when does she breathe?
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