Mircea Baniciu | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Born | Timișoara, Timiș County, Romania | 31 July 1949
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
|
Instrument(s) |
|
Years active | 1972–present |
Labels |
|
Website | mirceabaniciu |
Mircea Baniciu (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈmirtʃe̯a baˈnitʃju] ; born 31 July 1949) is a Romanian musician, singer, and songwriter. Originally known as the lead singer of the Romanian rock group Transsylvania Phoenix, Baniciu quit the group when they illegally fled Romania for West Germany in 1977, continuing his career as a successful solo singer throughout the 1980s before forming a folk supergroup in 1992 with fellow musicians Mircea Vintilă, Vlady Cnejevici, and Florian Pittiș, with whom he had successfully toured Romania during the 1990s. [1]
Following the Romanian Revolution, Baniciu re-joined Transsylvania Phoenix as their lead singer, but, due to frequent disagreements with band leader Nicu Covaci, has performed and appeared on the group's albums irregularly, before finally quitting Phoenix permanently in 2007. [2] [3] In 2014, with fellow Phoenix bandmates Josef Kappl and Ovidiu Lipan "Țăndărică", Baniciu formed Pasărea Rock (i.e. "The Rock Bird"), a folk rock supergroup.
Solo discography:
with Phoenix (see Transsylvania Phoenix):
with Pasărea Colibri:
Transsylvania Phoenix is a Romanian rock band formed in 1962 in Timișoara by guitarists Nicu Covaci and Kamocsa Béla. Guitarist Claudiu Rotaru, vocalist Florin "Moni" Bordeianu and drummer Ioan "Pilu" Ștefanovici completed the early lineup. The group became famous in Romania in the 1970s when it started fusing their 1960s rock and roll sound with traditional folk music, thus pioneering the "ethno rock" subgenre.
Romania is a European country with a multicultural music environment which includes active ethnic music scenes. Traditional Romanian folk music remains popular, and some folk musicians have come to national fame.
Nicolae (Nicu) Covaci is a Romanian guitarist, painter, and music composer. He is best known as the leader and founding member of Romanian rock and cult band Phoenix, for which he is vocalist and guitar player, with more than 50 years of activity.
Josef Kappl is a Romanian-German multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter who is best known as one of the oldest members and bass players in the Romanian rock band Transsylvania Phoenix, initially performing with this band in Communist Romania starting from 1971 up until 1979.
Ovidiu Lipan 'Țăndărică' is a Romanian drummer.
Costin Petrescu is an architect, graphic artist, percussionist and Romanian-French composer.
Pasărea Colibri is a Romanian folk supergroup. Aside from typical Romanian folk instruments and acoustic/electric guitars, the band also made use of digital and analogue synthesizers, pedal steel guitars, and fretless bass.
Florian Pittiș was a Romanian stage and television actor, theatre director, folk music singer, and radio producer.
Romanian rock is a genre of popular music in Romania. It was influenced by changes in Romanian politics to such an extreme, that both the themes and styles of musicians, and the tastes and interests of listeners, changed dramatically with every major event in Romania's internal politics.
Mircea Florian, also known as Florian din Transilvania, M. A. N. Florian, and FloriMAN, is a Romanian multi-instrumentalist musician, multimedia artist and computer scientist, based in Germany. Having started his musical career as a folk rock singer, in the late 1960s, he developed a fusion between Romanian folklore and Eastern music, especially Indian sound, moving into psychedelic music. He founded Ceata Melopoică ensemble, with whom he recorded a concept album. These and his solo acts earned him a cult following among rebellious youth, establishing his reputation as one of the most original contributors to Romanian pop music. Florian was also an early member of Cenaclul Flacăra, a traveling music and literature circle, but parted with it when it became increasingly nationalistic.
Adriana-Laurenția "Laura" Stoica was a Romanian pop rock singer, composer and actress. She is often considered the best female rock vocalist and one of the most important figures of the local Romanian music scene. Between 1990 and 2005, Stoica recorded 4 studio albums, she performed in over 700 shows in her country and abroad, and had over 650 television appearances.
Electrecord is a Romanian record label which was founded in 1932. It was subsequently transformed into the national recording company following the socialist doctrine of centralization and was the only record label in Communist Romania.
Ioan Gyuri Pascu was a Romanian pop music singer, producer, actor, and comedian, also known for his participation in the comedy group Divertis and for his activity in Romanian cinema and television. Moving between rock music, rhythm and blues, reggae, and jazz, the multi-instrumentalist Pascu founded a number of bands and registered success particularly during the early 1990s, when he was the lead singer of a group known as The Blue Workers. Pascu was the manager of several alternative music acts with his label Tempo Music and remained an outspoken critic of Romanian commercial radio.
Bogdan Curta is a Romanian folk singer-songwriter, poet and radio host.
Corneliu Stroe was a Romanian drummer and percussionist.
Nikolaus Lenau High School is a German-language high school in Timișoara. The school was founded in 1870 and is named after the 19th century romantic poet Nikolaus Lenau who was born in the nearby village of Lenauheim. Besides high school education (Lyzealklassen), the school additionally offers primary education (Grundschulklassen) and intermediate education (Gymnasialklassen) using German as the language of instruction for the most part. The Nikolaus Lenau High School is currently considered the most important German-language high school in Banat.
Maria Gheorghiu is a Romanian folk singer and songwriter. In 1993, she won first prize at the National Festival of Folk Music 'Om Bun'.
Pasărea Rock is a Romanian rock supergroup formed in February 2014, in Bucharest, Romania by three former members of the legendary band Transsylvania Phoenix: Mircea Baniciu, Josef Kappl (bass), and Ovidiu Lipan (drums). The first line-up included another Transsylvania Phoenix member — Cristi Gram on lead guitar — along with Vlady Cnejevici on keyboards and Teo Boar on guitar. Later, they were replaced by Sorin Voinea (keyboards) and Nicu Patoi.