Folklore from Croatia

"Tamburaski Sastav" means "Tamburica Ensemble," where "Tamburica" is a class of instrument. So the actual name of the group is "Veritas," which means "truth" in Latin. It may be significant that a Croatian group should adopt such a name, since the principal distinction between Croats and Serbs is that the Croats use the Roman alphabet and are Catholics, while the Serbs use Cyrillic and are Orthodox. At any rate, a tanburica is any member of a family of instruments derived from the Arabic tanbur, which is a long-necked lute. Tanburicas come in different sizes (and therefore pitches). Veritas uses four different sizes, corresponding approximately to alto, tenor, baritone, and bass. (The soprano is reserved for solo performance.) The instruments sound somewhat like mandolins, but slightly mellower. The instrumental ensemble, which is a sextet, is fronted by a female vocalist whose voice is pleasant but doesn't exhibit much variety. None of the songs really stand out. There are dances, love songs, and, oddly, two songs about boots. Since this disc should be available at a bargain price, it might be worth checking out for curiosity value, but don't expect a revelation. ~ Kurt Keefner