Cleveland Museum of Art

On April 13 the New York Gypsy All-Stars, hailed by WNYC for their “infectious and hypnotic music,” will take the Gartner Auditorium stage as part of the museum’s 2011–12 VIVA! & Gala Performing Arts series. We recently spoke with New York Gypsy All-Stars band leader and celebrated clarinetist Ismail Lumanovski about the origins and the essence of the group, whose debut CD, Romantech, was released in November.               Q1: Who chose the name New York Gypsy All-Stars, and what does it signify? The name New York Gypsy All-Stars came after the first New York Gypsy Festival, which our manager Serdar Ilhan produced seven years ago. At that time we played as a trio (me, bassist Panagiotis Andreou, and a drummer). The main act at the first Gypsy Festival was called "Clarinet All-Stars," which included the most famous and appreciated clarinetists from the Balkans: Hüsnü Şenlendirici, Ivo Papazov, Yuri Yunakov, and myself as the youngest. New York Gypsy Festival + Clarinet All-Stars = New York Gypsy All-Stars. When it comes to what the name really means and how we portray this name in our music, I can explain it in this way: “New York” for the obvious reason that we all live there; at the same time it stands for the musical variety that the city is known for. New York, I believe, is one of the most creative musical places where fresh ideas come together and make new styles and new musical languages. “Gypsy” is a term that we use because we are highly inspired by the style of so-called “Gypsy” (Romany) music from the Balkans and Turkey, but in a broader sense this name carries historical meaning: by traveling over half of the globe for centuries, Romany people collected and combined the best musical ideas from each culture that they encountered on their journeys. Romany music is mostly about the heart and emotions. I think that because we are in New York, our music too has been inspired by many different musical g! enres. Putting our hearts and emotions into the mix gives us the essence of "Gypsy." And "All-Stars" because everyone in this band is a star. Everyone contributes something very, very special. Q2: What drew you and your band toward playing your signature brand of East-meets-West fusion music? I’m giving a little history about the band because every one of us is “East-meets-West.” All the members from the New York Gypsy All-Stars were raised with traditional Eastern music and are trained either classically or are highly educated in jazz fusion music. I grew up in Macedonia, hanging out and playing with the traditional Eastern music masters of the Balkans and Turkey while studying classical performance. I hold Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Juilliard School. Panagiotis Andreou (bass) and Engin Gunaydin (drums) share the same story as I do, except both of them graduated from the Berklee School of Music in jazz performance. Tamer Pinarbasi (kanun) studied classical Turkish music in Istanbul, and he was one of the most active kanun players there until he came to the United States. Jason Lindner is a Western fusion musical universe by himself. When we first started to play we knew what we were about to create. Q3: NYGA includes an electric bass, keyboards, percussion, the kanun, and of course you on clarinet. How was this ensemble of instruments chosen and what makes them special? The instrumentation of this band was not chosen by need of instruments but by the instrumentalists. It was very difficult to find people who were raised with, and are extremely good at, traditional music and at the same time understand equally Western classical or jazz music. Panagiotis and I met first at a small club in the East Village called Maia Meyhane. I was regularly performing there and then Panagiotis came to jam one night. That was the first time we played together, but I felt like I had known him forever. It was then two or three years by the time we found Tamer Pinarbasi, and then Engin Gunaydin and Jason Lindner joined us. Tamer Pinarbasi plays the kanun unlike any other kanun player I have ever met. If someone had asked me if NYGAS needed a kanun, I would’ve said no, but after I heard Tamer I knew that he would be a perfect addition to the group. The kanun is a traditional instrument that is usually played vertically and provides only the melody; Tamer Pinarbasi has managed to change that so that he can play harmony on the kanun. The way Jason Lindner uses the keyboard is very unique and brings a different dimension to the sound of NYGAS; I would say it makes us sound more "New York." Q4: Where do you find inspiration for your work? Sometimes our inspiration comes from traditional phrases or ornaments that we expand on; sometimes a rhythmical gesture or a bass line inspired by Western fusion, jazz, hip hop, rock, drum and bass, etc. Tamer and I usually compose the melodies while Panagiotis, Engin, and Jason create grooves and harmonies. Q5: What's the best thing about a live musical performance? The best thing about a live musical performance is that we get to share what we have worked so hard and so long for. We like live musical performances because each one make us better, more confident, more creative, and allows us to take greater risks, which at the end make our musical performance so exciting and lively. See the New York Gypsy All-Stars perform live at the museum on Friday, April 13 at 7:30 p.m. View our website for more details or to purchase tickets. -- Caroline Smith