They may hail from Bradford but L'Orchestre du Cafe have managed to capture the essence of Eastern European folk music and come up with an authentic and original sound, following a chance meeting in the Czech capital. Simon Ashberry reports.

A chance encounter at a famous Czech landmark led to the formation of an unusual new Bradford band.

L'Orchestre du Caf came together after Bradford-based vocalist John Duffy met the Montuno Brothers while they were performing last year on a bridge in Prague which is a well-known spot for buskers.

He started chatting to Yves and Martino Montuno after hearing them playing their authentic-sounding brand of Eastern European folk.

"I was gobsmacked when I found out they were from England and not Eastern European at all," said John, who was in Prague playing with local musicians.

"We kept in touch and exchanged tapes and that kind of thing and now we've formed this group which we're really making a go of."

John plays bouzouki as well as singing, while Yves is on double bass and Martino plays accordion, violin and taragot.

"The taragot is like a specialist Romanian clarinet.

"You'll not really have heard anything else like it," said Martino. "It's a bit like a wooden soprano clarinet."

Martino was based in London playing in another group called Transylvania Mania but has now relocated to concentrate on L'Orchestre du Caf as his main musical project.

"There's a real Eastern European sub-culture that's taking off at the moment, particularly in London.

"It's fast becoming the new genre," he said. "Ever since the wall came down and musicians have actually been able to go out there."

The band play some tunes which are based purely on Eastern European folk traditions but they also give their own treatment to other songs.

"We do a lot of covers but they're quite weird. We do things like songs by Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen but put our own stamp on them.

"You couldn't get away with just doing pure Eastern European stuff," said John, who still plays occasional gigs with the duo Duffy Gibbons.

L'Orchestre du Caf have played a handful of gigs but are now rehearsing in preparation for their first album.

They plan to spend a week at the end of June in the studio of former New Model Army drummer Robert Heaton at his home in Bradford.

The CD should be available in July, when the band will also be playing more live dates.

You can catch them at The Grove in Leeds on July 9, The Bavaria in Bradford on July 11, MacRory's in Bradford on July 12 -- both as part of Bradford Festival -- The Nutclough House Hotel in Hebden Bridge on July 16 and Nelson's Wine Bar in Hebden Bridge on July 26.

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