Popovich Brothers Tamburitza Orchestra

There's something absolutely magical about the sound of an orchestra made up of family members. Whether you're talking about groups comprised of brothers, sisters, parents and their children, or even whole extended families like many of the old orchestras from Europe, there's a certain level of togetherness that only blood relations can achieve. There are a very special few of these tamburitza orchestras who have the ability to evoke indescribable feelings and emotions with the simple mention of their name. Whenever I hear the word "tamburitza", I think of the Popovich brothers. Starting young in the 1920's, they continued performing together clear into the new millennium, defining tamburitza for generations of Americans in the process.

With any traditional art form it's extremely important to know where you come from, and the Popovich brothers were living libraries of knowledge about their art form, tamburitza. They knew everything about the history of the Serbian music and culture, the songs and dances, the musicians who came before them, and the old recordings. Along with this deep knowledge and appreciation came the raw, creative talent to transform it all into something completely unique and their own, traditional yet timeless. When you listen to the Popovich brothers play you can hear the love they had for the music in every single note.

This record is possibly their oldest, and except for the youthful voices, their style of playing is just the same as in later years. Timeless!

Check out This great page about The Popovich Brothers by "Baba Mim" Bizic for lots of great history, photos, and links.

And visit Balkan Records if you want to purchase digitally remastered Cd's and live recordings of The Popovich Brothers and many more tamburitza orchestras.

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