Sezoni Mara CD Brand New Real World Label

Balkan music from Australia might not seem a logical mix, but when it works this well, why not? The brainchild of Mara Kiek, who leads the Mara! Ensemble and directs the Martenitsa Choir, Sezoni has a rich beauty. The instrumental tracks serve as a reminder that the distance between Balkan melodies and klezmer is very short, while the harmonies and singing are as strong as those of any Bulgarian Choir--in fact, Silvia Entcheva, from Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, sings on this record. The CD seems to play more as a suite than a series of unrelated tracks, and there's little doubt that the singers have learned how to capture those unearthly harmonies, letting them shimmer through the spare musical settings. Excellent.