George Batyi

Partial Transcript: "I play with several different bands, but I have my own band called "Gypsy Strings". One is with these guys and we do traditional Hungarian music and then I have one back in Pittsburgh where we do Hungarian, but we do Romanian, Slovak, Croatian and those guys are university graduate musicians, except for me I went to another school..."

Segment Synopsis: George was born in Homestead, Pennsylvania and has been playing the violin for about 48 years. He primarily plays in Pittsburgh, but has traveled around the States to Cleveland, Chicago, New York, Missouri and Kansas. In 1991, George went to Slovakia and toured there for 10 days with 5 musicians and 12 dancers.
George has his own band called "Gypsy Strings", but also plays in other bands as well.
At the age of 10, George went to Chatham school of music for two years of formal training where he learned how to read and write music, but his teacher quickly noticed how advanced George was and after a year and a half/two years he told George that he didn't have anything else to teach him. He then started playing with other people in Pittsburgh, expanding his talent through other instruments such as the drums, bass and guitar.

Keywords: Chattam school of music; George Batyi; Gypsy Strings; Pittsburgh; violinist

Subjects: Romanies--Hungary--Music; Romanies--Music; musicians, Romani; musicians--interviews

Partial Transcript: "When I was a little kid, I use to watch them all, because they got together all the time and they played and practiced, and I used to watch them play so like I said when I was young my grandmother told my father, she didn't speak any English, she spoke Slovak, Hungarian and Romani, so she told him "you better get him a violin to play" so my father got me a little plastic violin. I got pictures of it and I'm like 'oh god' and I'm posing like this with the violin and everything. I even posted a picture of me on Facebook and people commented saying 'how old were you?' and I was like '5 years old', they says 'you look like you already know how to play'".

Segment Synopsis: His whole family payed music; his father played the Clarinet, his grandfather on his father's side played was a violinist from Slovakia and his grandfather on his mother's side was a violinist from the Hungarian part of Slovakia. He has two brothers that played music as well, although they don't play professionally, only for enjoyment purposes. As a little kid, he used to watch them all play and then at the age of 5 George was given his first violin made out of plastic.
When he was 10 years old, he went to the Chattam school of music and his teacher was with the Pittsburgh symphony and he took George to his professor and then he started studying with him.
He has also played other genres such as Salsa, country and R&B music with other bands in the past. His favorite style of music to play is Hungarian Gypsy because of the feeling and because it is connected to his heritage.
George has always worked a full time job while being a professional musician.
People would come to the restaurant and ask George if he could teach them how to play the Hungarian style of music, but he didn't have an interest in teaching others.

Keywords: Family; Hungarian; Hungarian Gypsy; Slovak; musicians

Subjects: music--performance--united states; romanies--music; salsa (music); youth, Romani

Partial Transcript: "For weddings, they play at the house of the bride and march her out to the church and then play at the church and then during the reception too and we have traditions at funerals when the Gypsy dies. We go play at the funeral home, we even have a certain song that we play when people march with the casket."

Segment Synopsis: George's grandparents came over from Slovakia and Hungary and spoke Romani and Slovak. Both his grandmothers spoke no English so he would listen to them and answer back in English because he could only understand.
George explained how there are all kinds of gypsies. There are the musicians (who George is) and the travelers. Both are very different in terms of how they speak. George talked about how the Gypsy travelers are weird and do weird rituals.
Traditions:
Weddings - play at the house of the bride and march her out to the church and then play at the church and then during the reception.
Funerals - traditions at funerals, they play at the funeral home, certain song that they play when people march with the casket. George recorded this song so people would know what this song was and what it means, it's on one of the cds he did.

Keywords: Gypsy musicians; Gypsy travelers; Romani; Slovak; funerals; traditions; weddings

Subjects: Romani Language; Slovak language; immigration; weddings--songs and music

Partial Transcript: "No, they just never did. I don’t know why... There’s not too many women that get into it. I mean within our Gypsy community, we have singers, really good singers."

Segment Synopsis: George explained how women never played Gypsy music. There was one band in the 30s and they were all women (they played violin, bass, symbol) but there hasn’t been any women musicians since then. However, they are women that sing Gypsy music currently.
George also introduced a boy from his Gypsy community named Justin Shandor that is an Elvis impersonator in Las Vegas.

Keywords: Elvis impersonator; Gypsy music; Justin Shandor; Women; singers

Subjects: Elvis Presley impersonators; women musicians; women singers; women, Romani, in music

Partial Transcript: "They’re playing the modern music of R&B and Jazz and stuff like that. They just never learned to play the Hungarian Gypsy style music. I mean there’s a few young guys that play the violin and are learning, but they need someone to teach them the right way. If they just play by themselves then forget about it. But I don’t know how long it’s going to last because it’s slowly fading away, ya know. We’re just trying to keep it alive and see, ya know, what happens."

Segment Synopsis: George explains that there are not that many musicians left and the younger generations are playing more modern music and less of the traditional Hungarian Gypsy music. Even in Europe, Gypsy music is fading away and musicians leave Hungary to perform in Germany, Japan or the Netherlands. George seemed saddened that the younger generation doesn't have the interest to learn this genre of music, but he also mentioned how he doesn't have the patience to teach. People asked him if he could teach and he thought about it, but declined. However, George taught his two nephews how to play the bass and the drums.

Keywords: Gypsy music; Hungarian Gypsy style; Younger generations; loss of style; modern music

Subjects: Romanies--music; conflit of generations; intergenerational relations; music--instruction and study; youth, Romani

Partial Transcript: "I get enjoyment from it because I’ve been playing it all my life. And the other people, I think it’s just the exotic songs and stuff that they hear and it’s just the way you play."

Segment Synopsis: George spoke about his personal enjoyment of Gypsy music. In contrast, he emphasized the lack of interest that the younger generation has for the traditional Gypsy music even though their grandfather and great-grandfather's played this kind of music.
George also talked about how most musicians that play this genre of music are dispersed around the states and therefore it's hard for them to come together and play often. However, George, --- and ---- try to play together 5-6 times a year even though they live in separate cities.

Keywords: distance; exotic songs; meaning; personal enjoyment; playing

Subjects: intergenerational relations; jazz; music and intergenerational commmunication

Partial Transcript: "We like to stroll around the tables and play for the guests. In some places you can’t do that because the owner won’t allow it."

Segment Synopsis: George played in Gypsy Cafe for 7 years. Now he plays Thursday nights at a Hungarian place on the north side of Pittsburgh called Usars??. After George started playing there, other restaurants started asking his group to play at their restaurants. The restaurant called Mezza in Pittsburgh wants them to play again after they played there a month ago. However, George explained how playing in restaurants is challenging at times due to restaurant owners that don't like when the musicians stroll around the tables and play close to audience members. George articulated how strolling around tables while people eat is part of the Gypsy music culture. But they do manage to play at restaurants that allow them to stroll and interact with the customers.

Keywords: Gypsy Cafe; Gypsy music; Hungarian food; Hungarian restaurants; playing; restaurants; strolling

Subjects: ethnic restaurants; gigs (employment); musicians--Pennsylvania; musicians--Romani

Partial Transcript: “My uncle tells these guys, ‘well you gotta hear my nephew play, you gotta hear my nephew’, so they says ‘well how old is he’, he says ‘I don’t know he’s like twelve or thirteen’, they’re like, ‘What!?’, he says ‘you gotta hear him play, he’s really good’. So I went there one time and they were rehearsing for a concert, there was like fifteen guys. So I’m sitting there listening to them or whatever. So the bass player says to the guys, ‘do you wanna hear him play’, they says ‘who’? ‘Him’, me, they says. So I got up and started playin’ and ever since then we’ve been friends”.... “They know the stuff”.

