Journeys with Romani-Gypsy Musicians, by Garth Cartwright

Originally published in 2005, with a new edition published April this year, Princes Amongst Men documents the lives of Romani musicians in the Balkans.

The new book includes freshly written chapters, bringing the book up to date with further visits to the region and its changing cultural and geographical landscapes. There is also a foreword by Michael Dregni, known for his writing on Django Reinhardt.

I purchased the original back in 2009 when I started Best Foot Music, collaborating with musicians who had moved to Britain from around the World. That copy ended up being a gift to one of the musicians involved, who gave it top marks. A second copy, signed by the author at a gig he’d organised in Brixton was promptly sent to a Roma friend in Serbia, where they’d been unable to find a copy. Everyone who read it thoroughly enjoyed it.

20 years since first publication, original print copies are near impossible to track down, so I was excited to hear about the new edition from Oldcastle Books.

For a music that has had a significant influence on popular culture; think Balkan Beats, Electro Swing and the orientalist ‘gypsy disco’ cabarets on the festival circuit (viewed by many Roma as ‘brown face’ minstrels) the significance of the region and its creative Roma communities is under recognised or poorly represented. There is little comment from western beneficiaries to acknowledge the cultures they borrow from, the marginalisation many Roma face or the orientalist lens they are viewed through.

In some Eastern European countries Roma communities still live in forcibly segregated districts, with poor access to public services. There are cases of forced sterilisation of Roma women in even the 21st Century. Systemic structural racism is still a serious issue for Europe’s largest minority ethnic group.

All of this of course impacts Roma authors writing about their own lives and the musicians in their communities. There are many Roma academics, activists and documentists, and Princes Amongst Men recognises this with an excellent bibliography/resource section including books, academic/human rights reports, magazines, internet sites and filmography. Many are authored by Roma people or place them at the forefront. There is of course also a discography and music playlist to accompany the book. I’d strongly recommend spending time exploring this part of the book after reading the main chapters.

Garth is an author using his relative position in the existing system to raise wider awareness of voices and narratives often underrepresented by those with a bigger platform.

The writing that makes his books so engaging, is his ability to bring the reader to the space, people and music he writes about. Full of details and context, sitting somewhere between travel and music documentary, with elements of cultural activism.

His 2018 ‘Going for a Song: A Chronicle of the UK Record Shop’ is a brilliant, fast paced blend of well researched documentation interweaved with anecdotal storytelling and interviews, showcasing the eco systems around record shops.

The book narrates the less well covered story of migration and its key role in the history of the music industry. Beyond the visible (although still sometimes poorly acknowledged) significant creative musical influences, we learn individual stories of the people who came here, and their children. The West African grocery stores, the East European Jewish hardware shops, people that through recognising a need, passion and business acumen led to early record labels, recording studios, music management companies and of course record shops. This is where Garth excels, he builds the bigger picture and fills it with intricate details and discussion, all making a gripping read.

Princes Amongst Men, does all of this very well.

There’s just over 80 pages in the new chapter and afterword, plus the aforementioned 20 odd page resource section. Considering the original weighed in at around 260 pages, this feels like a valuable addition, bringing the original up to date. Even for those familiar with the first version (still well worth a re-read for those who bought it the first time around) packed with meaningful observations and conversations with the royalty of Roma musicians, including the likes of Esma Redzepova and Saban Bajramovic, plus a whole lot more, some less well known, but all worth reading. What makes the book so special is the space for the musicians to tell their own stories and to talk about the world around them, interwoven with Garth’s telling of his own journey around the region and its social, political complexities, the related record labels, gig promoters and music ecosystem. The book is rich in detail and storytelling, a treat for anyone with an interest in the southern easterly parts of Europe.

The new chapter is set initially in Romanian villages around Baia Mare, then heads to Bulgaria for conversation with singer Sofi Marinova and clarinetist Ivo Papazov, who talks about life under the Bulgarian regime in the 1980s, which forced those with Turkish names to Slavicise them and banned ‘non Bulgarian’ music, leading to his incarceration for simply playing his music. We also head to Shutka, Skopje for conversations with young Roma rappers, who are oblivious to the big US stars. It’s a brief but important reminder in a world increasingly dominated by US corporate culture, that for many the US is not the centre.

The new material introduces a substantial handful of contemporary Roma musicians and genres from across the region. It references the many subgenres and music forms evolving at pace, taking in and reacting to the changing world. Musicians offer their perspective on where and how the music may develop. Brass wedding bands mix with contemporary rap, human rights activists, pop and soul, then back to clarinets taking their influences from ancient Ottoman times; the book’s meticulous research brings it all together, concluding with the authors reflections and curiosity, the book serves as an serving as an invitation for the curious reader to go and seek out more.….go buy it and keep whatever your music platform of choice is at hand.

Princes Amongst Men is available from Oldcastle Books, here

Read more of Garth’s work on his YAKETY YAK Substack

There is a related music playlist here

For a more ethical option than spotify, the original digital and CD compilation that accompanied the first edition is available from Asphalt Tango on Bandcamp here