Lema Lema

New York-based Eva Salina has grown up surrounded by Balkan music. On Lema Lema she has created an album that is remarkable in several ways, not least in showing that an American can so confidently handle a Roma-language songbook. Salina's salute to the late Šaban Bajramović (1936-2008), the remarkable singer and songwriter who was widely considered to be Yugoslavia's king of Gypsy music, is very welcome. Salina has chosen ten tunes that Bajramović wrote and she sings them all in Romani – and, considering she surely is not fluent in the language, sings with great aplomb.

To keep the album challenging, she employs a variety of musicians across it and interprets different songs in different styles. This isn’t always a success – a heavy rock take on ‘I Barval Pudela’ is, perhaps a nod too far to the NYC Gypsy punk schtick – but for the most part she handles things with finesse and creates an eerie, dramatic music. If Salina has a weakness it is that her voice, while pleasant, lacks the ragged drama that Bajramović possessed in spades. But as a deeply felt tribute to the man and his music, this comes highly recommended.