Straight from the largest international festival stages, including even the New York pub at which legendary Leonard Cohen and Dolly Parton sang, the band Kal is coming. In the intimate atmosphere of the Rumenka Cultural Station, Doček 7531, on 13 January at 9 p.m. will reveal to the audience what Roma music with elements of tango, the Middle East and Jamaica sounds like. Admission is free of charge.

Kal is a Serbian music group, founded in 1996 in Valjevo. The authentic name Kal comes from Romani, meaning ‘black’. The completely original and irresistible music of this band can be described as traditional Balkan Roma music with elements of tango, Turkish influences, as well as Middle Eastern and Jamaican music. The group became popular in Serbia and across the globe in 2006, when they published their debut album, with western critics naming their sound Rock´N´Roma or Gypsy Rockabilly.

Through their music, Kal represents the culture of the Romani people, in their own country as well as abroad. In 2013, they participated in the Beosong (Competition for the Serbian Eurovision Song Contest entry), with the song ‘Kadifa usne’. They performed in front of an international audience at numerous European festivals including Roskilde (Denmark), Fusion (Germany), Berlinale (Germany), Exit (Serbia), Sziget (Hungary), La notte di San Lorenzo (Italy) and others. In addition to major European tours, Kal also had two American tours, during which they performed on iconic stages, such as the stage at the famous Joe’s Pub in New York, where Richard Thompson, Leonard Cohen, Dolly Parton and other legends sang. Thanks to these tours Kal got to collaborate with one of New York’s biggest musical acts – Gogol Bordello.

Kal opened the first Kustendorf in 2008, and the band’s guitarist and frontman, Dragan Ristić, wrote the lyrics to the popular song Bubamara for Emir Kusturica’s cult-classic film Black Cat, White Cat.