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Mihály DRESCH is a Hungarian saxophone player who mixes the American free-jazz tradition with elements of traditional Hungarian folk music.
The album of the acknowledged jazz saxophonist and composer, influenced by Hungarian folk music and Indian music.
1. Ködöllik a Mátra
2. Ritka madár
3. Naív
4. Le az utcán
5. Prana
Mihály DRESCH - tenor and soprano sax, bass clarinet, flute, vocals
Miklós LUKÁCS - cimbalom
Mátyás SZANDAI - double bass
István BALÓ - drums
Featuring:
Sándor CSÓRI "Sündi" - viola
Félix LAJKÓ - violin
Antal BRASNYÓ - viola
Péter SZALAI - tabla
Link
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Cicala-Mvta is One of Japanese Most Exciting and Original Groups. Both Traditional Chindon and the Retro-futuristic Sound of Cicala-Mvta is an Entirely Natural Combination of the Old and New, the East with the West.
Cicala Mvta is a group described by some UK music critics as the most impressive exponents of contemporary Japanese grass roots music. The music presents old-fashioned and brass band music. Featuring chindon, a kind of Japanese drum, saxophones, clarinets and tubas, Cicala Mvta's music is a kind of street music originally played at funerals or the openings of local shops. But the band blends the cheesy music with social critique, thus creating a sarcastic outlook, in both its musical style and in its stage performance.
Before TV commercials, drum and woodwind bands would march through the streets of Japan carrying banners advertising products or stores. Bandleader WATARU OKHUMA modelled his band after these Chindon groups and named it CICALA-MVTA .(Pronounced Shi-ka-la Moo-ta, it means Mute cicada after the epitaph of a great Japanese street singer songwriter) All in all, it is a wild ride, as Cicala Mvta views klezmer, Balkan, Turkish, early jazz and free jazz music through their Japanese street band lens, which has something to do with topology and physics and their bent view of musical reality.
"Sounds close to the ground. Cicala-Mvta's music sometimes sounds like that. The band starts to play slowly and begins to stride on the ground powerfully. Sometimes they lash about the ground, and and run fast forward. They are not an underground group. Yet, they don't ascend nor float. They just go forward close to the ground.
A question is asked whether music is something to progress. Listening to Cicala-Mvta, I can believe that there lies much ground to go forward. They go forward on the surface of the globe, a sphere. It may not be progress. Terms such as experiment and evolution do not fit Cicala-Mvta. Their ceaseless march has a texture that has a much more hard-core nature.
Ten years ago, Wataru Okuma, the clarinet player, initiated this group. The Ghost Circus published in 2004 is their third album. It seems that by now they have become a one solid mass. They consist of very idiosyncratic players, and they make up a fairly unique instrumental ensemble. Yet, they move forward as a mass. As though they were a three-piece hard-core punk band.
With circus and street band music as their signature, Cicala-Mvta tries amalgamation of various music on the globe, and their music is almost impossible to analyze. The diverse musical elements each musician has absorbed physically in their bodies merge in an instant, and a spark of unique and allomorph music appears. As the album title shows, any academic scrutiny would be absurd-a sonic circus! It supercedes the speed of our thinking.
Their wordless music has become all the more eloquent and carries a message. Full of love, humor and rebellious spirit, their music is a tribute to people on earth who has but to survive. Sometimes it sounds like a requiem. In
01. Ghost Hymn Introduction
02. Pillow Walk
03. The United People Will Never Be Defeated
04. Stara Planina
05. The Sleep-Walker's Escape
06. Dr. Caligari's Side Show
07. Heraklion
08. Song Of The Birds
09. The Beam And The Bellows
10. The Right To Live In Peace
11. Ghost Requiem
12. Bonus
Wataru Okuma (clarinet, bass clarinet, vocals),
Yoshiyuki Kawaguchi (saxophone),
Yoshiki Sakurai (guitar),
Takero Sakijima (tuba, recorder),
Tatsuya Yoshida (drums, vocals),
Keisuke Ota (violin, vocals),
Yoshiaki Sato (accordion),
Yoichiro Kita (trumpet),
Akiko Watanabe (trombone),
Miwazo Kogure (ching-dong, gorosu)
Link
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Well known Hungarian folk and jazz musicians play sophisticated, intelligent world music. One can realise that the musicians are well trained and have solid roots in jazz music. World famous singer Irén LOVÁSZ is also featured on the album. (Her most famous release is called: WORLD TREE.) She and her music-mates can be found on albums of MAKÁM too.
