Rolling Back

Hungarian Gypsy band Parno Graszt hail from the village of Paszab in the north-east of the country. Led by tambura player József Oláh, their speciality is Vlach (or Oláh) Gypsy music, sung with soulful male and female vocals in Romani and Hungarian accompanied by guitars, violin, metal water jug and vocal percussion. They released their first album in 2002, followed by at least three more, but have kept a low profile in recent years.

Their range is slightly broadened on this new album as they follow in the footsteps of Csík Zenekar and do a cover of ‘Sehol Sem Talállak’, a song by Hungarian indie band Quimby. They add some Hungarian folk pieces, but all are given a Parno Graszt makeover. Antal Szilágyi's violin on ‘Pálá o Shávo’ is excellent. They also throw in versions of the Gypsy anthem ‘Gelem, Gelem’, which runs into the Time of the Gypsies favourite ‘Ederlezi’. But they're at their best in the pure Gypsy material like ‘Párnyi Lulugyi’ (White Flower) with its nifty tambura and percussion. It's good to see them back.