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On Friday the concert film Gypsy Caravan, which documents a six-week long package tour of the same name in 2001, opens at the Music Box. The tour featured some of Europe’s most important Romany artists and traveled across North America, though no promoter in Chicago bothered to book it. By bringing together artists from India, Macedonia, Romania, and Spain the Gypsy Caravan tour sought to underline the differences and similarities of the various cultures. Naturally, the film climaxes with the various musicians drawing closer and closer, both socially and musically, with live collaborations increasing as the tour progressed. Directed by Jasmine Dellal and shot in part by Albert Maysles, it recalls the great Tony Gatlif film Latcho Drom, a kind of musical-documentary that traced the thousand-year migration of the Roms from Rajasthan in northern India up through Egypt, Eastern Europe, and countries like France and Spain, capturing the radical changes the music experienced in each new location.
Today’s playlist:
