How did the book come about? 
I had been travelling to the Balkans since 1992, and hadn’t found anything written about Gypsy music — so I became the “Gypsy music correspondent” for the then folk music magazine fRoots.

Having witnessed the Roma holy day of Ederlezi — the start of spring — in a Roma community in south-west Bulgaria I knew I had to share my experiences and spent most of 2003 travelling in the former Yugoslavia, Romania and Bulgaria — countries with Roma communities and striking regional musical styles.

Last year I was asked to prepare a new and updated edition of the book. There was lots of new material out there and I knew more about artists who I had been unable to contact and had discovered others I was unaware of.

I was also interested in the “brown face” phenomenon, which began shortly after the original edition came out. This involved white rock bands in Europe and the US cosplaying as “Gypsy punk” while white French and German DJs were remixing Roma recordings as Balkan Beats.  

So what’s in the new edition? 
Lots of new material and new chapters on Roma musicians from Greece, Albania and Turkey — its 50,000 words longer! I returned to the Balkans almost every year, many of the older musicians had died — they were, as Ry Cooder said of the Cuban musicians in Buena Vista Social Club “the last of the best” — but there are remarkable new talents arising.

The Kosovo conflict saw Kosovo’s Albanians ethnically cleansing many Roma communities — a terrible irony when one put upon ethnicity turns on another. The dispersal of these communities saw their music gain wider attention.

A November 2025 trek through Greece, Macedonia and Bulgaria allowed me to write the final entries, giving a sense of where the music and the communities are at right now.

Gypsy music has been described as the Balkan blues? 
The Roma are often denigrated by their Slavic neighbours as “blacks” and they share many similarities with African Americans, being dark skinned, discriminated against and marginalised while producing exceptionally gifted musicians — what they play is their truth, just like the blues in the US.”

Who are the current stars of the music? 
Undoubtedly Macedonia’s Queen of the Gypsies, Esma Redzepova — a remarkable singer; Saban Bajramovic — the Gypsy Robert Johnson or Woody Guthrie and Taraf de Haidouks, a string ensemble from a tiny, Romanian village who put Balkan music on the map when they broke through in 1991.  

Fanfare Ciociaria, are a brass band from northern Romania who play raucous music faster than any other ensemble — they turn their gigs into huge Balkan parties — and check out Azis who sings chalga — a form of Gypsy electronic pop — an openly gay man who challenges the racism and homophobia of Bulgarian society.

Can you describe Gypsy and Roma music for the initiated? 
Its deep soul music from lands where Europe and Asia blend. Balkan Gypsy music contains a beauty and dissonance that ensures the struggles, tears, love and laughter of the Roma are shared, even if that community is rarely recognised by mainstream Western society.

Princes Among Men — Journeys With Romani Gypsy Musicians is published by Oldcastle Books price £16:99. A four-hour 64 track selection of Gypsy and Roma music is available on Spotify to tie in with the new edition.

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COMPETITION:

We have TWO copies of Princes Amongst Men to give away.

To enter the competition email the answer to the following question: What is the name of the Romanian Roma brass band who appear on the cover of Princes Amongst Men? (include your name and postal address), to competitions@peoples-press.com.

The winners will be drawn at random from correct entrants in seven days’ time. Prizes are non-transferrable and the competition is open to UK residents only.