Gypsies are one of music's great cross-pollinators.
Since beginning their migration from the Indian subcontinent over a thousand years ago, the Romani people have adopted and helped spread the music of each country through which they passed. Defining "Gypsy music" is an anachronism because it's forever changing, forever adapting to its surroundings. All the same, there's something more than a little unexpected about the latest album by one of the genre's best-loved practitioners, Taraf de Haidouks.
"Maskarada," released in Japan last month, finds the 12-piece band ditching their wedding party settings typical of their earlier work and moving into the conservatory. Yes, the Haidouks have gone classical. Not just any old classical, mind you: over the album's 14 tracks, the band tackle works by composers who were themselves influenced by European folk and Gypsy music, including Bela Bartok, Aram Khachaturian and Manuel de Falla.