TUMBE

he rich meanings of Aromanian traditional themes have inspired the mu-sicians and producers of TUMBE to place them in a melting pot, work their alchemy, and bring forth world music or jazz fusion sounds. Their intention is clear: to preserve the essence of old Aromanian music and to showcase its full potential through elevated forms of musical produc-tion and live performance. TUMBE currently consists of: Mara (lead singer), Teo Fudulea (backing vocals), Radu Vâlcu (gui-tar), Mihai Balabaș (violin, live electronics), Răzvan Florescu (vibraphone, melodica, traditional percussion), Răzvan Gachi (clarinet), Mircea Ardeleanu Jr. (bass, double bass), Marcel Moldovan (drums), Marius Alexe aka Bean MC (composer/musical producer). Mara, the daughter of an Aromanian family, is thus fulfilling a mission from her ancestors – to sing to the whole wide world that Aromanians are here, alive, taking their values into the future. TUMBE is, therefore, part of an important cultural awakening of Aromanian ethnic identity, by helping preserve the old Aromanian culture and language, while at the same time creating a modern body of work that honors the vitality of this fascinating people.
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Many people know nothing or very little about the Aromanians. They are an old people, an unu-sual people, they have no country, they speak a Romance language that survived over millennia scattered around the Balkans (in Greece, Albania, Macedonia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania). This community displays a unique social model whose simplicity and modernity survived centu-ries of violent history in the Balkans without having its own government or institutions to rely on, without creating a class system, without internal conflict and social turmoil. Outside any borders, without schools and churches in their native language, the Aromanians managed to preserve their identity, their language, traditions, and Christian Orthodox religion by relying exclusively on the family and the ethnic community. The Aromanians have been a significant factor in the cultural consistency of the Balkans. They contributed with generosity and loyalty to the political, economic, scientific, literary and artistic spheres of the countries where they lived. They have been a vector of culture, tolerance and knowledge in multi-ethnic settings, a driver of trans-national unity and progress for the many peoples of the Balkans. The Aromanians chose to be a people among peoples, and their destiny can be defined in just two words by the phrase “iutsido – iuva” (everywhere and nowhere).