Segment Synopsis: George tells us both of his bands are called “Gypsy Strings”, and that he posts about his band on Facebook and on their website. He also explains about how the two bands are different. He plays faster, more technical stuff with his band in Pittsburgh (see his recordings in the Conservatory collection at https://astoriedpeople.oberlincollegelibrary.org/items/show/43 and https://astoriedpeople.oberlincollegelibrary.org/items/show/47). He says they don’t play “the real gypsy way” as does his other band (see recording in the Conservatory collection at https://astoriedpeople.oberlincollegelibrary.org/items/show/79 and performance with Detroit-based musicians from later that evening at https://astoriedpeople.oberlincollegelibrary.org/items/show/41). He discusses how he and the band members met, explaining family connections in Detroit, playing for the guys when he was only 12, landing him professional connections, and then performing with them in his late teens and beyond.

Keywords: band; childhood; community; family; history; moving

Subjects: bands (music)--United States; friendship; gigs (employment); musicians (employment); social media

Partial Transcript: “...In the two cities… everybody knew who they were. Because like when they would have a funeral they would march… and you’d have maybe like a hundred musicians marching in the street behind the hearse, playing…”

Segment Synopsis: George elaborates on the gypsy presence in his childhood; Braddock Pennsylvania was home to many many Gypsy families, and he says “it was a big community”, however they have all left by now. Many moved to other cities like Chicago or Detroit. He then talks about the traditional, older style of musicians in Braddock, and their frequent performances in the area. He says the community isn't big any more, as many in Michigan have moved across the country to California or Florida. But they still gather for weddings, he says, though they don't play traditional gypsy music as much as R&B and other more modern styles.

Keywords: Braddock; Detroit; PA; community; family; funeral; musicians

Subjects: Romanies--music; funeral music; migration, internal--United States

Partial Transcript: "...we're playing at the restaurant and people come and say 'oh yeah we got the Gypsies playing it's so great you guys are great' and all this, so they really appreciate it which is good for us, you know. You are what you are."

Segment Synopsis: George explains the varying ideas of Hungarians/Gypsies he's encountered. Some people, he says, are very curious about his heritage and he is hesitant to tell them about his family's origins since he has always lived in the U.S. Others assume because he's Hungarian he travels around in covered wagons, which he asserts is not the kind of Gypsy he is. George goes on to say that though discrimination exists, it is less prevalent now, as shown by people in restaurants being enthusiastic about their Gypsy style of music.

Keywords: Gypsies; Hungary; covered wagons; discrimination; homeland; origin; travelers

Subjects: Romanies--Hungary; discrimination; stereotypes (social psychology)--United States

Partial Transcript: "These guys have been all over too. Billy is 86. He get's around like he's 50! Unbelievable, Unbelievable".

Segment Synopsis: George played in Canada for 9 months and played in Slovakia as well, and he plans to go to Hungary next year. He talks about the "Hundred Piece Gypsy Orchestra" in Hungary which travels all over the world. He hasn't been anywhere else but says he would like to. George has performed with his bands all over the United States, though.

Keywords: Canada; Hungary; Slovakia; orchestra; perform; travel

Subjects: concert tours; musicians--travel; orchestra

Partial Transcript: "There's a certain style, the way you play... your interpretation.. it's hard to explain, I'll have to show you... It's just like the feeling of the way you play it. You'll hear this singer sing it, and then you'll hear this singer sing it. And it's completely different!... The rhythm, the feeling of the song".

Segment Synopsis: When asked what he means by "the Gypsy way", George does not give a clear answer, but explains it has to do with the emotion of the song, and the impact on the listener. He talks about a bassist who said George was the best teacher because he did it in a way that taught the students without explicitly teaching them. George says that bassist and his band play really well but it's just a different style than authentic Gypsy music.

Keywords: Gypsy; emotion; feeling; student; style; teaching

Subjects: Romanies--Music; Romanies--United States; Romanies--social life and customs

Partial Transcript: "[pushing back against stereotypes] doesn't work... you try but sometime's you just gotta go with the flow".

