Romani Routes

Over the past two decades a steady stream of recordings videos feature films festivals and concerts has presented the music of Balkan Gypsies or Roma to Western audiences who have greeted them with exceptional enthusiasm. Yet as author Carol Silverman notes Roma are revered as musicians and reviled as people. In this book Silverman introduces readers to the people and cultures who produce this music offering a sensitive and incisive analysis of how Romani musicians address the challenges of discrimination. Focusing on southeastern Europe then moving to the diaspora her book examines the music within Romani communities the lives and careers of outstanding musicians and the marketing of music in the electronic media and world music concert circuit. Silverman touches on the way that the Roma exemplify many qualities-- adaptability cultural hybridity transnationalism--that are taken to characterize late modern experience. Rather than just celebrating these qualities she presents the musicians as complicated pragmatic individuals who work creatively within the many constraints that inform their lives. As both a performer and presenter on the world music circuit Silverman has worked extensively with Romani communities for more than two decades both in their home countries and in the diaspora. At a time when the political and economic plight of European Roma and the popularity of their music are objects of international attention Silverman''s book is incredibly timely.