We end today's program with a little cimbalom music. The cimbalom is a member of the dulcimer family that's popular in Eastern Europe. It's played much like a vibraphone... with mallets. That's a piece by Kalman Balogh. He's from Hungary -- and the leader of the Kalman Balogh Gypsy Cimbalom Band.

The cimbalom is often played by Roma or gypsy musicians.
But Kalman Balogh says he takes the instrument in a new direction -- by adding the swing of jazz.

BALOGH: "What I see, because I was working with many different kind of groups in different kinds of style, I think the direction is like using ethno-melodies and feelings in jazzy, contemporary ways. I think this is the future in the music."

Jazzy arrangements may be the future. But Kalman Balogh and his band don't completely turn their back on tradition.

Balogh says it's hard to find musicians who play the cimbalom for a living in Hungary these days. He says there's little financial support for their art form.

BALOGH: "To be a gypsy musician in Hungary is not any future now. In the Soviet era it was easier because the government paid them. Now the restaurants need to pay them and it's too much. This is the situation."

But Kalman Balogh is an exception to the rule. He's managed to transform his band into a world music act -- reaching new audiences in the process.

BALOGH: "For me it's a different life. I know the situation but my job is playing world music. And we are in a different situation."

Kalman Balogh and his Gypsy Cimbalom Band are currently on tour in the US.