Hortto Kaalo is a Finnish gypsy music band performing in both

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

and

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

. They specialize in Eastern European and French gypsy music. The band's name in Romani means 'real Roma'. The group was formed in 1969 by Feija Åkerlund, Marko Putkonen, Taisto Lundberg, and Heikki Nyman, although Nyman left the group shortly afterwards. Hortto Kaalo has often performed together with the Finnish Romani singer . Hortto Kaalo's debut single, the protest song ''Miksi ovet ei aukene meille?'' ( 'Why doors won't open for us'), came out in 1970, and has been credited for contributing to the illegalization of racial discrimination in Finland. In total, the group released six LPs and four compilations. Their first two albums, ''Hortto Kaalo'' and ''Hai Hortto Kaalot'' (both , 1974) were certified gold. The group popularized Gypsy music among mainstream audiences in Finland. Hortto Kaalo was at the peak of their popularity throughout the 1970s. In 1977, the group's song ''Kauan sitten'' finished in the second place in the selection contest for the Finnish Eurovision Song Contest entry, losing out to

Monica Aspelund Monica Aspelund (born 16 July 1946 in Vaasa) is a Finnish singer. She is the older sister of Ami Aspelund. Life and career Born into a family of Swedish speaking Finns, Aspelund danced and sang in talent shows from an early age, making her reco ...

's ''Lapponia''.

References

{{Portal, Finland Romani musical groups Finnish musical groups Musical groups established in 1969 Romani in Finland