BABRA

BABRA BREATHES NEW LIFE INTO THE MANIFOLD MUSICAL HERITAGE OF SOUTH SLAVS. The band was formed in Budapest, at the eastern intersection of Western and Eastern Europe, in the perennial melting pot of surviving traditional and novelty urban cultures. The five-piece are connected to the music of South Slavs settled along the banks of the Danube by shared enthusiasm and family ties, in pursuit of creating new musical forms with a unique sound and style—all the while conserving the authenticity and spirit of South Slavic music.

The band have found a home both in touring and in the South Slavic cultural communities surrounding Budapest, where they are a constant element of the dance house scene. The personality of the band is determined by the unity of the tamburitzas and the harmony of the clarinet and the accordion. This sound is crowned with the archaic, polyphonic singing style unique to the vanishing repertoire of Serbs and other Balkan ethnic groups of Middle-Europe struggling to preserve their language.

This musical culture, slumbering for the past century, revolves around the tamburitza, the instrument family capable of weaving the richest and most dynamic musical fabric—much like Hungarian string bands.