Nicolae Guţă
Nicolae Guţă (Romanian pronunciation: [nikoˈla.e ˈɡʊtsə], born Nicolae Linguraru on December 3, 1967 in Petroşani, Romania) is a Romani manele and Gypsy jazz singer. He is the father of manele and ethno-pop singer Nicoleta Guţă.[1]
[edit] Musical career
Guţă started as a singer and accordionist in the late 1980s, singing the lăutărească music. He released his debut album in 1992.[1] Two years later, he released his first mainstream hit – "De când te iubesc pe tine" (Romanian: "Since I've Been Loving You"), featured on his second long-play record. His first album for a foreign audience was released in France, in 1996; while Romanian musical critics hardly had had any reaction towards his music,[1] the journalists abroad would show their appreciation and dub his music a very modern fashion of Gypsy jazz (including electric guitars and synthesizers).[2][3]
However, starting around 1998 Guţă developed a growing interest in manele music, a fast-paced subgenre of Balkans folk music somewhat resembling to Arab pop.[citation needed] Guţă had an important role in the advancement of manele (which were a fairly new musical trend at that time) and brought in influences from Western pop and hip hop music.[1] Some of his songs are: "Aş renunţa", "Am greşit şi eu", "Dacă vrei", "Doar tu". In 2007, Guţă released a cover version of Hari Mata Hari's "Lejla", the third-placed entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, renaming it "Cine eşti?" (Who Are You?).
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d (Romanian) Biography of Nicolae Guţă, nicolaeguta.ro (retrieved May 5, 2010)
- ^ Keefner, Kurt. The Greatest Living Gypsy Voice, allmusic.com (retrieved May 5, 2010)
- ^ The Greatest Living Gypsy Voice, cdroots.com (retrieved May 5, 2010)
[edit] External links
- (Romanian) nicolaeguta.ro, the singer's official website
