Folk band Pokošovci is an exceptional family band of talented Roma musicians from the village of Šumiac, in the Horehronie region. The band is known for keeping alive a specific traditional interpretation involving fantastic multipart singing and a unique repertoire of local, authentic Roma folk songs. Pokošovci have confirmed on many occasions that they are one of the most favourite traditional Roma bands in Slovakia. Their latest double album “Pokošovci 2” presents the essence of the Slovak Roma music inspired and surrounded by the folk tradition of Horehronie with its multipart singing and reminder of the “good old days” of playing and singing the emotional songs at home, at village feasts, weddings and family celebrations. The choice of the songs was careful and their interpretation is thus exceptionally deeply-felt and authentic. This album ranked at World Music Chart Europe at 15^th position in January 2020.

Miroslav Pokoš – 1st violin player, vocals
Radoslav Pokoš – viola, vocals
Stanislav Pokoš – double bass
Vladimír Pokoš – viola, vocals
Július Markus –accordion

Ľudová hudba Pokošovci
Ľudová hudba Pokošovci 2

Ranking:
The album Ľudová hudba Pokošovci 2 ranked in World Music Chart Europe at 13th position in January 2020.

Review/Quote:
“The closing concert of Bratislava World Music 2019 featured the Roma band Pokošovci with guest artist Jana Ambrózová. The festival program promised the group’s performance would be an “unforgettable closure of the festival”. It was an understatement.
As the five voices of the group’s singers filled the room in the opening number, it was clear something extraordinary was about to take place. When the voices were joined with the band’s instruments and finally by the voice and violin of visiting artist Jana Ambrózová, the music took the shape of an epiphany, an imposing revelation of a music and people larger than the band itself, bigger than the room and the stage the music was being performed on.
It is easy to describe music as a revelation as pretty much all music performed live offers revelations at various levels. This was different. The band proclaimed the arrival of a fresh vision, a revelatory glimpse of how music such as theirs should be played, how it should sound. Does the group go beyond the ordinary? Or is it that they go deeper into the material? Or is it just that the music itself has found root in a group of musicians and singers who are true vessels of the tradition, the lifestyle and genre? Whatever it is, it is like seeing spirit made flesh, turned into sound and music in some act of Roma transubstantiation.
For me, the concert was one of the most memorable and inspiring of a lifetime of attending live performances of music. Having presented some four thousand artists from more than one hundred and twenty countries, I have heard much of the world’s music. This concert was one of those rare experiences that shines out from the mix, one of the bright stars that fill the sky, and in this case the ears, as no other can.

Francis Edwards, has produced a classical music series, orchestral concerts, folk festivals and concerts and has served on music juries with the Canada Council for the Arts, the British Columbia Arts Council, the Juno Awards (Canadian Grammy)