Gypsy Show Offers a Lesson in Universality

If there is a universal musical language reaching from India across the Middle East and into Europe, it is best represented in the Gypsy culture--or, in the preferred description, the Roma people. It owes its universality to a capacity to embrace and encompass the elements of other cultures without losing its own essential creative identity.

The Gypsy Caravan show at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday was a case in point.

Headliner Esma Redzepova, a veteran Macedonian singer, is probably the best-known Gypsy artist in the world, and her diva-like performance clearly explained her popularity. Although roots elements lurked beneath the surface, Redzepova’s primary skill was her capacity to transform the music into sheer, contemporary-style pop theatricality.

Maharaja, an ensemble formerly known as Musafir, is from the primal Gypsy territory of Rajasthan in northwest India. Linked musically to the ragas of India as well as the qawwali of Pakistan, Maharaja--in characteristic Roma fashion--adapted those elements into a cultural melange in which whirling dancers and textured vocals provided stunning high points.

The appearance of the 10-piece Romanian band Fanfare Ciocarlia promised much from an ensemble famous for high-energy playing. But despite a spirited presentation, the poor sound mix distorted the quality of the music--especially in its failure to support the remarkable alto saxophone playing of Oprica Costel Ivancea.

The final slant on Gypsy music came from its familiar association--flamenco. But Spain’s Antonio El Pipa Flamenco Ensemble was mediocre, hardly up to the level of some of the Southland’s own superb flamenco companies.