JÚLIA KOZÁKOVÁ & MANUŠA (SLOVAKIA)
HOW TO BE ENCHANTED BY GYPSY SONG
A SLOVAK SINGER WITH A BAND OF TOP MUSICIANS PERORMS GYPSY SONGS
What’s the most sincere way to express your connection to the Gypsy people, even if you're a “gadžo“ (non-Gypsy)? You start singing their songs — and you don’t turn it into a spectacle.
In an interview for the Hate Free Culture website, when asked what Gypsy songs mean to her, she responded:
“They have immense emotional depth for me. That wide spectrum — from deep sorrow to wild joy — truly captivates me. For me, these two extremes are so far apart that they allow for a profound experience of both joy and sadness. That’s something I haven’t found elsewhere.”
For her outstanding album Manuša (People), she received the Radio_Head Award. The album made it into prestigious world music charts, earned her and her band an invitation to the Womex music trade fair, and was praised in Songlines magazine by Garth Cartwright — one of the leading experts on European Gypsy music.
Photo: Ondrej Irša
