Album Notes

"The Brothers Figaro prove themselves to be first-class, acoustically oriented songsmiths...

Their lyrics are about streetwise love affairs ("Three Years Gone"), the disillusionment of love ("Paradise to Pontchartrain" and "Big World") and good marriages gone bad ("My Gold Ring").

Probably the strongest of the bunch is "1959", a musical illustration of the adage that "life is what happens to you while you're waiting for your dreams to come true." Edie Brickell, Nils Lofgren and David Lindley make guest appearances, but in the end it's Bonk and Parlapiano's first-rate songwriting that's the star of Gypsy Beat."

Chicago Tribune


Lifelong friends Bill Bonk and Phil Parlapiano finally make a record under their alter egos, Luigi and Giuseppe Figaro. Paddling all the way to America from Marinara, Italy, their path led them all across America, performing the joyous music that can only be described as Gypsy Beat.

Also features a bold string quartet arrangement by none other than Van Dyke Parks, classic bass playing by Kenny Edwards, and lots of David Lindley playing everything from lap steel to fiddle to bozouki.