Segment Synopsis: George says he's not sure, but he mentions people not considering his band the real thing, since they are not from the U.S., not Hungary. He says this is a form of stereotyping. He also talks about a European Gypsy band who he speaks in Hungarian and English with, and they assume he is a European Gypsy because of how he plays. He, too, considers European Gypsies "the original", but says in America there's no one to teach you, and he had to listen to recordings to learn. He then says he doesn't really try to push back against stereotyping because it doesn't work.

Keywords: English; European Gypsies; Hungarian; discrimination; stereotype; the real thing

Subjects: Hungarian language; Music audiences; Romanies--Europe--History; Romanies--music; Romanies--social life and customs

Partial Transcript: "I've been [playing music] for so long it's just natural".

Segment Synopsis: George is thankful for having music because he never got into other things like drugs, and says music is a big part of his life. He talks about the few younger guys who are interested in learning Gypsy music and how he invites them to come watch. He says no one plays violin anymore, and that it's the hardest instrument to play. Getting the younger generation to play Gypsy music is tough, he says.

Keywords: Gypsy music; music; violin; young musicians

Subjects: Music and youth; Musicians, Romani; Romanies--music

Partial Transcript: "We got the standing ovation, you know, and the people says "that was the best part of the opera, you guys were!"

Segment Synopsis: George recalls his favorite moments performing. He recounts a trip to a European music festival and starts playing with other musicians spontaneously. After playing for a moment, a huge crowd gathered around them. He also played in Canada, as well as Pittsburgh in a Gypsy Cafe. Many different types of musicians watched them, such as opera and symphony musicians. At one point, an opera director offers George's band a gig in an opera. The band gets a standing ovation and the audience members say that they were the best part of the opera. George's band also is hired at the Pittsburgh Symphony to play during intermissions or for receptions. George also recalls playing for the Pittsburgh Dance Ensemble. He thinks it was a weird modern dance performance, but says it was okay.

Keywords: Gypsy Cafe; Hungarian Dance; Pittsburgh Dance Ensemble; Pittsburgh Symphony; Street Performance

Subjects: Music audiences; Romanies--music

Partial Transcript: "I'd like to put a group together that is willing to do tours, like to travel, maybe a three months tour, and then do another three months tour somewhere. It's hard for guys to do that"

Segment Synopsis: George talks about a desire to go on tour with an ensemble. Because many musicians have gotten married and now have kids, its hard for this to happen. He says he's talked about going on a 5 city tour with his band in Pittsburgh for about a month and a half. Right now, they're working on a making a CDR, so after that project is completed, the ensemble might to on tour.

Keywords: Gypsy ensemble; Gypsy ensemble tour; Gypsy music in Pittsburgh

Subjects: Romanies--music; Sound recording industry

Segment Synopsis: George has been working for a Catholic Cemetery for 18 years. Most of the people in his life growing up were catholics and all went to church. He discusses how Catholic cemeteries are supposed to be religified but they're not.

Keywords: Catholic Cemetery; Catholicism; romani religion

Subjects: Catholicism; Christian cemeteries; Religion; Romanies--social life and customs

Partial Transcript: " They're all {??] university graduates, but uh you see them a dancer and they look professional, really professional. And they uh have instructors from Hungary come over and they taught them dances."

Segment Synopsis: George discusses the Hungarian dancers who traveled with him. The dancers were all professional, having graduated university, and also had teachers that came to the US from Hungary to teach them. George specifically mentions Richie Balazs, a Roma dance instructor from Hungary. Balazs is in a dance group called Folk Factory, which performs dances form regions of Hungary. George recalls how Balazs approached him and suggested they play music together after hearing George's band from Pittsburgh play.

Keywords: folk factory; gypsy music; hungarian dance; hungarian gypsy dance; hungary; romania; romanian gypsy

Subjects: Folk dancing--Hungary; Folk music--Hungary; Romanies--social life and customs

Partial Transcript: "Theres not--nobody else, they all play piano or the drums or guitar or bass, so, but really there's not too many violin players. They say it's the hardest instrument to play though. But uh, yeah it's tough"

Segment Synopsis: George admits that it's tough to keep music going in the younger Roma generation. Although George and his friends have talked to youth about 18 or 19 years old, because people live so far away, it's hard to learn. He recalls an interaction he has when he recently played in a Gypsy Jazz festival in Chicago at the Green Mill. There, he saw a young person learning violin, and told him to come watch George and his friends play violin to learn the right way of playing. The youth came and watched George's ensemble play, and George told the boy he would give him some books. George says that most young people these days play piano, drums, guitar, or bass, but there aren't many violin players. Youth say it's the hardest instrument to play.

