She’Koyokh - First Dance on Second Avenue

The Guardian 80

(Riverboat)

She’Koyokh are one of the finest and most entertaining British-based exponents of global music. They started out busking in London, come from Serbia, Turkey and Sweden as well as the UK, and their new album includes klezmer and songs from across the Balkans. Lead vocals are provided by Çiğdem Aslan, now something of a solo star thanks to her revival of Aegean rebetiko songs, but she is just one of seven singers in a band that’s impressive for both their musicianship and arrangements. The opening track shows their range. It starts with slow, brooding clarinet work from Susi Evans on a Ukrainian tune that speeds up into a swirling dance piece with a jazz guitar solo. Elsewhere there’s an upbeat Bulgarian song driven on by the tupan double-headed drum that eases into a cappella polyphonic vocals, and violin work from Meg-Rosaleen Hamilton, who studied with Gypsies in Romania.