"East Affair connects the world" - what might sound like an ad for a telephone and Internet provider is actually the slogan that welcomes visitors to this band's website.

All graduates of Cologne's Music Academy, the four musicians formed their band in 2007. But the name "East Affair" did not come from the Czech cimbalom player, nor from the Polish cajón player, nor from the Serbian contrabassist.  It was guitarist Kim Efert, founder of the virtuoso, witty instrumental ensemble who gave the band its name.

In the beginning, there was the cimbalom

Efert, together with talented cimbalom player and trained pianist Jura Wajda, launched the musical project, but he freely admits that - at least in the beginning - he couldn't have cared less about music from the Balkans. The only thing that really fascinated him was the hammered dulcimer prevalent throughout Southern, Eastern and Central Europe.

Efert saw the cimbalom in the apartment of one of his Czech buddies one day, and they both said: "We're going to do something with that." But it took a few years for the music concept of East Affair to get off the ground - one based on freestyle cimbalom-playing that moves through the realms of jazz, funk, flamenco and Latin American music.

Soul mates

Two other visionary soul mates were quickly found for the group: Serbian double bassist Fedor Ruskuc, versed in jazz, classical and Eastern European music; and Polish percussionist Mirek Pyschny, who studied jazz and Latin American music in Cologne and Rotterdam but is also familiar with his native Polish folk music. Ruskuc meanwhile lives back home but often travels to Germany to play with the group. Pyschny focuses solely on the cajón when he in plays in East Affair - letting loose so wildly that listeners often scream for more.

Complex structures and free improvisation

Their compositions, primarily penned by the two founding members of the band and often stretching over five minutes, are often acrobatic - moving between taut, sometimes seemingly difficult structures and unbridled improvisation. Efert says East Affair is best experienced live, where one can relish in unleashed energy.

But, the guitarist jokes, what sounds pleasantly perfect, complex and coherent while the band performs onstage has often been preceded by many a debate in the rehearsal room. "After all, we have four unique individuals in the band, with different musical backgrounds and approaches," he says.

Long-distance relationships and other affairs

In addition to East Affair gigs and activities, the four idiosyncratic young men often pursue other "affairs" as well - playing in various groups and contexts, and while scattered across the Continent, in Cologne, Berlin and Novi Sad. It's a long-distance relationship that works, remaining exciting and inspiring even after years of being together, and of the kind that is no longer uncommon in the globalized, linked music business world. The distance certainly has done no harm: in 2009, East Affair received a "Creole Music Award," and in 2011, stole the show at Germany's largest world music festival in Rudolstadt.

Author: Katrin Wilke / als
Editor: Rick Fulker