Gipsy Dance

The late Macedonian singer Esma Redžepova was celebrated as the ‘Queen of the Gypsies’ and, across a remarkable career, helped popularise Balkan Gypsy music both in Yugoslavia – she was born in Skopje – and internationally. Esma (and her accordion-playing husband Stevo Teodosievski) ran an apprenticeship scheme where they trained Roma boys into professional musicians. One of the graduates of this is accordionist Simeon Atanasov (who grew up to lead Esma's band once Teodosievski died) while Eleonora Mustafovska, the only girl the couple ever trained, is Esma's chosen successor.

Gipsy Dance is a dynamic, focused album of Balkan music based around songs written by Atanasov. The music is very much in the tradition that Esma helped shape and Mustafovska sings with a lightness of touch that shows she is very much her own vocalist. All the songs here sound fresh but it's ‘Samo Tute’ (Only You) – with its mariachi trumpet and brooding melody slowly building around Mustafovska's throaty vocal prowess – that's most potent. Gipsy Dance is a very strong debut album and considerably fresher and more focused than any album Esma Redžepova cut in her final decade. Here is a band to watch out for.