Lăutari, Maria Tănase and Bucharest jazz

About Lăutari, Maria Tănase and Bucharest jazz

By the ULTIMATE Bucharest Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

The music of Bucharest’s old neighbourhoods was played by lăutari, professional musicians, many of them Roma, who could move a tavern to tears or dancing. Their songs were carried to the world by the singer Maria Tănase and, later, by bands such as Taraf de Haïdouks, while a lively jazz scene grew alongside them.

The lăutari

Lăutari played at weddings, christenings and in the taverns of the mahala, Bucharest’s old neighbourhoods, with violins, the țambal (a hammered dulcimer), accordion and double bass. Their repertoire mixed village songs, romances and urban ballads.

Maria Tănase

Maria Tănase (1913–1963) is the great voice of Romanian song. She recorded folk songs and romances from the 1930s onwards, singing with a power and emotion that still makes her the reference for Romanian singers.

A good lăutar knows a song for every mood at the table.

From Clejani to the world

In the 1990s, Taraf de Haïdouks, a band of lăutari from the village of Clejani near Bucharest, and Fanfare Ciocărlia, a brass band from Moldavia, became stars of festivals worldwide.

Jazz in Bucharest

Romania has a strong jazz tradition: the pianist Johnny Răducanu (1931–2011) was its best-known figure, and the Green Hours jazz café on Calea Victoriei has long been a home for concerts.

Our advice: look for evenings of lăutari music in traditional restaurants, check the programme of Green Hours for jazz, and listen to Maria Tănase’s recordings before you go.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Lăutari, Maria Tănase and Bucharest jazz before you go.