Boris Kovac & Ladaaba Orchest

“Just imagine there is only one starry night left till the end of the world: What would we do?” This question Yugoslavian Boris Kovac—guide/clarinetist/composer-turned-Rod Serling—poses, then answers on this rare find of an album. Bass clarinet, accordion, guitars, violin, drums, percussion and soprano sax glide you, drink in hand, onto a worn tavern floor for a lyrical last tango in the Balkans, then onto an Orient Express train ride through multi-stylistic themes and motifs—shades of Serbia, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Turkey and Gypsy regions. Ironic, passionate, subtle, sacrificial, replete with just-out-of-earshot murmur and a Lotte Lenya-like clink of glasses, the music laughs bittersweetly in the face of chaos. “Forget about the despair / Take your riches with you / Just in case / Let God come with you / If He feels up to it.” Gather friends on a Saturday night and seal your fate.