The sensational Benka Boradovsky Bordello Band have just released their first ep, Danse Macabre. Please buy it so that they can send money some back to their poor families in the old country.

Hailing from the slums and ghettos of Auckland (the Prague of the South), The Benka Boradovsky Bordello band is a highly theatrical musical group specialising in music of Eastern European, Gypsy and Jewish flavour, along with some Western European influences. With music ranging from old to new, originals to standards, vocal to instrumental; they are remarkable in their ability to get everyone up and dancing, regardless of age, musical taste, or level of drunkenness. Benka’s globetrotting voice sings in a wide variety of languages, with lyrics in Russian, Greek, Serbian, Romani, Arabic, Hebrew, Spanish, English and more. If references are necessary, they sound like Tom Waits, Shane McGowan and Franz Kafka drunk too much vodka and thought they were in 1950’s Yugoslavia.

HISTORY:
After first emerging from an alleyway behind Auckland’s Wine Cellar sometime in the May of 2006, under the guise of Kapitan Shakirov’s Krazy Klezmerim; there has been a vague aroma in the air… a sprinkle of klezmer and a lingering hint of the Eastern Europeanesque with an exhalation of the Romani, well disguised behind the scent of whiskey and sweat. But when the Kapitan himself, Mr Daniel Dumnov, embarked on a trip back to his native Russia, the band had to reform, and Benka furtively grabbed the reins. Through other tribulations, such as The Blackbird winging off to the Bourne of Mel, Benka Boradovsky brought several new players under his bearded wings and the band is now ready to continue spreading its lingering and addictive scent across the country. Since then, the Butterfly has flown off to the Ton of Welling. Benka Boradovsky has since stopped hiring virtuosos named after winged creatures. With the capture and assimilation of Anna Rehkitz, the deer, on the flute, the band is now ready to put into motion its plans for domination…

“Got to be the best gypsy band I’ve ever heard. And I just got back from two years travelling around Europe!”
- random punter

BAND MEMBERS:
Benka Boradovsky – Clarinet, Vocals and licentious flirtations.
Anna Rehkitz (The Deer)- Flute and coy glances.
Philka Cherbyakov (The Worm) - Lead Guitar and devilish grins.
Senka Senyaglaze (Blue Eyes) - Bass Guitar and hats at jaunty angles.
Yelyena Yareiach (The Moon) - Percussion and feminine wiles.
Sometimes: Mauritz Pappillon (The Butterfly) – Violin and unnecessary puns. (Wellington based)

Reviews

The Benka Boradovsky Bordello Band is the most un-kiwi sounding kiwi band imaginable. While the title Danse Macabre comes from the French translation of The Dance Of Death, the EP sounds more like it hails from around the campfire of an Eastern European gypsy camp. Although four of the five tracks are traditional compositions it is still no mean feat that they have all the essence of another time and place. The band justifies this cultural discrepancy by calling their hometown Auckland “the Prague of the South”. Emanating seemingly unlimited passion and desire, the group’s charm is also rooted in their playfulness. This spills right down into the fact that after the instruments are credited, their band roles are allocated from licentious flirtations to coy glances and devilish grins. Best served with a generous helping of alcohol, preferably vodka, to get in the generously lubricated spirit of the recording.

***** Sharyn Croft, Groove Guide

Listen: Benka Boradovsky Uncharted Interview