Month: June 2023

Maine’s Only Serbian Brass Band plays – Kolo music. Of Course they Do!

And not just Kolo music. “The Kolo” is the national dance step of Serbia and Croatia, part of the cultural heritage of the world. We have expanded the list of Kolo tunes in the pad. We will soon be revisiting other main sub-genres of dance tunes, specifically the Rom music also from Serbia and the Balkans. But – let’s get started. Don’t confuse the Serbian Kolo with the current trend of Afro-hiphop now trending on TikTok – they are not the same.

The tune is “Uzicko Kolo.” It’s lots of fun. Somewhere along the way you need to learn how to do the step, but even if you only do the “basic step” it is enjoyable.

What is a Kolo?

Below is a tutorial. All you need to know in order to join the dancing, is “the basic step.”

A tutorial on the Kolo step

For each of the tunes on this list we have a lead sheet in C. These tunes were originally played on tambura, so they are characterized by fast passages of notes . Not easy for Bb instruments to sight-transpose, so we have developed more pre-transposed Bb lead sheets. These are mostly in 2/4 time with a few in 3/4. We will continue to go over these each week.

What is a Tambura?

The tambura is a stringed instrument which is plucked or strummed. There is a family of these. Here is a one-hour performance of a Tamburitsa orchestra from Croatia featuring Zvonko Bogdan.

YouTube Playlist of tunes for Huddled Masses Orchestra

YouTube has now been around for twenty years. These days when bandmates are learning new tunes, one of the first steps is to create a playlist so people can hear what it is supposed to sound like. We have lots of playlists. Most of the kolo tunes we perform? They are on the kolo playlist!  https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSXynKNP9Lj8i3CSPMQSiMvLvUCkxhB4p

An abundance of Kolo music

There are hundreds of these tunes. The distinguishing feature is the rhythm and the beat. We play about a dozen. Here is the Huddled Masses Orchestra tune list with the Kolo tunes we presently play: 

Biserka-Bojarka

Ersko Kolo

Raca

Sano Duso (“Vranjanka”)

Savila Se Bela Loza 

Setnja

Srbijanka 

U Sest  (“Aalto Kolo”)

We just recently added Makazice (pronounced mak-a ZEET-ceh)  https://youtu.be/dSecsQPbmGE and Uzicko Kolo ( pronounced oo-ZICH-ko) https://youtu.be/p2kSiS0QrCo . After this we will focus on refining the kolos. we do have a few to add but we are over the hump. 

The un-Kolo

We also do some that are *not* kolo tunes. These provide a “change-up” and add variety that keeps people fresh. See below

Ramo Ramo  the dance step most commonly done to the tune is this one: https://youtu.be/2VL3H_7kegU

Rumelaj

Syrtos Rodou (7/8)

Zalna Majka (7/8, a “lesnoto”)

The above in and of themselves, if played at dance length, constitute enough to fill  more than an hour.

9/8

We will soon be back into the odd rhythms (7/8 and esp 9/8). So if you haven’t listened to the 9/8 playlist lately, now is a good time: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSXynKNP9Lj9vyEDv2SjvdyZXw3EoeVFr there are 28 tunes on it, play them while you drive and tap them out on the steering wheel. 

For now, the two specific tunes we play in 9/8 are: 

Niska Banja  (How can you do a Serbian dance program and not include this one?)_https://youtu.be/HtnMe5dMTGA or https://youtu.be/XXYpBMla4DE

and Devetorka: https://youtu.be/QJkyAQgSAaE

Cocek

We will also soon be tackling the Rom literature. These are mostly coceks ( 3+3+2). For the band to “get” this we need to go over the basic step https://youtu.be/2VL3H_7kegU The dissect the music to hear what it is that makes a cocek a cocek. (pronounced “Cho -CHECK). First,  https://youtu.be/uJaLjv_sOjo has no words but is a swinging example of what a layered cocek would feel like. here is another: https://youtu.be/WXeBVvOkD3M  

Upcoming. 

for this list I don’t have all the Bb pages lined up, I am working on them. These are mostly odds and ends that will go somewhere in the program. 

Cestorka (including “Oi Lele Stare Planina” a short a capella intro) https://youtu.be/VfvMKV1BTE

Majko Majko – a lesnoto, the tune was a pop megahit back in 1986. this will be Jay’s solo piece. 

Pjevaj Mi Pjevaj  ( a.k.a. Licko Kolo) – melody and one harmony line only. https://youtu.be/2k7JrauJGJo

Serbian Racenica a variant on 7/8 time. 

Serbian National Anthem

9/8 tunes

instructional on 9/8: https://youtu.be/oGN4juGQ-0A 

Devetorka

Niska Banja

That’s it for now. Our rehearsal strategy has been for just a core group to meet weekly until they “get it,” then to add the remote musicians and switch to weekend rehearsals in a central location so as to get the whole band up to speed. 

How the Huddled Masses Orchestra Got it’s Name.

In about 1993, I wanted to form a band to play the music that immigrants would have brought with them from the Old Country. The band needed a name.

Not just any name.

I reflected on my grandparents, three out of four had come to America from Poland via steamship to New York City around 1912 or so.

And here is an analysis of that poem.

The Alternate name for the Statue of Liberty?

“Mother of Exiles.”

and so, it was a natural.

The logo of the band

This was created by a professional graphic artist, Jay Hanes who now hails from Knox, Maine. I love it, it made me laugh out loud when I saw it the first time.