Foto: mirceabaniciu.ro
- Mircea Baniciu was born in Timisoara, on 31 July 1949, in a sunny Sunday. He had a happy childhood in the neighborhood near the student complex from Timisoara, fact that influenced the rest of his life. He went to school at seven years and he could not tell he liked it to much.
However, as a persevering guy he managed to finish the seven classes and then urged by his mother that promised him a guitar if he goes to high school, he did it. With big efforts, loved by his colleagues, he finished the high school and by chance, the other step was the college. Without any effort he managed to finish the Faculty of Architecture.
The music entered in his life at the age of seven when the owner of the house he lived in advised his mother to take him to piano or another instrument lessons because he was really talented. This thing happened and uo to 14 years he studied piano.
Mircea Baniciu concluded after he saw the movie Youth, a movie in which sang Cliff Richard and the Shadows band, that he is closer to the guitar than the piano and started serious to learn how to play at a guitar.
His first appearance was on the stage of the German Theatre in Timisoara, where he sang folk, specially Donovan, Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel and also some attempts of own compositions.
For a short time Mircea Baniciu was member in the band Classic XX (which gave its name), without special stage appearances. Subsequently he appeared alone on stage again in PM6 club in Timisoara, led by Peter Umanschi, where occasionally played Nicu Covaci's Phoenix, after the departure of the lead singer Moni Bordeianu. Here Mircea was seen by Bela Kamocsa (then bassist in Phoenix band), who recommended him to Covaci to listen carefully.
In the first year of college is co-opted as a singer in the band Phoenix. This event changed all his life. In that period Mircea had only 21 years. His future career in architecture began to enter into obscurity, while becoming more clearly the profile of a great sing-author.
Coming into the band took place in '71, and from '72 Nicu Covaci co-opted Joji Kappl and Costin Petrescu, thus creating the base nucleus of the band that would create the famous songs, Negru Voda, Bud of whistle, Wedding, Andrii Popa which became evergreens.
There followed seven very beautiful years along with the Phoenix group during which were released four albums: Those who gave us the name (1972), Master Manole (1973), Flute Bud (1974), Cantafabule (1975) . In 1975, before recording Cantafabule, instead of Costin Petrescu at drums appeared Ovidiu Lipan Tandarica.
In 1977, on May 31, Mircea Baniciu's colleagues from Phoenix band are leaving the country, crossing the border illegally, hidden in the Marshall speakers sound installation that Nicu Covaci wanted to carry in Germany.
Passing over the shock of the moment, Mircea considers now that his chance was great that he remained in Romania. Here he continues his career on his own, releasing in 1979 the first EP which contained songs such as Hanul ulciorului nesecat, Travel, If you guess and game, songs that will be material for his first recital at the Romanian Television, which would bring him shortly celebrity in Romania in his new solo career.
There followed a second album in 1981, which should be called Provincial sadness, but as in that time it was not better to be too sad ... the album had no title. It was a huge success and sales similar to those of Phoenix discs, containing other songs like Summer in the country, sadness provinces, train lines for wandering birds, memory. It remained in public memory as The yellow album. For the recordings of this album Mircea was assisted by Post Scriptum band in Timisoara.
This was the moment in which Mircea Baniciu started to sing alone and so started his solo career. There followed many shows throughout the country, in different contexts, playing on the same stage with great rock bands of the moment - Red and Black, Sphinx, Compact.
The third album was released in 1984 and was called Rain. It contained songs such as Letter of goodbye, rain, shop of dreams, White, and everything was done in collaboration with the band Post Scriptum. The album cover was made by Alexander Andries, who sang in some of the songs.
The fourth album, Second 1, appeared in 1988. All music was written on Dan Verona's lyrics that fitted like a glove on Mircea Baniciu's music.
The '90s had to mean a new beginning for Mircea Baniciu, a period marked by new successes in both solo and with the group Pasarea Colibri and the return of the Phoenix group on stage in Romania.
In 1990 is released Second 2, a sequel to Second 1, an album for which he works for the first time with Vlady Cnejevici for orchestration. Composed on the same lyrics made by Dan Verona, this album contains songs like Returning to the East, Hill with the missing or black cat who later became big hits in the Pasarea Colibri formula.
The first Phoenix concert after the '90s was at the Festival Rock '91. Here attended over 10,000 people. In 1992 followed an album with the band Phoenix called Timisoara, which had songs such as wedding, Negru Voda, Hanu Year, Mugur the Whistle, Andrii Popa and appeared also the song Timisoara, dedicated to the Revolution from '89. Almost the same material has been imprimed on SymPhoenix album in 1994.
Phoenix plays occasionally and fails in a resurgence on the Romanian scene. Because some frequent disagreements with Nicu Covaci, Mircea Baniciu decides to leave the group Phoenix.
In 1992 he comes back and in a show in Ramnicu Valcea around the winter holidays, and during the recital, on stage comes Mircea Florian Pittis Vintila to accompany him. At the end of the recital, Florian Pittis announces that viewers have just witnessed the first concert of the band Pasarea Colibri. The three decide to stay together in this formula, and he later co-opted Vlady Cnejevici.
In the following almost 10 years Pasarea Colibri has an outstanding success. Surprisingly, the first album recorded in this formula comes just in 1995 with the name In search of the lost nest and is followed in 1997 by Ciripituri. Both are actually recordings of live concerts, Pasarea Colibri remaining in the public memory as the first band that gave memorable concerts.
The two albums have sold thousands of copies of both original and pirated. Is very difficult to estimate the exact number. At that time the music industry in Romania was still in its beginings, there was at that time no copyright law and was not yet the gold discs fashion.
In 2008 Mircea Baniciu prepared a double album Best Of. The first volume is called The scarf and contains the best of his ballads.
In parallel, he continues the work, the concerts and sings about country life, love, sun, outlaws, gypsies and the changing times.
