Approximately 6000 miles separate Albuquerque, New Mexico and the picturesque Serbian town of Vladičin Han, and while on the surface at least, there is not much to connect the seemingly disparate regions, two performances in Cork this week will see that considerable gap bridged.

The legendary Serbian trumpeter and bandleader Boban Marković brings his Balkan Brass Band Orkestar to the Curtis Auditorium in the Cork School of Music on Saturday, December 8, a significant coup by all accounts. Five days later the much talked about US group A Hawk and a Hacksaw, featuring Jeremy Barnes, former drummer for Neutral Milk Hotel and Bright Eyes, take to the Cyprus Avenue stage on Wednesday, December 12 for what is an eagerly anticiapted show.

Marković’s success has, understandably, been mostly limited to Eastern music circles, with the occasional foray onto world music stages at larger music festivals only adding further to his reputation as the greatest ever trumpet player to emerge from the Balkans. A Hawk and a Hacksaw on the other hand have earned widespread plaudits from a cross-section of music fans and critics alike. Barnes past involvement with Neutral Milk Hotel and Bright Eyes has placed him firmly in the indie-rock fraternity – the truth is however that AHAAH share more in common with Boban Marković then any contemporaries on, for example, Conor Oberst’s (Bright Eyes) Saddle Creek Record Label.

With each successive record Barnes and his cohorts have moved further and further towards the traditional Balkan musical sounds. This year saw the group accompanied by the The Hun Hangár Ensemble both record and tour. Another former Barnes collaborator Zach Condon has enjoyed huge success this year with his heavily Eastern European influenced outfit Beirut, including a sold-out show in Dublin’s Tripod. Perhaps not all that coincidentally Condon attributes his love of Balkan music primarily to the Boban Marković Orchestra whom he says he discovered at the age of 16 when travelling Europe.

“In recent years Balkan music, or more accurately, music from Eastern Europe has really got a foothold in the Irish music scene, as it has in the rest of the world. The spotlight is beginning to shift away from Africa, The Caribbean and Latin America and the public now want to sample the new and trendy ‘music from the near east’ and the music of our new neighbours.

“However, music from Eastern Europe is not totally new to Cork as it has been played and practised in Cork at a number of venues and for a good few years, including the Tikki Lounge, the Roundy and the Glucksman Gallery, to name but a few, and by a number of local bands. Among the regulars have been The Fireflies, a popular four piece Klezmer band from West Cork, The Polskadots with their fiddle and accordion music that stretches through North & East Europe from Finland to Bulgaria and even Hadasha with their avante gard, John Zorn inspired, Klezmer Jazz. And of course another more famous Irish band, Kila have recently gained worldwide fame with their Celtic/Balkan/African fusion and performances at festivals like WOMAD.