Don Kipper - Seven Sisters

The Guardian 80

(Riverboat Records)

Don Kipper play what they call “the traditional music of north-east London”. These are the sounds they hear in the streets around Seven Sisters Road – a “cultural crossroads” that includes Jewish bakeries and Turkish barbecues – or in Dalston jazz clubs. There’s a long, wildly varied and rousing tradition of London bands reflecting the city’s musical diversity, which stretches from Transglobal Underground through to Family Atlantica and She’Koyokh, and Don Kipper are a welcome addition. Don’t be fooled by their name. This is not a novelty or comedy outfit but an impressive, inventive acoustic seven-piece who play violin, accordion, clarinet, oud, double bass and percussion, with lead vocals provided by the stately and powerful Dunja Botic. She brings Greek influences to a band who switch continually between klezmer, Middle Eastern and African styles and the music of Turkey or Macedonia, which are all reworked with a driving London edge.