I uploaded these albums half a year ago at a lowsy bitrate. The torrent never got a lot of seeds (propably due to my newbish disorganization of the included files). So here goes second try, this time properly named and organized, and in HQ bitrate (256 kbps). Enjoy.

For a video preview of Toni's style go here:  
http://suprbay.org/showthread.php?t=51767&page=10#post381304

Quote (Grit Friedrich):"A black and white photo shows Toni Iordache at the tambal in a crooked house somewhere on the outskirts of Bucharest with half a dozen tape recorders beneath the instrument. Private live recordings originated back then, in the sixties and seventies, definitely hot property for Toni Iordache aficionados, because he truly was a once-in-a-century talent and the most popular wedding musician in the whole country.

He was born on 17th December 1942 in the village of Bildana, near Bucharest. At the age of four this son of a tambal player got to know the smaller portable version of this instrument. A little after this the musician's family moved into a small house in the Bucharest quarter of Herestrau. Many Lautari Tonimusicians lived here, including the Gore brothers and the singer Dona Dumitru Siminica. Toni went into the wedding business and soon rose to the position of guest soloist with the Romanian radio folk music ensemble. Small in physique, he became an unrivalled performer on the tambal. The trumpeter Costel Vasilescu remembers their first meeting well: "I met Toni in 1954, at that time I was playing in my father's brass band in Chitila, a village on the outskirts of Bucharest. Toni was playing there too and everyone was just standing around him and getting scared, because his playing was so insanely good."

Toni Iordache learned a lot from the Bucharest tambal player Mitica Ciuciu, Costel Vasilescu remembers. When the young musicians visited Ciuciu, the old Lautar played them his arrangements and interpretations of traditional dances. And at the next wedding a day later, the young Iordache would shine with them. Toni Iordache rose to become an export hit for the People's Republic of Romania - he toured through many European countries, the USA and Asia with the state folklore ensembles. He often drove from Bucharest Airport straight to a wedding where the other musicians were waiting for him. 

Weddings were sweat-inducing but lucrative work - they began in the morning and lasted until the following morning, sometimes the celebration continued for two or three days - the musicians worked to the edge of exhaustion. For Toni Iordache struck the strings of his instrument at a breathtaking speed (25 beats per second). He was famous for his complex solos, a gifted ensemble player, who enriched many melodies with oriental elements and sophisticated rhythms. For Toni Iordache the technique of playing the tambal was not made up solely of speed, but also of stroke, interpretation, fantasy and inspiration.

Iordache's genius was recognised by important people; it is said that during one of his Bucharest visits Sergiu Celibidache, the world-famous Romanian conductor, heard Toni Iordache, and on leaving embraced him with tears in his eyes. And it is no coincidence that many Electrecord records of "muzica lautareasca" were recorded with Toni Iordache between 1965 and 1980. Except during his forced break in prison.

Because on returning from a tour at the beginning of the seventies, the musician was arrested for the illegal possession of foreign currency. The story goes in Bucharest that he wanted to buy his wife a fur coat with the money he had earned abroad. 

Even the prestigious orchestra leader Florian Economu couldn't help his soloist at the trial when he spoke up for him: "We have three giants in Romania, Nicolae Ceausescu (head of state), Ilie Nastase (Romanian Wimbledon doubles tennis champion) and the tambal player Toni Iordache! Do you really want to convict him for a few dollars?".

However it remained a crime in Romania to possess a single dollar until December 1989. The court sentenced Iordache to three years in prison, of which he had already served more than one year. The trial was not mentioned in the newspapers; only the musicians in the scene knew about it and had been warned. However there were fellow inmates who were able to save Toni Iordache from hard physical labour, because they - for a fee - took over his share. It is due to these people, that Iordache was still able to play on leaving prison. The musician, who already suffered from diabetes, lost so much weight in prison that he looked like an adolescent, but after his release soon recovered his old stage persona.

Toni Iordache also played a decisive role for Dan Armeanca, the godfather of Romanian Gypsy pop. "Toni was a genius on the tambal, ones like that are not born twice. He respected tradition, but even back then he allowed jazz influences to sound through. He gave us young musicians courage due to his musical audacity." And he passed on his talent: following a tour of the USA Toni Iordache bought two Bohak tambals, on which today his 44-year-old son Leonard in Bucharest's Jaristea Restaurant and his 18-year-old grandson Bogdan play the repertoire of the dynasty's founder.
Seriously ill with diabetes, Toni Iordache's last foreign tour took him to the Netherlands. Upon his return he was advised to have his leg amputated, but Toni Iordache only survived the operation by a few hours. The crème de la crème of the Lautari scene made a pilgrimage to his funeral in February 1988, family, friends and fans following the hearse, which was drawn by four black horses. Iordache's friend, the trumpeter Costel Vasilescu, co-organized the funeral. It was a worthy farewell from Toni Iordache, the tambal god of Romania."

