Music
Press
On average, 20 or so CDs arrive at the EW office each week with an average of 10 songs on each one. 200 songs a week times 50 work weeks means I listen to about 10,000 songs a year. Sometimes only for 10 seconds, but I listen to them all. Ala Zingara's lead singer, bouzouki player and acoustic guitarist Robert Parks wrote one of the three best songs I heard in all of 2004, "Because the Silence." - Eugene Weekly, Eugene OR
On December 31st, 2004, the nationally syndicated radio show, "Day to Day," asked arts and entertainments weeklies from all over the country what their favorite bands of 2004 were, and the Eugene Weekly picked Ala Zingara as one of their 3 favorite bands. - Day to Day
Ala Zingara may be the most quirky, danceable band to come to Bend for months. They call themselves "roots rock gypsy funk" and combine wacky Middle Eastern jams with get-up-and-dance grooves that make it impossible to stay still. - The Source Weekly, Bend OR
Ala Zingara, which plays acoustic music with a Middle Eastern influence, and powerhouse Rita Chiarelli, ar scheduled to delight the audience at the 2005 McCall Summer Music Festival this weekend. Saturday night, spectators can watch the shooting stars cross the night sky as they listen to eclectic banjo player Tony Furtado plus Ala Zingara. - The Star News, McCall ID
Ala Zingara’s second release, “Shackled to the Wind,” is an amalgam of musical genres. The most prevalent form is Eastern music, most noticeably the mysterious gypsy music, but everything from reggae to country shines through in this collection of 12 new songs.
The musicianship of this band is impressive. During the opening number a lot of musical idiosyncrasies are explored. A relentless drumbeat fades into a stop time; tight harmonies thicken up an already rich song; instrumental solos add to the shape of the tune without becoming overly indulgent. This is capped off by doubling the vocal line with bouzouki to add an ethnic flavor. And this is just the opening song. - Argonaut, University of Idaho
Although its name is based on the Romanian translation of "ina gypsy style," the SEattle band Ala Zingara could just as well base its name on the Romanian for "in a rock style," "in a Celtic Style," or most appropriately "in a danceable style." - The Sitka Sentinal, Sitka AK
Ala Zingara - the Seattle band that started in Moscow - is set to rock the house at 7:30PM Friday at Moscow's Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre.
The group plays a "world" groove blended into a gypsy sound over a rock foundation and is made up of several former University of Idaho students. - Moscow Pullman Daily News, Moscow ID
Ala Zingara's music happily blurs the lines between different genres to provide a solution for audiences with a taste for the ecclectic.
Born from the idea that world groove could be blended into a rootsy sound with a rock foundation, Ala Zingara's music brings together Greek, Celtic and Middle Eastern music to create get up and dance grooves. - The Mail Tribune, Ashland OR
Discography
2000 "...in a gypsy style"
2004 "Shackled to the Wind"
2005 "Murder of Crows"
Photos
Bio
Currently in the studio recording their 4th album, ZinGara is celebrating ten years making their gyp-grass-whirled-rock music together and moving a new momentum beyond weekend warriors to bigger venues in a bigger radius from their NW home in Seattle.
Relocating from Moscow, Idaho in 2002 - they have performed at prominant venues as The Tractor, Conor Byrne, Hemp Fest, Folk Life and have shared the stage with bands such as The Clumsy Lovers and Tony Furtado.
Their live shows have been described as "amazing high-energy celebrations" (Eugene Weekly) and "innovative as hell!" (Seattle promoter). They sound like no one else - frequently coined as a "fresh sound". NPR's nationally syndicated radio program, Day to Day, featured Ala Zingara as one of the best bands of 2004 (from surveying a sample of music editors). They have also been aired on KMTT, KPBX on Inland Folk, Interviewed and aired on KBCS.
ZinGara (abbreviated from Ala Zingara to facilitate memory since “Ala Zingara”...well... sticks in your head like a well oiled body sticks to a tarp!)
... met at music school in the late nineties (Lionel Hampton School of Music, U of I) where "a la zingara" would be a feel/interpretation indicated on a sheet of music...often a lively departure from classical seriousness.
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