Keywords: acculturation; assimilation; chicago; green mill; gypsy jazz; gypsy music festival; gypsy violin; roma violin; violin; young gypsy; young roma

Subjects: Acculturation; Music and youth; Musicians, Romani; Romanies--music

Partial Transcript: "But you gotta have good food, drinks too, you know, it goes with music, you know, hahahaha, but yeah that's my enjoyment [??] music drinks food"

Segment Synopsis: George recounts a time he almost quit playing music about eight years ago. He was working Monday to Friday and playing in a salsa club on Thursdays from 9-1. He would get home at 3am and get up at six to go to the cemetery. Because he was so tired, he almost quit; however, people at a Gypsy cafe asked him to start playing regularly with them. He was originally resistant, but tried it, and began playing with them regularly. George says his brother doesn't understand how he (George) can travel and play all the time. George asserts that he will play until he dies.

George's siblings still take part in Romani culture, such as participating in various holidays, funerals, and weddings. They live fairly close to each other but don't see each other often due to busy schedules. However, George fondly speaks about his nephew, who frequently texts to check up on George. His nephew, who works at Penn State, just visited George at one of his shows.

George talks about the importance of food in his life, another way of staying in touch with Romani traditions. He says he is critical of outside restaurants that serve Hungarian food like Paprikash and stuffed cabbage. He recalls a night he was playing at a place called 8th wonder. The owner made traditional paprikash and asked him to try it. He also discusses a Hungarian restuarant in Michigan called The Rhapsody. George has played about four or five times there. He recounts an experience in which a old Hungarian women offered him pastries at one of his shows. He says its the best thing he's ever tasted. George asserts that good food, drinks, and music are his enjoyment.

Keywords: krémes

Subjects: Employment; Musicians, Romani; Practicing (Music); Romanies--music; Romanies--social life and customs; Violin

Partial Transcript: "We have other people besides Romani musicians come and sing with us. Which is good. They says 'do you know this?' ''oh yeah we know how to play that stuff, don't worry about it'"

Segment Synopsis: George discusses the importance of audience reaction and interaction, saying that if the audience is having a good time, so are the musicians. He references a gig he played on Friday, in which the audience was singing along. He persuaded his friend, an opera singer who sings Italian and Irish music, to sing with his band. The singer blew the house away. Thus, George's gypsy ensemble also plays with non-Romani musicians. They are able to do this because they all have experience playing diverse styles of music.

Keywords: Fidler on the Roof; Gypsy ensemble; Romani ensemble

Subjects: Friendship; Music audiences; Music--Performance; Musicians, Romani; Romanies--music

Partial Transcript: "It's just like the style, it would be like the style for playing that kind of music. {??] you know, it can be taught, its gonna take a while, you know for somebody that don't know, but it can be taught. I don't want to teach the little kids HOW to play violin--its like the style"

Segment Synopsis: George says that Gypsy styles of playing could probably be taught to non-gypsies, although it would take a long time for someone who isn't familiar with the culture. He reveals his desire to teach Gypsy violin style, but not necessarily the basics of violin. George references experiences he has with one of the musicians he is performing with the night of the interview. The musician's son and daughter both are learning classical music. While the son is good, the daughter is great. George has told the father that he will teach them Gypsy music later down the line, after they learn the basics. George recalls a moment when the girl gives him a violin to see if he can play. She is amazed. They both compliment each other.

Keywords: Gypsy violin; Music teaching; Roma music teachers

Subjects: Music in education; Music--Instruction and study; Musical ability; Musicians, Romani; Romanies--music