1. 1999
2. Én felkelék - I Get Up
3. Iniciálé - Initial
4. Pókháló - Cobweb
5. Lélekbál - Ball of Soul
6. Szeszélyes - Caprice
7. Szárnyak - Wings
8. Időcsepp - Drop of Time
9. Szemek - Eyes
Bárány Péter - acoustic guitar, bass
Gavodi Zoltán - clarinet
Gyulai Csaba - violin, viola, viola da gamba, percussion
Koós László - guitar
Mizsei Zoltán - keyboards, piano, psalterium, percussion
Guests:
Lovász Irén - vocal
Váczi Dániel - sax
Kőszegi Péter - bass
Dés András - percussion
Link
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Big thanks Frankie for the CD!
"Sometime I'd like to have a band with double bass, cimbalom, saxophone, drum. We wouldn't play folk music, we'd play Hungarian Jazz."
One year after making the above statement, Mihály Dresch's idea materialized and he has made perhaps his best recording yet. Like Coltrane... This is Hungarian ethno-jazz!
1. Gyimesi Impressziók / Gyimes Impressions
2. Bánat, bánat... / Sorrow, Sorrow…
3. Remény / Hope
4. Rákóczi révészem... / Rákóczi My Ferryman…
5. Hungarian Be-Pop
6. Elballagok / I’ll Saunte
Mihály Dresch “Dudás” – saxophones, flutes, cimbalom, vocal
András Berecz – voice
Róbert Benkő – double bass
Tamás Geröly – drums, percussions
Ferenc Kovács - violin
Link
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01. Eszterlánc - Elvész A Nyom
02. Csik Zenekar - Csillag Vagy Fecske
03. Vágtázó Csodaszarvas - Hunok Csatája
04. Cimbaliband - De Szépen Szól A Cimbalom
05. Dutar - Idegen Vendég A Kinai Menyegzőn
06. Fabatka - Nyáron Piros Télen Kék
07. Istvánfi Balázs - Duda Blues
08. Mydros - Pote Vudas Pote Kudas Anapse To Tsigaro
09. Khamoro - E Mery-Mari
10. Topán György - Két Csárdás Dallam
11. Fondor- Szerelmes A Muzsikás
12. Vágtázó Csodaszarvas - A Zene Lakodalma
13. Etnorom - Kotyka Tele Bassaven
14. Borbély Dresch Quartet - Erdély Blues
15. David Murray & Balogh Kálmán Gipsy Cimbalom Band - Ballada
16. Udrub - Parfume De Gitane
17. Morotva - Cifra Palota
18. Agocs Gergely - Három Árva
19. Herczku Ágnes - Arany És Kék-Kalotaszeg
20. Kallós Zoltán - Bonchidai Gyűjtés Ritka Csárdás
21. KMB - Volt Egyszer Egy Rózsa
22. Relax - Earthrise
23. Chagall Klezmer Band- - Shabechi Yerushalayim
24. The Transform Quintet - Sushi
25. Csik Zenekar - De Szeretnék
26. Hirős Zenekar - Menyasszonykisérő
27. Unger Balázs És Barátai - Bulgáros-Arges
28. Szerelmem Nagysajó - Tizet Ütött Az Óra
29. Fodor Sándor Neti - Legényes
30. Dresch Quartet - Tedd Rá
31. Szilvási Gipsy Folk Band - Phurdel Balval Duj Duj Deshuduj
32. Cimbaliband - Oppadirida
33. Fonó Zenekar - Három Éjjel Három Nap
34. Csillagok Palotája - Egy Lengyel Ének
Link 1.
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The band Cicala Mvta was founded in 1994 by its leader Wataru Ohkuma who is rated as one of the most innovative musicians of contemporary Japanese music. He is a superb player of the clarinet, saxes, vibes and accordeon. As producer and bandleader Wataru Ohkuma had participated in many revolutionary recordings of the 80ties (a.o. "Soulflower Mononoke Summit"). Wataru Ohkuma merges in his music Okinawa-style music and other traditional Japanese forms like Jinta with western composition techniques and traditions. Some say this CD "Ching Dong" is the Japanese answer to Giora Feidman and to Fanfare Ciocarlia. The bands name, Cicala Mvta is Italian and is written as the epitaph on the gravestone of the greatest street singer songwriter of popular music in Japan before the 1920s,Soeda Azembo, who at the time around 70 years ago, unable to speak his mind in fear of being thrown into prison, like having a cicala stuck in his throat, a "mute cicada".
