Ion Petre Stoican

[1] He was born in Oltenița, Călărași County, Romania, and was related to celebrated violinist Ion Nomol.

[2] Sometime before 1965, during the Communist regime of Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, after observing strange behavior by a man in an audience for whom he was performing somewhere on the Black Sea coast, Stoican helped in arresting an American spy.

[4] Among others, the album features cimbalom player Toni Iordache, who was responsible for many of the arrangements, and accordionist Ionica Minune.

The album, recorded when Stoican was already in his late forties, proved to be his belated ticket to prominence among Bucharest lăutari.

The tapes proved difficult to find, but the album was finally released in 2005 as a CD entitled Ion Petre Stoican: Sounds from a bygone age, Volume.