Cercel has learned to adapt

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      Lache Cercel was 17 when he first heard the music that would change his life. At the time, the classically trained Romanian violinist was performing in Black Sea resorts, with a repertoire of light-opera pieces and classical themes, well-known Eastern European folk tunes, and a touch of Roma (Gypsy) music though nothing too wild or dark. In the 1970s, under the regime of Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, it all had to be safe, state-approved fare.

      One night Cercel, surfing through western stations on his shortwave radio, tuned in to French-Italian violinist Stéphane Grappelli, playing swing jazz. "The sound was so rich and warm that it lit up my head with inspiration," says Cercel, interviewed in his East Vancouver home. "I couldn't believe the beauty of it.

      "I listened for him [Grappelli] all the time after that. Then a friend who worked as an airline pilot brought me some tapes of his music that he picked up in Paris. The songs seemed very long and never to repeat. I learned them like that, not realizing how much was improvisation. I never got tired of the music, and when I played I tried to incorporate this way of improvising, and to develop my own style."

      Grappelli's genial swing was rooted in French cabaret and dance-hall traditions, especially in the jazz manouche that he and guitar maestro Django Reinhardt made famous in the '30s. Cercel is forging a variant of this sound, which he calls Roma swing. His major new ingredient is the folk music of Romania, a land of many ethnic groups.

      "Each one has its own distinct culture," Cercel explains. "My family is Roma, though well educated, which made a certain difference to how we were treated. But some kids were not allowed to play with me. My parents explained that you always have to keep a low profile, and not get into arguments or create enemies."

      Cercel's musical pedigree is exceptional. His grandfather lived for many years in France and attended prestigious music academies there. Returning to Romania, he taught its leading young classical performers including Cercel's father, who later conducted one of his homeland's main orchestras.

      Cercel became a soloist with the state's Radio Symphony Orchestra, and in 1986 the government named him an "Artist of the People". But he was disenchanted with life under Ceausescu.

      In September 1987, after a long and tough bureaucratic process, Cercel received an invitation to come to Canada on a musical exchange program. He never returned home, instead settling on Vancouver Island and playing with the Original Balkan Jam. "My music changed a lot at that time. The life, the temperament, the air everything's different here."

      Cercel moved to Vancouver 11 years ago; soon afterwards, he started to organize Monday-night sessions at the Kino Café on Cambie. Over the years their core participants emerged as the Roma Swing Ensemble. In addition to its leader, the band which released its debut, Muzika Konkordo, last year comprises bassist Sam Shoichet, singer Rebecca Shoichet, percussionist Robin Layne, and guitarists Stephen Nikleva and Don Ogilvie.

      "Don is a close musical partner and together we make the arrangements of the songs, which are mainly written by me," says Cercel. "We take these old folk tunes and add jazz elements. We have to establish the perfect timbre of sound and the optimal key for the violin, and spend hours and hours to find ways of letting all the instruments breathe. The sound is very clear and clean and well harmonized. It's not Romanian anymore, it's part of Canadian culture."

      Lache Cercel plays at the Latin Quarter on Tuesday nights and at the Chai Gallery (3239 West Broadway) on Saturday nights.

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