CD review by Seth Jordan

ABC Limelight Magazine, March 2009

4 1/2 stars

Boasting members from Hungary, Romania and Brazil, Lolo Lovina are a Sydney-based multicultural sextet that specialises in Gypsy music, with a touch of Irish and Latin flavouring. Fronted by the authentic vocals of Romany-blooded singer Sarah Bedák-Rockliffe, the group's other not-so-secret weapons are rapid-fire violinist Jess Randall and fluid-fingered accordionist Leonid Beshlei. Their debut album highlights both the slow laments and excitable foot-frenzy that have built the band's powerful live reputation. While the compressed audio production sounds a little thin, there's no doubting that Baro Lové is an impressive first recording from a seriously talented local group.

CD review by Bradfield Dumpleton 2009

"Lolo Lovina are a Sydney-based ensemble who play spirited arrangements of traditional Eastern European Gypsy tunes. With musicians from Ukrainian/Romanian, Hungarian and Brazillian backgrounds, this music is authentic to its roots and played with vigour and precision. Some may be familiar with the dervish violin playing of Jess Randall through her work with the Crooked Fiddle Band, and here she is no less frenetic but the music is much more listenable and less intent on mashing musical genres.

All the players here are of a very high calibre, featuring a mix of accordion (Ukrainian Leonid Beshlei), violin (Jess Randall), banjo & mandolin (Matthew Baistow), guitar (David Carr) and bass (Rodrigo Salgado) and the sultry vocals of Sarah Bedak – Rockliffe. Joe Gould also provides some fine percussion on cajon, udu, tupan and darbuka.

As you would expect most of this album is very lively, the arrangements tight and intricate, guaranteed to get you hopping, but there are some sweeter moments such as the passionate 18th century Neapolitan lament 'Angellare', and the solo vocal of 'Chiori Rromani', a song sung by Rroma in the WW2 concentration camps.

A couple of songs were familiar to me – the Rromani National anthem 'Gelem Gelem' and 'Bubamara' (life is a merry go round), the latter played with great humour. Throughout the album Sarah Bedak-Rockliffe's vocals glide, soar and leap, bolstered by various shouts and hup hups from the band, and while they clearly take their music seriously, these musicians are obviously having a good time of it.

If you have listened to a lot of Gypsy music there may not be any surprises here, but if you have a taste for it you will definitely not be disappointed. This is an excellent album and a worthy addition to any 'world' music collection."