Truth in advertising: Russian gypsy music. Passion, fire, booze, live (though only a second or two of applause at ends of tracks). You have your guitar, with Romany-flamenco flavors, as the rhythm instrument. You have your violin, drawing out the pained expressions of sorrow. You have your "Russian button" accordion providing texture and jollity. And then, of course, the macho vocals. It's all quite good, actually. The songs are quite evocative and in many cases, beautiful, and the musicians are doubtless masterful. One question though. How come Russian restaurants aren't blessed with wandering gypsy musicians as are Hungarian restaurants?

1. Textbook slow start, picking up speed with hai-lai-la-lai choruses, into a mad frenzy of fiddle-sawing
2. Slow start but the vocals are pretty lively even then - lots of yelling; inevitably, things speed up halfway through, settle down, and steam home
3. Hackneyed title, yes? "Gypsy Soul." Please! The accordion takes a turn - nice runs
4. Mincing bits of accordion and guitar, but the vox are full-bodied
5. The waltz mentioned in the title is a bit limp but the tango is red-blooded
6. Percussion solos cool things off between the really hot parts on the main instruments
7. A mellow-to-bursting accordion showpiece; lovely
8. Crazy-fast - olé! - with slow bits in the middle; singing to horses!
9. As if it's a duty of folk music ensembles to tackle the folk styles of other countries, the band launch into an alleged bossa nova here - which turns out something like a lively tango