Les Yeux Noirs is the name of a French band combining elements of jazz manouche and other

Romani music Romani music (often referred to as gypsy or gipsy music, which is sometimes considered a derogatory term) is the music of the Romani people who have their origins in northern India but today live mostly in Europe. Historically nomadic, though n ...

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

, and

Klezmer Klezmer ( yi, קלעזמער or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for l ...

music. The group was founded by two brothers, Eric and Olivier Slabiak, who both play violin. Other members of the band at its inception were: Franck Anastasio (double bass and electric bass), Georghe Ene (Accordion), Pascal Rondeau (guitar), and François Perchat (cello). Later, Aidje Tafial (drums) and Marian Miu (cymbalom) were added, and Georghe Ene was replaced on the accordion by Constantin Bitica. Their music style combines traditional melodies from their many inspirations (Klezmer, Romani music, and Gypsy Jazz) as well as more modern Jazz styles. Many of their albums contain everything from a Yiddish lullaby to a rousing, dance-inspiring fusion of klezmer violin with modern sampling and Arabic drums. Their name is taken from a 19th Century tune generally described (inaccurately) as a Russian Gypsy song, made popular by

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most ...

among many others.

Discography

* A band of Gypsies, 1992 (Buda/Mélodie). * Suites, 1994 (Buda/Mélodie). * Izvoara, 1997 (EMI/Odéon). * Balamouk, 2000 (EMI/Odéon). * Live, 2002 (EMI/Odéon). * tChorba, 2004 (Les Yeux Noirs/Recall). * tiganeasca 2010

External links

Les Yeux Noirs
French musical groups Gypsy jazz musicians Klezmer musicians {{France-band-stub