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Reviews

• AllAboutJazz.com (12/14/2005)
  "A Balkan beat, gypsy fire, a Serbian brass band, a sexy vocalist, a dazzling show... This is hot music for cold nights; Romashka rocks."
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• Global Rhythm Magazine (March 2007)

"While bands like Gogol Bordello and Balkan Beat Box have attracted attention both in htier hometown of New York and abroad, there are several other great Eastern European folk bands from the New York area mining gypsy and Balkan music. Romashka is on the short list to be the next big thing coming up in the scene. Led by Lithuanian-born singer Inna Barmash, who first co-founded the Klez Dispensers and has appeared with several other Eastern European bands, Romashka is straight out of hte Romanian and Russian gypsy traditions. The bands cranks it up with high-energy tunes for folks to dance to during its live shows, although it will occasionally bring it down for a slow ballad to keep the romance alive. The group's self-titled debut came out in 200 and gained strong notices. Barmash has even been compared to Edith Piaf because of the strong voice and passion she brings to the songs. But, still, in her 20s, she smiles and bounces around as much as the rest of the band, dispelling any thoughts of an icy, diva-like stage persona. The rest of the nine-piece band is made up of players with resumes at least as strong as the singer's (Flying Karamazov Brothers, Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road, Frank London). The band is currently working on its second CD... For those who can't wait, the first album is available through CD Baby and iTunes.

• The Village Voice (The Best of NYC 2006)
  "the loose-limbed bacchanalia of Romashka..."
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• The Jewish Journal (2007) -- George Robinson
  A wildly swinging set from this excellent Gypsy-cum-klezmer-cum-Balkan-brass-band aggregation. I saw Romashka live in a superheated little bar about a year ago and I was curious whether any recording could capture their insane level of intensity. From the rocketing opening of "Mariana," the first cut on their new set, through some smoldering, smoky vocals by Inna Barmash to a pounding "Moldovan Batuta," this is as full of energy and thrills as any studio set can be. Particular kudos to Ron Caswell, whose tuba provides a bouncing dance floor for both this CD and the Slavic Soul Party set reviewed elsewhere in this column.

• The Forward (07/29/2005)
  "Fans of Balkan wedding music will appreciate the wildly kinetic rhythms of "Mariana," while "Moldovan Batuta" could have sprung from the book of any Bessarabian klezmer outfit. The Russian tango "Tayna" drips with the kind of bittersweet, sepia-toned nostalgia for which both traditional klezmer and Romani music have become aural tropes. And "Shimdiggy" - a freewheeling original that merges New Orleans rhythms with Central European melodies - sounds like what you might get if you mated the Dirty Dozen Brass Band with Ivo Papasov's ulgarian Wedding Band...
  Romashka owes its irresistible rhythmic drive to drummer Timothy Quigley and tubist Ron Caswell, who slyly funkify even the most traditional of the group's arrangements. But much of the band's visceral punch comes from Lithuanian-born singer Inna Barmash. With her wide, throaty vibrato and ringing delivery, Barmash has an uncommon gift for communicating the emotional valence of a song, even when its lyrics are in a foreign tongue. ... She's the kind of singer with whom you could fall in love."
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• The Times of London, "Gypsies Pitch It Up" (05/06/2005)
  "Romashka and Slavic Soul Party! are two bands that play traditional gypsy and Balkan dance party music with various combinations of sax, percussion, clarinet, violin, accordion, trumpet and tuba. During a break at a recent Romashka show, Inna Barmash, 26, a singer from Lithuania says: "There is something about gypsy music that people just respond to, whether it's flamenco, Hungarian gypsy or Russian gypsy - it catches people's souls in a very immediate way.
  People seem to know how to dance to it intuitively." Indeed they do. With a few stomps of Inna's high-heeled boot, the band furiously launches into Mariana.
  Diners at the East Village Turkish restaurant abandon their tables, and dance in the tiny space in front of the band, oblivious to the grumpy waiters who get jostled by the crowd."
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• The New York Times, "The Rise of the Gypsy Punkers (07/2005)
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• Rootsworld (12/2005)
  "Every track is crisp and danceable, with sassy, jazzy horns, crashing percussion, and throbbing accordion. Vocalist Inna Barmash warbles as slinkily as a Balkan Edith Piaf."
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• Greenman Review (05/2005)
  "In a little over a year, Romashka have built a reputation as one of the most exciting and energetic bands in New York City's world music scene... Romashka will command the attention of any listener interested in Gypsy, Balkan, and klezmer music, along with anybody simply looking for something high-octane to help them party the night away. -"
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• Spin the World (06/2005)
  "The sax-led instrumental groove of the original "Shimdiggy" is irresistible, and the beat threatens to spin out of control as you near the end of "La Cîrcuma De La Drum (The Tavern On The Road)." Inna Barmash's voice brings things back to earth, injecting raw emotion and power into every note she sings. "
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• Inside World Muisc(02/2006)
  "Energetic vocals and upbeat instrumentation is what Romashka is all about! Romashka plays gypsy, brass, Klezmer and hora inspired music. The violin, trumpet, sax, accordion, guitar, tuba, percussion and clarinet can be heard. Brass band fans will love the danceable rhythms and beats of Romashka. Don’t forget to bring your dancing shoes when you listen to this one!"
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