Szászcsávás

Szászcsávás is a small Hungarian village in the heart of Transylvania, in Mureș County. In the early twentieth century, gypsy musicians were settled in this relatively wealthy village, which is also famous for its polyphonic choral. There were several gypsy bands in Szászcsávás, but the formation of István Jámbor “Dumnezeu,” Sándor Csányi “Cilika”, Ferenc Mezei “Csángáló,” and Mátyás Mezei became outstandingly famous. From this group, only Sándor Csányi remained playing music. He is the head of the orchestra. One of his sons, Sándor Mezei, is the second fiddler, his younger son, Alin Mezei, is the permanent viola player, and Alin’s son is currently entering the band as the new bassist.