Romano Drom's Founder Antal Kovács Dies in Hungary

Hungary - Antal Kovács, the cofounder and lead vocalist of Hungarian Gypsy band Romano Drom is reported to have died suddenly on July 6th. A press release by the Ortigueira Celtic and world music festival in Spain mentions that Romano Drom's scheduled performance this Saturday, July 9th, will not take place due to the sudden death of the group's vocalist, Antal Kovács. World Music Central contacted the group's management, Asphalt Tango Productions, in Germany, who confirmed the news. No further details are available at this time and the band's website does not show any recent updates.

Antal Kovács (a.k.a. Gojma) was Romano Drom's vocalist. He was also a dancer and played spoons. He founded Romano Drom together with his son, guitarist ands singer Antal Kovács Jr. (a.k.a. Anti).

Romano Drom means "Gypsy road" in the Romani language. They follow the musical tradition of the Olah Gypsies from Valachia, traditionally horse traders and travelling salesmen. The group split from Ando Drom, another well known Hungarian Gypsy band. Their first album, Déta Dévla, was released in Hungary in 1999. Ando Foro (In the city) came out in November 2001 on the French Label Daqui and is distributed by Harmonia Mundi.