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Written in fRoots issue 262, 2005
 

IONICĂ MINUNE
Ionică Minune Si Dragostea Pentru Acordeon
Electrecord EDC 567 (2003)

The cover picture, of suit-clad Ionică Minune and his accordion beside the fireplace, wouldn’t normally entice further exploration, but seekers after great Balkan music have long learnt to spot the promising kind of tacky or dull artwork, particularly when it comes on the long-established, former state labels of the Balkans such as Romania’s Electrecord or Bulgaria’s Balkanton. And this album is one of the pearls, a classic of Romanian music.
      Minune is a great-master accordion player, astoundingly fast but precise and musicianly, and he leads an equally top-class big band of fiddles, clarinet, flute, cimbalom and bass in impeccable, elegant arrangements of largely traditional tunes. His clarinet-mellow tone and the hotness of the band evoke an image of a 1930s dance orchestra on speed.
      As often with Electrecord, there’s very little information in one-page CD leaflet, and that lack includes recording dates. Though the music is in the league of the greats of the past, from the blurb it appears that this is a new recording, not a reissue. The press release does tell us that the un-named cimbalom player is now with Taraf De Haïdouks, which suggests some time-lag between recording and release. An inquiry to the label via the UK distributor brought the response that it was recorded in 2003, but no further info as to personnel or recording details.
      A poke around the internet, though, reveals that Minune lives in Paris, is a member of the French band Les Yeux Noirs, has played with Giani Lincan’s Gypsy Ensemble, in September 2004 he played with the Radu O. Ion Ensemble at the Iagori International Gypsy Festival in Norway. Most of his performances outside Romania seem to have been in France and Québec; it’s time such a brilliant musician was better known outside the Francophone world and his native Romania.
      This CD should help. It’s distributed in the UK by International Records, and available mail order from PassiOn Music at www.passiondiscs.co.uk


© 2004 Andrew Cronshaw
 

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