-Grit Friedrich
Journalist and editor of the compilation Suburban Bucharest (trikont)

Glossary:

tzambal- tzimbel- cymbalum-tzimbalom-dulcimer-zimbalon

The tambal is an instrument with its origins in the Orient; it is made of a wooden soundbox above which a certain number of metal strings are stretched. These strings are beaten with two small wooden sticks with their heads wrapped in cotton. The tambal was played at the court of the Wallachian prince Alexandru Ipsilanti in the 18th century. The instrument soon became a popular folk instrument not to be missed at a wedding or village ball.


Torrent contains:

Toni Iordache - A Virtuoso of The Cimbalom (CD1)
Electrecord (Romania) | MP3 | 44100 Hz | stereo | 256 kbps

1. Toni Iordache - Căluşul (2:25) 
2. Toni Iordache - Cântă cucul primavara (2:07) 
3. Toni Iordache - Hora moldovenească (2:22) 
4. Toni Iordache - Variaţiuni la cântecul "Aşa be (2:07) 
5. Toni Iordache - Geamparalele de la Babadag (1:42) 
6. Toni Iordache - Aseară fusei la mândra (3:50) 
7. Toni Iordache - Ca la Breaza (2:37) 
8. Toni Iordache - Mandruţo, de dorul tău (2:53) 
9. Toni Iordache - Cântec la îmbracatul miresei (3:03) 
10. Toni Iordache - Hora de la Rudari (2:18) 
11. Toni Iordache - Joc de doi (2:58) 
12. Toni Iordache - Sârba lui Floarea Cioacă (2:04) 
13. Toni Iordache - Jocul ciocănelelor (2:50) 
14. Toni Iordache - Nuneasca de la Craiova (2:44) 
15. Toni Iordache - Cântec de ascultare şi Brează (2:36) 
16. Toni Iordache - Hora de la PopeÅŸti (2:24) 
17. Toni Iordache - Sârba dobrogeană (3:13) 
18. Toni Iordache - Horă (4:45) 
19. Toni Iordache - Geamparalele lui Haidim (2:29) 
20. Toni Iordache - Hora dinspre ziua din Bolintin (2:30) 
21. Toni Iordache - Sârba de la Medgidia (3:23) 
22. Toni Iordache - Cântec şi Brează ca la Fantane (4:39) 
23. Toni Iordache - Leliţa Floare (2:27) 
24. Toni Iordache - Măi neicuţă, măi gorjene (1:48) 
25. Toni Iordache - Braul pe ÅŸase ca la Muscel (1:47) 
26. Toni Iordache - Păsarică de sub nori (2:49) 
27. Toni Iordache - Hora lăutarilor (1:56) 
28. Toni Iordache - Pasărea şi piţulicu (3:55) 
29. Toni Iordache - De doi (1:15)

 
Toni Iordache - A Virtuoso of The Cimbalom (CD 2)
Electrecord (Romania) | MP3 | 44100 Hz | stereo | 256 kbps

1.Hora de la Bâldana 
2.Sârba oltenească 
3.Variatiuni pe tema "Foaie verde şi-o crăiţă" 
4.Doina Oltului 
5.Hora de la Bolintin 
6.Geaba ma mai duc acasa si Hora lui Leonard 
7.Doina de jale 
8.Cantec de ascultare si Sarba de la Săbăreni 
9.Cantec de dragoste 
10.Hora din Ialomita 
11.Doina "Trandafir imbobocit" 
12.Breaza fetelor 
13.Balada lui Corbea 
14.Ma dusei in lumea larga 
15.Doina transilvana 
16.Hora lautareasca 
17.Doina "Cand eram copil mic" 
18.Hora de la Medgidia 
19.Balada haiduceasca 

Orchestrele conduse de Gheorghe Zamfir(1-3,5-10), Tudor Pană(4,12-15,18), Florian Economu(11,16,17,19)

Toni Iordache - Sounds from a Bygone Age vol 4
ASPHALT TANGO (Germany) | MP3 | 44100 Hz | stereo | 256 kbps

1. Variatiuni Pe Tema "Foaie Verde Si-O Craita"  
2. Grea Mi-E Doamne, Inima  
3. Sîrba de La Medgidia  
4. Cântec de Ascultare Si Breaza  
5. ÃŽntr-O Joi de Dimineata  
6. Balada Haiduceasca  
7. Ca La Breaza  
8. Omul Bun N-Are Noroc  
9. Cântec de Masa  
10. As Munci La Plug Si La Coasa  
11. Cântec de Ascultare al Lui Stoican Batrînul  
12. Geamparale de La Babadag  
13. Tinerete, Tinerete  
14. Doina Transilvania  

Musicians

Buze Pane - accordion
Costel Vasilescu - trumpet
Ion Barbulea - double bass
Bebe Serban - accordino
Mitica Chiru - violin
Nicu Bela - accordino