The band Cicala Mvta merges Japanese Chindon music with own compositions and traditional music from various ethnic regions. Ohkuma plays a composition by Paul Dessau as well as Kabuki-melodies (Shi-chome) and Nepalese wedding dances or Klezmer songs.
Basis is Chindon music which until 50 years ago was a popular street form of advertising. Chindon bands were common in Japanese cities where new openings of shops, inaugurations of Pachinko's a.o. were announced by them.
In Cicala Mvta brass bands from Balkan meet Klezmerbands as well as New Orleans Marching Bands within the overcrowded streets of Tokyo.
The British magazine "FolkRoots" about "Ching Dong":
“The stirring debut album by Cicala Mvta, Wataru Ohkuma's own band, produces complex, challenging and powerful music.”
01. Ohfuku Jinta
02. Punku Mancha No Odori
03. Rajamati Kumati
04. Michikusa No Tameni
05. Azuma Hakkei
06. Fratanisation Song
07. Okuni Tsujiru Tobira
08. Turkish Dance
09. Nekomushi Ga Hairu Kara
10. Aohige No Yu-Utsu
11. Shi Come
12. Punku Mancha Reprise
Wataru Okuma (clarinet, bass clarinet, vocals),
Yoshiyuki Kawaguchi (saxophone),
Yoshiki Sakurai (guitar),
Takero Sakijima (tuba, recorder),
Tatsuya Yoshida (drums, vocals),
Keisuke Ota (violin, vocals),
Yoshiaki Sato (accordion),
Yoichiro Kita (trumpet),
Akiko Watanabe (trombone),
Miwazo Kogure (ching-dong, gorosu)
Link
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Guitarist, composer, arranger, and professor at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, Gyula Babos is one of the best known personalities of jazz life in Hungary. He was hardly 17 when he won the Jazz Competition of the Hungarian Radio in 1966, and since that time his goal has been to make his mark on the international music scene with compositions rooted in Hungarian folk and Gypsy music. After joining and founding several groups (the Aladár Pege Quintet, Kex, Rákfogó, Kőszegi Rhythm and Brass, Saturnus, BDSZ Collection, the Babos Trio and Quartet) and participating in European jazz festivals, in 1989 he produced his first solo album, called In 'n Out, which contains his own compositions – just like Blue Victory, his second release, recorded in 1994, with Victor Bailey, Terri Lyne Carrington, Béla Szakcsi Lakatos, and the late George Jinda. The album was released in twelve European countries. He made his third solo album for Sony Columbia in 1998, entitled Once Upon a Time..., which is the realization of his intention to fuse jazz with Hungarian and Gypsy folk traditions in his own way. The material was recorded with the Babos Project Romani. Babos introduced the group not only in Europe, but also in England and in Israel at the Red Sea Festival. Seventy-five Minutes Live, his latest release features the celebrated percussionist Trilok Gurtu. On this album, East-, West- and Middle-Eastern Europe meet in Babos’ music. Besides recording and composing (film and cartoon scores included), he is also a producer for pop and contemporary artists. One of his greatest dreams was fulfilled when in 1991 he played with Frank Zappa in front of an audience of thirty thousand people in Budapest.
01. Intro
02. Nara-Nannay
03. Gelem
04. Trans-Sylvania
05. Csillagok - Stars
06. Három nap - Three Days
07. Romantic Gipsy Heart
08. True Colors
09. Mathild Song
10. Mese feketén fehéren - Tale Black and White
Babos Gyula - guitar, synthesiser
Oláh "Chumo" Árpád - piano
Hárs Viktor - double bass
Lattman Béla - bass guitar
Borlay Gergő - drums
Kunovics Katalin - voice
Dobi Matild - voice
Bihari "Imi" Ernő - voice, can
Daróci "Choli" József - voice
Link
Original Uploader: gerzoli. Thanks!
