The Dutch based band Amariszi proudly presents its second album: Nine Balkan Nights . The recordings were made during their tour in Eastern Europe. ‘We want the audience to join us on our tour and share the feeling of our nights in the Balkans’ , according to bandleader Kay Krijnen.

In the summer of 2013 Amariszi spent three weeks traveling through Bulgaria, Macedonia and Hungary. They performed at festivals like Sziget and Lozenets Jazz Time and were invited on national tv in Macedonia and Bulgaria. There also were musical meetings with local musicians, among them Galina Durmushliyska and Oratnitza. The highlights of these sessions as well as the nine concerts can be heard on the new album, recorded by the band itself.

‘Eastern Europe is the source of inspiration for our music, so we really wanted to go there and perform’ , Kay Krijnen explains. ‘We were a bit apprehensive though’ , says singer Merel Simons. ‘In Bulgaria for instance we played in the village square of a small gipsy town and everyone was listening very critically to our way of playing their music. Luckily they all liked it very much!’

Nine Balkan Nights is the second album of the eight piece band. Amariszi was founded six years ago and played many European festivals, e.g. Sziget in Hungary and United Island in Czech Republic. Concerts took the band to Turkey, France and the Czech Republic. Amariszi’s musicians hail from Iceland, the USA, Germany and the Netherlands.