Mystery Ukrainian band of Paris: "Les Musiciens de Lviv" (Cabaret Slave)
Ranked #2,427 in Music, #66,136 overall
The were "playing real good for free," in the Marais, until the police made them leave
I watched them with complete satisfaction for half an hour until the police came and shut them down. I thought I'd buy one of their three cds, but they were charging 20 euros! That's almost $30 these days!
The guy wrote down their supposed website url, http://cabaret-slave.com, but they must have forgotten to keep the payments up, it isn't there any more...
So I've tried to cobble up some information about them online. I'm certainly not the first person to be intrigued by them. From Paris Breakfast Blogspot:
... of course I passed through Metro station Chatelet enroute. And of course the Russian singers, Les Musiciens de Lviv, were there playing their hearts out. And of course I bawled as usual...
Somehow these metro singers represent Paris for me more than any other icon like the Eiffel Tower or Laduree macarons! It makes no sense. Why? They are ALWAYS there in Chatelet playing heart-breaking ...
ParisInside.com wrote:
The folklore group Musiciens de Lviv has toured around Europe for several years, until they finally settled down in Paris.
The geography of their repertoire is vast - Russian romances, Gypsy ballades, music of Odessa Jews, songs of Ukranian Cossacks, Moldovian "doinas", Serbian "khoras"%u2026
Apart from performing on concerts, they are also reviving the long passages of Paris underground, regularly playing on the Bastille and Châtelet stations.
Hopefully they'll pay up for their site again soon and then we'll learn more. In the mean time...
From a festival website I see they were founded in 1995 in Lviv in the Ukraine (I always knew this place as Lvov but that must be the Russian name for it) and that beyond music of the Ukraine they also sing and perform music of Poland, the Slovac republic, the Czech republic, Moldavia, Romania, and more.
The mystery is: how can buskers, even as good as these, make enough money to survive?
This is a big band, which is unusual for street musicians. They have really good instruments and they sing superb harmony. They have three cds. But they sing in the street for small change. And they can't stay any one place for very long because the police shoo them away. So how are they surviving?
Their first album, 1999: "Musique Populaire Ukrainienne"
also known as "Muziki zi Lvova"
- La Marche Des Houtsouls
- Kolomyiky I (Danse Houtsoul)
- Gania, Ma Gania
- Derrière Notre Grange
- Collier
- Là-Haut Dans Les Montagnes, Deux Chênes
- Série Des Mélodies De Folklore Ukrainien
- Je Regarde Le Ciel
- Oh, Voisine, Ma Voisine
- Sur Le Chemin De Kadry À Béréjany
- Failledouli, Failledouli, Faille
- Aventures De Yakym
- Oh, Que Je Suis Belle
- Arkan (Air De Danse D'homme Houtsoul)
- Rose Rouge
- Chanson De Fête Des Lemkys
- J'ai Coupé Mon Petit Doigt
- Kolomyiky II
- Marche Ukrainienne
Second album: "Cabaret Slave 1"
Issued in 2002
- Les Yeux Noirs (Texte M. Tsvétaeva 1923)
- Suite De Mélodies Populaires Juives (Ashk.)
- Doïna Et Kaloushary (Moldavie)
- Alouette (Roumanie)
- Maman Yiddish
- Pal Amendé (Tzigane)
- Khora Serbe
- Rabin Elemeïlekh
- Le Choeur De Sokolov (Tzigane Russe)
- Anneaux De Turquoise (Tzigane Russe)
- Le 7h40 (Yiddish)
- Danse Des Balkans
- Hatikva (Yiddish)
The "Cabaret Slave 2" album
Also issued 2002
The woman in the picture is Aliona Antonova, who was their manager at one point. You can listen to excerpts from "Cabaret Slave 2" at the fnac site. Here are the cuts:- Ballade tzigane (Gypsy ballad)
- Sirba moldave (Moldavian Sirba)
- Brume du matin - russe
- Chrysanthèmes - russe
- Valea-romance - tzigane
- Haïdé, haïdé - tzigane
- Korobeïniki ( les...
- Kalinka - russe (Russian folksong)
- Clair de nuit - russe
- Acacia - russe
- Le violon sur le toit -...
- Mais tu m'as posé un...
- La lune tout là-haut -...
