http://www.last.fm/music/Kolpakov+Trio

The Kolpakov Trio, made up world-renowned soloist and composer Sasha Kolpakov, his nephew and fellow master of the seven-string guitar Vadim Kolpakov, and violin virtuoso Arkadiy Gips. The three are currently on tour with Madonna and are spreading the Roma Renaissance.

Orato.com: How did you get involved in Madonna’s Sweet & Sticky Tour?

Vadim: Eugene Hutz from the Gogol Bordello band is a friend of Madonna’s and our cousin. She just directed him in a film called Filth and Wisdom. He recommended us to Madonna.

Orato.com: Why is music your way of life?

Vadim: Music is in our blood. We are Roma, but not in the traditional sense; we were not travelers. We are urban Roma and grew up in cities. We come from a musical family of singers and dancers. When he was a little boy in 1956, my uncle, Sasha, saw a Roma caravan of musicians and dancers and decided to be a professional musician.

Orato.com: You call yourselves ‘Roma,’ as opposed to ‘gypsy.’

Vadim: The original word for our nation is ‘Roma;’ Romany people came from India a thousand years ago. ‘Gypsy’ is an English word, but it’s not politically correct. This word also means ‘traveler,’ but not all Roma are travelers. Gypsy is a stereotype, so we don’t like to use it. Roma music was always popular, but in India, the Middle East, Europe, or Russia it had its own style. Roma music from the Balkans is different from Roma music from Spain.

Orato.com: Because of Madonna, a lot more people will be aware of your music, but in Russia, are you already very well-known? I heard you performed for Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin?

Vadim: Sasha was the musical director of the Romen Theater for 30 years and I worked there for 8 years.

Orato.com: (to violin virtuoso Arkadiy Gips) How many people have been in the audience at the Sweet & Sticky Tour shows?

Arkadiy: In Europe it was 60,000 to 80,000 people, in the U.S. and Canada it’s 25,000 to 30,000 and in South America it will be about 100,000 people. Sometimes people think Roma people are from Romania or even Rome! IWe have been a secret in the West…

Orato.com: Arkadiy, how did you learn to play the violin?

Arkadiy: When I was 3, it was like a toy. When I was 5, I studied seriously with a teacher even through college and university. After 15 years of playing classical orchestras as a soloist, I met people who played Roma music, and that was it. I also play piano and guitar.

Orato.com: How difficult is the seven-string guitar?

Vadim: The Russian seven-string guitar was created at the end of the 18th century by Andrei Sychra, and it was played by Russian aristocrats. When Roma people came to Russia, they adopted this instrument and kept with the tradition. Sasha created his own style and now the younger generation is getting into it. The seven-string guitar was in many ways lost for the last 30 years, but now all the Russian guitar players who play six-string guitar are starting to switch.

Arkadiy: It’s a Renaissance of seven-string guitar. Madonna used Sasha’s music for her film, Filth and Wisdom. Soon you will hear Russian Romany music everywhere.

By Orato.com