If you were lucky enough to attend globalFEST 2012 this past Sunday, keep your dancing shoes on for another international festival in New York this weekend. Golden Festival 2012 is the annual Balkan festival that features some of the best brass bands around. This year it is scheduled for January 13th and 14th at Grand Prospect Hall in Brooklyn. Ever since it’s inception, the festival has been sponsored by the Zlatne Uste Balkan Brass Band, a collective of American-born musicians playing traditional music of the Balkans, primarily representing Serbian, Macedonian, Bulgarian and Romany (Gypsy) traditions. The festival itself will feature over 50 different bands from all over the world, as well as folk art and Balkan refreshments.
Zlatne Uste means “Golden Lips” and the 12 piece Balkan Brass Band have traveled from Brazil to Canada, playing for American and Balkan audiences from coast to coast. In 2010 the band made their 5th trip to the Dragačevo Brass Festival in Guča, Serbia, after which they studied with Romani musicians in South Serbia. The energy this band creates seems endless. The Golden Festival is the biggest Balkan party around and there will be a lot of worn out dancing shoes by the end of it. To get a taste of Zlatne Uste Balkan Brass Band’s powerful music, take a listen to “Cororo” recorded live in the studio at WFMU’s Transpacific Sound Paradise. Thanks to freemusicarchive.org, you can hear a lot of amazing music for free, including last year’s Golden Festival.
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