- Dételez les chevaux...(Boys, unharness the horses)
The Cabaret Slave 3 album
Issued in 2004
- Ishly korovy iz dibrovy (Un Troupeau Passait)
- Chorni ochka iak teren (Les Yeux Noirs De Jais)
- Perelaz (Passage)
- Dolynoiu (Par La Vallée)
- Oi chyi to kin' stoït' (Oh, Quel Cheval)
- ïkhav kozak za Dunai (Un Cosaque Est Parti)
- Luchinushka (Petite Torche)
- Oi moroz, moroz (Oh, Le Grand Froid)
- Ni Ianichka, ni Pavlichka (Ni Yann, Ni Pavel)
- Oi ty richen'ko (Oh, Toi La Rivière)
- Teche yoda kalamutna (L'eau Trouble Coule)
- Choven khytaiet'sia (Une Barque Se Balance)
- Za Dunai (Derrière Le Danube)
- Misiatz' i ziron'ky (La Lune Et Les Étoiles)
- Oi ty Galiu (Oh, Toi Galia)
- Bog sia rozhdaie (Dieu Naît)
- Nova radist' stala (Un Nouveau Bonheur Est Arrivé)
Cabaret Slave album: "Ukraine"
also known as "Musique populaire des pays d'Europe de l'Est"
- Oberek (Polonais)
- Cobãniasca i hora (Moldave)
- Polka Moldave
- Bucium si doina oltului au plecat olteni la coas%u0103 hora ca din caval (Roumain)
- Hora de la galbeni sîrba si bâtuta de la izvoare (Roumain)
- Tamo daléko (Là-bas, au loin) (Serbe)
- Danse de Vrajné (Yougoslave)
- Spate liebe (Amour tardif) (Macédonien)
- Pritouritze planinata (Chant de la plaine thrace) (Bulgare)
- Chirat hanocied (Juif)
- A yiddishe mame (Juif)
- Mazel tov (Juif)
- Danse Arménienne (Arménien)
- Arrangement de trois melodies arméniennes
- Ferrie jamen jamenge (Nous nous débrouillerons) (Tsigane)
- Bescias peske prebareske (Assieds-toi sur un rocher) (Tsigane)
- "Traden, Romale" ("Bon voyage, Bohémiens") (Tsigane)
- La Czardas de Monti
Contacting Les Musiciens de Lviv
Here's a clue I found on a Ukrainian page:
Les Musiciens de Lviv are represented by Association Slave de Paris
33 (0) 6 81 50 35 52
33 01 1 43 70 82 96
If you try this and it works, please let me know!
Members of the band
As the name indicates, Les Musiciens de Lviv is a troupe from Lviv Ukraine which plays in Paris - its subways as well as its cabarets. The group's performances are primarily Ukrainian music while its CDs are recordings of a variety of East European traditional music - Gypsy, Moldovan, Russian and Ukrainian.
Among the members of the group encountered at an interchange on Metro stop 'Chatelet' are: Mykola Mazur - accordion, Vasyl Andrusiv - guitar, Volodymyr Chkoropata - flute, trumpet, tambourine, and Oleg Karaim - Bass
My other Paris travel lenses
How to have fun in Paris without spending a ton of money
Do you know anything about this band? Have you ever heard them?
If you have further information, please let me know!
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Lilia A.
Mar 20, 2012 @ 3:38 pm | delete
- I was in Paris metro (Chatelet) when I heard a music so close to my heart! My feet followed the music coming from one of the hallways and I came across this wonderful band. I stood there and enjoyed their heartfelt singing and videotaped the song. So lovely! While standing there and watching them sing, I noticed how people were rushing by and not even noticing them. Perhaps they were very busy, I don't know, but how can one hear a beautiful song and not slow down for a moment to enjoy it? I approached the lady selling the CD, but the price was high. I just gave them a tip and left. It's been 10 days now and I am still in Paris and every time I watch the video I made, my heart fills with warmth and joy. I am going back to Chatelet tomorrow to buy the CD, before I really regret for not doing it.
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sheenie
Aug 29, 2011 @ 6:38 am | delete
- I saw them about 2 weeks ago in the paris metro as well and instantly fell in love with their sound and bought their album Caberet Slave 2...I'm so very please especially after hearing La Lune tout la-haut...simply divine!!!
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Pomona
Apr 30, 2011 @ 6:29 pm | delete
- I happened upon them in the Marais two weeks ago. Fell in love with their fabulous harmonizing instantly. Bought a CD from a blonde woman who had a bunch of them in a basket. The cds were all different & she handed me "Cabaret Slave 2." Since there is not a photo of them on this CD (just a wild-haired violin player & a blonde woman - possibly the same blonde that I was talking to?) I asked her, in French, if it was the same sort of music that they were playing now. They were playing an achingly beautiful ballad. She said, yes, yes & pointed to #13 "La lune tout là-haut." So I gave her 20 Euros & walked away happy as can be. There was no cd player at the apartment I was renting over there so I couldn't hear it until I got home a week later. I am a bit disappointed, as the only ballad on the cd is #13. The rest of the music is very different: either super-high-energy (headache-inducing) violin playing, or a woman reciting or singing French. So, I program my player to #13 - REPEAT, and I can listen to that one song for hours, very happily. It would be nice if there were a few more ballads on it, but hey, I'm just happy to have this so I can forever remember that magical moment when I found them on the street. If anyone knows if their other cds are more ballad-oriented, I'd love to hear about it, as I'd track them down in a heartbeat.
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Pomona
Apr 26, 2011 @ 7:48 am | delete
- I'm just back from Paris & ran across this fabulous group in the Marais. I was in heaven listening to them, & bought a CD (Cabaret Slave 2), but alas, it is *nothing* like what I heard on the street - nothing. What a shame. There is just one entry on this disc (#13 La lune tout là-haut) which bears some resemblance to their Marais sound. The rest of it is insanely-fast, headache-inducing insanity.
I am so happy to have found your videos!! I knew someone would be smart enough to put these musical gems online, and I thank you for it. Now I'm going to see if I can track down their other CDs, but I'll make sure I hear several cuts prior to purchasing. Hey, I'm not resentful - I am happy to contribute 20 Euros to these guys . . . really happy to. I just hope I can find a CD that replicates their sound.
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Andre
Feb 13, 2011 @ 12:40 pm | delete
- I've seen they playing at the Arcades at Place des Vosges on a Sunday afternoon, early February this year. I want to buy their CD online, but I don't know where to find it...
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Other music lenses
Other "cabaret slave" sightings...
- Naive Tourista Numero Uno: Cabaret Slave
- Sort of the same experience I had, only in the Paris Chatelet Metro.
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