Ferenc Snétberger, born in 1957 in Salgotarjan, Hungary, lives in Berlin, Germany since 1988. Inspired by his father, a musician who played harp, trumpet and guitar, Ferenc started formal studies of classical guitar at age 13. Later he seriously took up the jazz guitar and studied at the jazz conservatory in Budapest. Melting jazz improvisation into his classical technique and gypsy roots, he was to become one of Europe's most original and virtuosic guitar players.
Snétberger has to his credit 18 years as a professional musician and several recordings with Trio Stendhal, as a soloist and - on his ENJA debut "Signature" - with his own trio and quartet. He has performed in Hungary, Yugoslavia, Finland, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, India and other countries. He also took part in many radio and TV productions and as a soloist with big bands (e.g. with Ernie Wilkins). On stage he met with such as Didier Lockwood, Anthony Jackson, James Moody and David Friedman.
As an unaccompanied soloist, Ferenc Snétberger displays his artistry in a very personal, multi-cultural style that defies categories. He easily assimilates influences from Brazilian, Spanish, classical, gypsy and jazz traditions. Snétberger himself considers his 1996 concert at the Budapest academy "the finest performance I ever did."
01. Budapest Mood
02. Springtime In Winter
03. Song To The East
04. Brazil
05. The Dophin
06. Little Bossa
07. Variation
08. Tangoa Free
09. Bossa For Egberto
10. Manha De Carnaval
11. Budapest Encore
Link
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Cicala Mvta (pronounced shikala moota) are one of Japan's most exciting and original groups. Like other innovative musicians, their music is hard to define; "punk chindon jazz", "world and noise band to clarinet in a chindon group. Colorful chindon groups used to be a common sight in Japan, marching in the streets noisily banging a chindon drum, while saxophones or clarinets would pick out the melody to the hits of the day. Ohkuma tramped the streets of Tokyo for 7 years playing clarinet as part of a spluttering tradition, until the late 80s when together with the group Compostella he started to revive chindon music by mixing it with other elements. While Japan is the only eastern country to have so readily absorbed western music, street performances of wind and percussion instruments can be found all over the world. As an "unmilitarized" street music, chindon is related to Jewish Klezmer music, New Orleans brass bands and wind and percussion ensembles from China and south east Asia. Ohkuma is as keen to embrace these influences in the music of Cicala Mvta. "In my opinion, old jazz , klezmer or wedding brass band traditions, from India to the Balkans, are all similar to chindon as an early modern mixture music . These are all clarinet musics, so it's very natural for me to play these types together" he says.
Ohkuma's other disparate influences help give Cicala Mvta their own distinctive sound. These he cites as progressive rock, punk, avant-garde jazz, early modern music (such as Bartok) and folk. Only occasionally featuring the chindon drum, Ohkuma's perky clarinet is ably abetted by an unusual line-up of musicians, each bringing with them a sense of individuality to supplement Ohkuma's clarinet and saxophone, in what is a totally original line-up; fluid, distorted electric guitar, rip-roaring, booming tuba, squeaking, screeching cello, frantic, discordant fiddle, and tinny, shuffling drums. "Deko Boko" is Cicala Mvta's second album and a progression on their self titled first CD. The mixtures are more radical than ever, and the tunes self penned by Ohkuma and arranged by the group. Both traditional chindon and the retro-futuristic sound of Cicala Mvta are an entirely natural combination of the old and new, the east with the west.
Cicala Mvta is one of only a few Japanese groups, to have created a 'buzz' in other countries. Their first overseas gig in 2000 was supporting Blur in London, afterwhich they toured for 6 weeks, playing to enthusiastic audiences at festivals throughout Europe. Despite being instrumental, their music is not without a message. The band's name, Italian for a 'mute cicada', derives from the epitaph written on the gravestone of Soeda Azembo (1872 -1944) the greatest street singer and songwriter of popular music in Japan before the 1920s. "His songs were banned and he was repeatedly thrown into prison. They tried to break his spirit and make him really mute" explains Ohkuma. Cicala Mvta and chindon music too, is not about to go quietly.
01. Tokyo Jinta
02. Kyu na saka
03. The lowest saddle
04. A weekend of a clown
05. The blue flower kopanitza
06. Sukiniatte gomen nassai
07. Don cholecha variation
08. Bessarabian hora
09. Bulgaria Rhytm
10. Albert Ayler Medley
11. Jerry roll strange motion
12. Motto kyu na saka
OHKUMA Wataru : clarinet,bass clarinet, accordion, timpani,glockenspiel,chorus
OHTA Keisuke: violin, singing(6),chorus
SAKURAI Yoshiki: guitar,Irish bouzouki, lap steel guitar, banjo, reverb tank,chorus
SAKAMOTO Hiromichi: cello,musical saw,chorus
SEKIJIMA Takero: tuba,recorder,chorus
KAMIMURA Shoko:drum,big bass drum(1), chorus
KAWAGUCHI Yoshiyuki: alto,soprano,bariton sax, chorus
Samm BENNETT: drum(3) , percussion, toys,turn table
Link
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The first album of the band (Klezz Jazz) released in 2003. The lovers of folk, jazz and world music will all enjoy the nine songs this album contains.
The members of NIGUN, who don’t go only in for the same music but they are also friends, are mixing Jewish music (klezmer, sephard, folk-sacral) with jazz and free-improvisational elements.
"Impressive klezmer-inflected jazz set from a Hungarian band with some serious chops. Alto player Janos Vazsonyi reminds me of Lee Konitz at his fiery best, while clarinetist Daniel Vaezi has a lot of Perry Robinson going on. Great rhythm section work and inventive approach to oft-recorded pieces like 'Shnirele Perele."
1. Skutchna
2. Chosn Kalle Mazzeltov
3. Tumbalalajka
4. Hochmec
5. Majn Jingele
6. La ’Avoda Velamelacha
7. Shnirele:Perele
8. Chasn ojf Schabess
9. Fun Tashlikh
András Párniczky: guitar
János Vázsonyi: alto saxophone
Péter Nagy: bass
Csaba Gavallér: drums, derbuka
with
Dániel Váczi: soprano saxophone
Link
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"On Pandoukht, Yengibarjan teams with Frank London, whose experimentation with eastern European sounds are legion; they converge around the shared Armenian and Jewish experience of genocide, joined by guitarist Gábor Gadó, bassist Horváth and multi-percussionist András Dés. While trumpet is not typically associated with tango, London finds common sonic ground in a blend of their respective compositions with eastern European roots. On "Berd Par," an Armenian folk song, the duo set up a trumpet-accordion dialogue against a simple two-chord Latin figure, while "Hoy Noubar," "Ararat" and "D'le Yaman" mark out various Levantine traces, the latter with London's sighing trumpet engaged in a tete-a-tete with Yengibarjan's restrained exhalations. London's "Golem Khosidi" and the traditional Jewish tune "Meron Nign" confirm the shared wellsprings of Jewish and Armenian folk song. There's whimsy here too, as with "Liliputien," a fleeting waltz duet."
1.Overture
2.Berd Par
3.Hoy Noubar
4.Ararat
5.D'le Yaman
6.Golem Khosidl 7.Pandoukht
8.Liliputien
9.Meron Nign
Gábor Gadó - Guitar
András Dés - Percussion
David Yengibarjan - Accordion, Main Performer
József Horváth Barcza - Bass
Frank London - Trumpet
Link
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Crossing the borders between jazz, classical, world music, bossa nova and more, "Joyosa" presents a new amalgamation of today's sounds - utterly elegant, full of joy and vibrating with vitality.
The critics wrote:
"A strike of luck. No shrill notes but full of suspense. This is chamber jazz of the highest level!"
"A deepness and complexity that could not be more suspenseful. A dream of music, an album of quiet superlatives."
"Chamber jazz with soul."
"This music reaches the listeners' hearts without a detour."
"Give us more of these refined sounds!"
01. Gio
02. Basswave
03. Madhawi
04. Gomme
05. Joyosa
06. Mona
07. Freund
08. Our Father
09. Jasmin
10. The Waltz
Ferenc Snétberger - guitar
Markus Stockhausen - trumpet, fl-horn
Arild Andersen - double-bass
Patrice Héral percussion
Link
VA: Hungry for Hungary? - Folk, World Music
The "Hungry for Hungary?" series promo publication.
He did not enter commerce.
01 - Muzsikás - Dunántúli friss csárdások
02 - Sebő Ferenc - Harmatocska
03 - Zurgó - Szeretőm e táncba
04 - Kerekes Band - Csángó Boogie (edit)
05 - Napra - Pici ház
06 - Pál István Szalonna és bandája - Mulatság Orkon
07 - Romano Drom - Mulatinas
08 - Karavan Familia - Shej baxtali
09 - Nomada - Pe bari luma
10 - Kiss Ferenc - Citruserdő
11 - Band of Igriczek - Kozári
12 - Palya Bea - Eggy lovász fihoz
13 - Szalóki Ági - Mici
14 - Lovász Irén - Fellegajtó
15 - Egy Kiss Erzsi Zene - No ked
16 - Ferenczi György - Ki vagyok én
17 - Herczku Ágnes & Nikola Parov - Tavasz után
18 - Söndörgő - Salino Oro
19 - Besh o droM - Ayelet Chen
20 - Mitsoura - Devat ku (edit)
21 - Gáyan Uttejak Orchestra & László Hortobágyi - Tablacid
22 - Ektar - II. Canzone Araba
23 - Ezter - Szól a kakas
Link
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VA: Hungry for Hungary? - Ethno Jazz
01 - Pop Ivan - Himnusz eladó - Anthem salesman
02 - Viktor Tóth & Hamid Drake & Mátyás Szandai - Március - March
03 - Akosh S. - Mivel mível 3
04 - Grencsó Bio Kollektív - Régi nóta - Old song
05 - Szilárd Mezei Quintet - Az a tánc - That Dance ((live, edit)
06 - Budapest Saxophone Quartet - Tűz - Fire
07 - Magony Strings - Legényes - Manly
08 - Mihály Dresch Quartet - Hajnal- Dawn
09 - Dél-Alföldi Saxophone Ensemble - Dr. B.B
10 - Csaba Tűzkő Septet - Ördögűzés - Exorcism
11 - Beli Buba - Szerelmes dal II. Változások I. - Love Song II. Changes I.
12 - Miklós Lukács & Béla Szakcsi Lakatos - Chase Away The Devil
13 - Szabó-Major Duo - Shamata
14 - Free Style Chamber Orchestra - Kanásztánc - Swineherd-dance
15 - Zoltán Lantos' Mirrorworld - Coffee Break (edit)
Link
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Born in 1957 to a poor gypsy family in Hungary, Ferenc Snétberger was inspired by his father's music since his childhood years. "My father was the best guitar player around. He had a style that was very much his own." French tourists who listened to him playing in bars occasionally compared his music to Django Reinhardt's. When Ferenc was 13 years old, his father allowed him to attend a music school where he learned to play the classical guitar. He soon fell in love with the music of J.S. Bach and won several awards at classical competitions.
At the same time, Ferenc played at weddings and in night bars and was familiar with jazz, bossa nova, gypsy style and other popular musics. So in addition to his classical training, he decided to study the jazz guitar at the Budapest Conservatory. "You couldn't develop your own style at the conservatory," Ferenc says. "So when I heard Egberto Gismonti at a festival one day, it was a tremendous experience. This was just the direction I wanted to go myself." Besides Gismonti, it was the music of jazz guitarists Wes Montgomery and Jim Hall that inspired Snétberger not to aim at a classical career. Instead, classical technique and esthetics became an integral part of his individual stylistic mix that includes jazz improvisation, Brazilian rhythms and gypsy roots on the highest level of virtuosity and soulfulness.
On his album, "Obsession," Snétberger presents a beautiful jazz/bossa-oriented trio music that comes out of the tradition of Brazilian guitarist Laurindo Almeida and American samba pioneer Charlie Byrd while touching new dimensions of artistic shaping. Says German weekly Die Welt: "Ferenc Snétberger proves to be a cosmopolitan musician, a mediator of multi-cultural values. High art of guitar playing!"
