La Caravane Passe

The band was formed in 2001 by Toma Feterman, who has ancestors of Polish, Rumanian and Jewish Russian origins. A self taught multi-instrumentalist, Toma sings as well as playing the banjo and the trumpet.

After initially performing music that covers a wide range from punk to French “chanson”, he decides to gather a group to perform music from Eastern Europe - a way of returning to his roots. At the beginning, the musicians were friends that played traditional songs. He meets Olivier Llugany in January 2001. Llugs started playing the fiscorn (a traditional bass bugle from Catalunia) at a young age, in the Sardane orchestras of his region (coblas). As a result, this unusual instrument has been introduced into the project – it has certain similarities with the tubas of the brass bands from the Balkans. It is thanks to Llugs that the group has that particular brass sound. Between 2001 and 2003, the band becomes popular in Paris, acquiring a reputation as a celebratory gypsy-klezmer ensemble. They can be found on all the stages of the Paris musical underground scene.