Antwerp Gipsy-Ska Orkestra

Antwerp Gipsy-Ska Orkestra

Antwerp Gipsy-Ska Orkestra is a ska group from Antwerp, Belgium, active since 2004. It is a Belgian brassband that brings together Roma and gipsy musical influences with ska rhythm. The project starts with the idea of combining the raw energy of authentic Roma gipsy music with dance-oriented ska.

Formation and early history

The group forms in early 2004, with Gregor as the founding figure. Its debut concert takes place at Antwerp’s Museum of Fine Arts, as part of the opening of Antwerp Book City, where it draws a strong response from the audience, including writers and other public figures. A documentary about Antwerp Gipsy Ska and Ambrassband is made in December 2008.

Members and related projects

Gregor and Mukti are long-time collaborators and have played together in the hardcore punk band Moss, with Mukti on drums. Mukti also plays in Tachyon, which later becomes a ska band; Gregor joins it as singer. After Tachyon ends in 2003, Gregor, Mukti and Kike come together again in Antwerp Gipsy-Ska Orkestra. Kike also plays in the horn section of Donkey Diesel.

Other members and collaborators include Suhamet Latifi, a gipsy-born keyboard player from Serbia; Gregor Engelen, Vincent Robin and Enrique Noviello, who are also part of Ambrassband, a fanfare that grows out of the Antifare; Filip, who previously plays bass with Le Trio Perdu and later forms the klezmer group On Fidldikn Mamzer; and Alfredo Bravo, who is born in Chile and also drums with Blackie and the Oohoo’s. Enrique Noviello is listed as a member of the group.

Style and activity

The band plays ska with gipsy and Balkan influences, and it performs at large festivals in the Netherlands and Germany. It remains active and continues as part of Antwerp’s brass and ska scene.