During the last 20 years the name of PARNO GRASZT (meaning White Horse as symbol of purity and freedom in Romani language) became the equivalent of authentic Hungarian Gypsy music.
At least that’s what the critics say.
For the musicians of Parno Graszt, being authentic was nothing more than being themselves. Living in integrity, living a life and playing a music they always have had. As Simon Broughton (Songlines) said after spending a weekend with Parno Graszt in their home village Paszab: ‘They do not use sources of Gypsy music, they are the source itself.’
Indeed, back in Paszab at times of social ceremonies (let it be any kind) music is shared by each one of the community: instruments are passed from hand to hand and practically everyone is a dance master. There is no band, there is no audience. There is one unified festive gathering. For Parno Graszt, their backyard is just the same as a festival stage with an audience of 50,000... too bad they cannot go on stage all together!
The band plays traditional Gypsy folk songs collected from North East Hungary and Romania along with their own compositions, thus representing a specific local dialect of Roma music. Their instruments are acoustic guitars, double bass, tamboura, spoons, stereo (!) water can and the ‘oral bass’ which is a continous vocal improvisation made by the percussionist. The band consists of 9 musicians including 4 dancers which is sometimes extended with cimbalom, accordion, violins and taragot.
Today a 50-years-old archive video is projected behind the group on stage, presenting the parents and grandparents of Parno Graszt dancing parallel with them – a real time journey between past and present! On special occasions the number of dancers are extended to 18 including three generations aged from 7 to 78.
The first album HIT THE PIANO (2002) peaked at nr. 7 on WORLD MUSIC CHARTS EUROPE which was at least surprising: they were the first Hungarian band in history to reach the TOP 10!!!
World music radios discovered Parno Graszt. The catching, easy-to-sing-along melodies and superfast rhythms gained thousands of fans, especially after the first live shows abroad where everyone was astonished by the elementary power of the Paszabi Gypsies... no one could stop dancing...
Since then Parno Graszt has played all around Europe including THE NETHERLANDS (tour 2004), NORWAY, RUSSIA, GERMANY (tour 2005), AUSTRIA, POLAND, SWITZERLAND (Paleo Festival 2006), FRANCE (Tribu Festival 2004, 12-gigs tour 2007), BELGIUM (Gaume Jazz Festival 2004, Balkan Trafik Festival 2008) as well as the most prominent venues in HUNGARY like Sziget Festival or Palace of Arts.
In 2004, European Broadcasting Union and BBC produced the series EUROPEAN ROOTS, presenting the indigenous music genres of Europe. Part of the series, the episode presenting Parno Graszt HOLIDAYS AND EVERYDAYS was presented all over Europe and acclaimed very good critics.
The much anticipated second album IN MY WORLD was featuring world-famous Hungarian Gypsy cimbalom master KÃLMÃN BALOGH. For this record, VIBRATIONS MAGAZINE voted Parno Graszt for 10 BEST GROUPS of 2005.
After a successful French tour in 2007, the group celebrated its 20th anniversary with the new album THIS WORLD IS MADE FOR ME . For this occasion, DJ Gaetano Fabri (remixer of Taraf de Haidouks, Kocani Orkestar and Mahala Rai Banda) made his debut remix for Parno Graszt’s Gelem Gelem.
In 2008, two major labels, World Music Network and Eastblok Music selected one song off the new album for their compilations: ROUGH GUIDE TO THE MUSIC OF HUNGARIAN GYPSIES and BALKANBEATS 3 respectively.
You can DOWNLOAD the NEW ALBUM at WWW.SONGS.HU or BUY IT in MUSIC STORES through the following distributors:
AUSTRIA - Extraplatte
CZECH REPUBLIC - PJ Music
FRANCE - Abeille Musique
GERMANY - NRW Vertrieb
JAPAN - Ahora
JAPAN - Tambourine
THE NETHERLANDS - Xango Music Distribution
UK - Passion Music
UK - Proper Music Distribution
USA - Forte Distribution