Cirkestra - Jewish Circus Music

Ok, while it's true that I sometimes type "Jewish Music" into Google just to see what happens, I didn't know that this time. In fact, I actually know Peter Bufano the loon behind Cirkestra. I met Peter about 10 years ago when he and my wife were housemates in Boston. He's a talented musician with an unusual specialty...he composes circus music. And usually performs it at the circus. He and his group Cirkestra have gone on tour with Circus Smirkus, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (just Peter), and the Bindlestiff Cirkus, including a 70 show season with Binlestiff in 2007.

"The principal members of Cirkestra met in early 2004 in Jamaica Plain, MA. A few weeks later they ran away with the circus. They honed the sound throughout the three month big-top tour, playing for thousands of people in little towns day after day. A sort of “Eastern European meets jazz, meets Spike Jones, meets Klezmer” sound emerged. Their speciality is the creepy, minor-key circus waltz."

I have the first Cirkestra album and it goes into heavy rotation about two or three times a year. The fourth album, Swing, just came out and I thought I'd share with you one of the more klezmer tracks. My understanding is that the Hora Bucharest is a traditional tune, not a Bufano composition, but hey...it's a Hora.

Cirkestra Hora Bucharest