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Going The Distance... Because giving up is simply not an option! We'll get through this. Together. We'll be posting on our Facebook, Instagram & Youtube pages regularly, attempting to lift your spirits! I'm black They call me black Yay, the bomb! A little black humour won't go amiss in these dark times. Or, as Otto Julius Bierbaum wrote in his novel Yankeedoodlefahrt: "Humor is when you laugh anyway" ("Humor ist, wenn man trotzdem lacht") Kali Som, a Roma traditional updated by Mec Yek and captured in its live performance at ChouXS-Fest. From the album SuperDiverCity (see https://mecyek.bandcamp.com). Subtitles are available in Dutch, French and English.

Mec Yek is part of Le monde est un village - La Première RTBF's diversité podcast. Enjoy and tell your friends! Listen to the full podcast HERE

Day 47 of the Covid19 quarantine: “Tshaje Tshaje”, a Roma traditional, performed by Piet Maris Mec Yek 'Tshaje Tshaje' from the album SuperDiverCity (2015). One of the first songs Piet learned from Laci, the Rom singer white whom the whole Gipsy adventure begun, mid '90s... James-Joyce-stream-of-conciousness-wise: misty woods - smokey tiny block huts - the tiny house Piet lived in at the lakes near an abbey in Leuven - discovery of/concerts in Brasserie De L'union - endless travelling in an R4's, busses, planes - taking musicians, photographers, journalists, radio makers on a stroll - stubborn policeman at the checkpoints - passport problems - la chaconne (Bach) full force on a blaster while travelling - dancing in the snow at midnight at minus 20 - discotek in a small Roma living room - discovery of/concerts in Bazaar Brussels - passing midnight at new year's eve with a bunch of Roma musicians in a small van while driving passed the Brussels Royal Palace in Laeken while fireworks burst out everywhere... But most important of all, the music, always taking the lead... Listen to the original studio version from the album SuperDiverCity by Mec Yek on Bandcamp

Day 41 of the Covid19 quarantine: “Kaskere ola duj tshavore”, a Roma traditional, performed by Piet Maris from the album Antikrisis (2008). The Roma traditional repertoire where this song comes from is pretty straightforward, most of the songs are in 4/4 actually (or without rythm in the “halgads” the slow ballads, very slow and sad) - Piet even remembers from his first visits mid 90’s to the small village of Rakusy, at the feet of the high Tatra mountains, at the Slowakian-Polish border, when he played a waltz, 3/4, it was perceived as pretty exotic… For this song, to open up the borders a bit more, we turned its 4/4 into 7/8, kind of moving over to the balkans... Listen to the original studio version from the album Antikrisis by Mec Yek on Bandcamp * What are those two children doing at the riverside without a mother or a father *

Day 35 of the Covid19 quarantine: "Julia Julia", a Roma traditional, performed by Piet Maris. Take a look at the really wild version by Mec Yek and with Kesaj Tchave at Balkan Trafik Festival on Youtube! "where is your blanket, what's your story? I went to the bar I ordered her beer beer, she didn't want to drink so I bought her chocolate"

Day 32 of the Covid19 quarantine: "Nane Oda Lavutaris", a Roma traditional, performed by Piet Maris. "There won't be any musicians left to play my music" Listen to the studio version by Mec Yek from their EP Caravan 2000 on Bandcamp or Spotify

Day 29 of the Covid19 quarantine: "E Terni O Terno", a Roma traditional, performed by Piet Maris. A bridal theme. Listen to the version by Mec Yek on Bandcamp or Spotify: