Taraf de Caliu

About

"The music comes from here (pointing to his heart) and people feel what I'm giving them. That's why the tears stream down their faces, that's why they laugh, that's why they dance." - Caliu. Thirty years after the founding of Taraf de Haidouks, Anghel "Caliu" Gheorghe, the leader of the band from Clejani, brought together some of his former bandmates and created Taraf de Caliu, the last generation of authentic lautari (traditional Romani fiddler-musicians). Caliu, a professional violinist, proves that at 62 he is still full of energy, and in truth his wish is to be heard by Romanians the way he has been heard by the whole world, having performed with his band across Europe, Mexico, New Zealand, Taipei and 28 states of the USA. Ask about Taraf de Haidouks on any street in Paris and everyone knows them. The Japanese, too, have been fascinated by the unique sound rising from the depths of Clejani. They won a BBC World Music award for best group from Europe and the Middle East, played private parties for Johnny Depp - alongside whom they also appeared in the film The Man Who Cried - and walked the runway at a show by designer Yohji Yamamoto. "Foreigners listen to us, because in Romania we are less well known. But abroad, on the world's stages, we have proven that we are masters," says Anghel "Caliu" Gheorghe, without false modesty. Caliu and his musicians have played in the most unlikely places: on the roof of the People's House (the Palace of the Parliament), on the stage of the Prague Philharmonic, at jazz festivals, in hipster clubs - and everywhere they are a genuine success. It is music that wins over every kind of audience, intellectuals in particular.

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