Chemda, Lloyd Floyd, Raven Solano, Andrea Kalan, Jesse Kotansky, Tom Cirillo, George Kalan, David Jenness, Anand Mukherjee, and friends like LinDel Sandlin, Patrick Harison, Aron Szekely, Ray West and Sweet Dorit.
Hey, by the way, what do you think of this video put together by Akos Rosza from our March 26 show at Drom?
Influences
Emir Kusterica, Gogol Bordello, Kalyi Jag, Thomas Pynchon, Yerba Buena, The Specials, Kalman Balogh, Milan Kundera, Jan Yoors, Romani Rota, Spike Jones, Kultur Shock, Firesign Theater, Brooklyn Funk Essentials, Romano Drom, Black 47
"Zazu" makes her living in the Pump Room, a seedy strip club near the BQE. She and her Gypsy cousins perform the "Kitchen Dance" with choreography by Chemda...
Sounds Like
What is an Underground Comic Gypsy Rock Opera? Well, sometimes it sounds rootsy, like this....
Sometimes it sounds very sad like this...
Sometimes it sounds like Lloyd Floyd riffing with the band about his encounter in Vegas with Wynn Dwyer, the "Rich American Guy" who is madly in love with Zazu, the sad Gypsy dancer. Is he a "catch?" You decide.
"Reasons To Live’s greatest assets are its eclecticism and joie de vivre. The musical talent, writing skills, and gorgeous singing on this record would likely have yielded a good album even with average effort, but what lifts Reasons To Live into the realm of excellence is the unmistakable passion conveyed through the synergistic smorgasbord. These are just some of the many reasons to love Reasons To Live."
Delusions Of Adequacy.com
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Viva Patshiva - Drink and dance Gypsy style with this crazy dance rock comic live musical extravaganza, every Friday and Saturday, March 6 through May 16 at the Interart Annex (500 West 52nd street, NYC). Join Chemda, Ray West and the whole Viva Patshiva sick crew, somewhere between Transylvania and New York City, for a night of drinking, dancing and debauchery. Beer and wine is included with the price of admission. Visit Smarttix.com and type "Viva" in the search bar to buy tickets.
where you'll hear the ethereal voice of Chemda, the evocative violin of Jesse Kotansky and Jake Shulmnan-Ment, the immortal howl of Spread Eagle's Ray West, the velvety croon of Raven Solano, and the soaring flights of Lauren Hennessy, held together by a tight dance rock Gypsy rhythm section.
This stellar unit grew out of the improv comic rock band The Sacred Clowns, which mixed the daring musicians and fearless comedians of New York City's Lower East Side to mount legendary performance spectacles in the late 90s. Everything changed in 2001 and a core group of performers began to develop a full length Rock Opera, with book and lyrics by David Jenness, that combined an over-the-top performance style with the emotionally charged melodies and dance steps of the Gypsies of Hungary and Transylvania.
Watch Chemda and the band with featured Gypsy dancers, Aron Szekely and Andrea Kalan...
How's your week going? I was recently in New York City playing some acoustic gigs to promote my new CD and I wanted to know that we recorded it all on video for you and you can check it out on my profile!
If you like the songs please download them from iTunes.com, because the songs are getting really popular on iTunes.com and if enough people download the songs, then they will make them onto the Top Sellers List and that will really help us spread the word! You can download them now at: Chris van der Merwe - Freaky CD on
Let me know what you think of the first Video Blog from New York!
![[Sara Haase]](http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/32/s_941915845c4b42e7843a7519711f167c.jpg)