01. Wanton Spirit
02. E-Bossa
03. Szivárvány (for Attila Zoller)
04. FS Five
05. Gypsy
06. Hanging Out
07. Obsession
08. I Remember
09. Song To The East
10. Páva
Ferenc Snétberger - acoustic and electric guitars
János Egri - bass
Elemér Balázs - drums
Guest:
Irén Lovász - vocal on "Páva"
Link
"Simply put, Kalamona is Eastern European jazz at its best: exuberant, emotional, visceral, and modern. Dél-Alföldi Szaxofonegyüttes (The Southern Plain Saxophone Ensemble) blend Hungarian folk songs and avant-garde jazz licks to create the most festive music since John Zorn's Masada. Béla Burány, Balázs Dongó, and Béla Ágoston are accomplished saxophone players propelled by a level of energy that equals a whole big band. They rival in solo virtuosity, but also come together to form nice contrapuntal motifs. They are backed by a strong rhythm section made of bassist Róbert Benkö, sadly a bit lost in the mix, and drummer Tamás Geröly, a dynamo. Kalamona is beautifully sequenced. It begins with two short saxophone trios that emphasize a nostalgic mood. Then comes the traditional festive tune "Kerekes" (Wheel Song), which introduces the rhythm section. That's when Dél-Alföldi hit hard with "Molnár Hol a Pénzed" (The Miller's Ballad) and "Kalamona." The first piece pairs a swinging jazz theme with a softer middle section, the ballad, sung by Ágoston. A series of saxophone solos follow, dancing on the fine line between jazz and experimental, blowing ferocious split tones and highly lyrical phrases. The title track is another one of those irresistible East-European party tunes ("Doodle" and "Reindeer" will also get the feet going). The 20-minute suite "Jelek/Sámánének" (Signals/Shaman Song) is the most raucous track, one powerful highlight. Fans of Masada, Yuri Yukanov, and klezmer/gypsy music with an avant-garde twist in general will love this. This is music to get excited about. And as usual with November releases, the CD comes packaged with stunning artwork. Strongly recommended."
1. The Shepherd's Dream
2. Song from Moldva
3. Wheel Song
4. The Miller's Ballad
5. Kalamona
6. Signals / Shaman Song
7. Doodle
8. Reindeer
9. A Question for the Evening
Béla Burány (Baritone and Soprano Saxes)
Balázs Dongó Szokolai (Soprano Saxophone, Bass Clarinet, Kaval, Overtone Singing and Whistle)
Béla Ágoston (Alto and Tenors Saxophone, Bass Clarinet, Vocals and Overtone Singing)
Róbert Benkő (Double Bass)
Tamás Sándor Geröly (Drums and Percussion, Vocal)
Link
Mihály Dresch's Quartet is a determining band of the national jazz. A peculiar blend of folk music and jazz. As a result of its entirely individual sound and high artistic standard it is one of the most popular Hungarian band of its kind abroad. You can find a row of musical curiosities on the first Dresch album that appeared at the publisher: Dresch plays the cimbalom (this is a real surprise of our great wind player) and on the other solo instrument, the violin, we can enjoy the art of Félix Lajkó, who has since become popular with his own band as well.
1. Cimbalom zene / Cimbalom Music
2. Jókívánság / Best Wishes
3. Tedd - rá! / Put It On!
4. Napkelet / From East
5. Fecském - fecském... / My Swalow – My Swalow
6. Búcsúztató / Farewell
7. Friss / Quick Steps
Félix Lajkó – violin
Róbert Benkő – double bass
Tamás Geröly – percussion
Mihály Dresch “Dudás” – soprano and tenor sax, cimbalom, bass clarinet
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Few people have as much right to claim they are world musicians as Ferenc Snétberger has. Hailing from a Sinti/Roma family in Hungary, Snétberger played Gypsy guitar at an early age, learned classical guitar as a teenager, studied jazz guitar later at the Ferenc Liszt Academy, Budapest and adapted Brazilian and Spanish techniques to his playing. Carrying in his bag the passion of tango, Indian music and the admiration for Egberto Gismonti, Jim Hall and Johann Sebastian Bach, Snétberger knew from the start that he would never want to play without improvising but keep his exquisite classical touch whatever he would do. "I am a jazz guitarist but also a classical guitarist", he says. "Folklore - that's my childhood and youth, my roots. The touch is more classical, the sound is jazz. I don't have a recipe for this mixture, I put it together unconsciously." Since living in Berlin, Snétberger has become one of the few truly distinctive voices on contemporary guitar, a border-crossing virtuoso of a rare kind. An obvious choice to step in for the late Charlie Byrd in the 'Great Guitars' band and a welcome celebrity at the Budapest Music Academy, he also frequently appears in ethnic-oriented musical contexts.
Presenting him as a mature composer in different settings, "For My People" is unlike any of Snétberger's earlier recordings. The solo pieces are elegant bows towards Spain and Latin America featuring Snétberger's improvisational fantasy combined within clear playing concepts for the classical guitar. The sensational duo suite with trumpet virtuoso Markus Stockhausen, a son of the famous composer, surprised the creators themselves upon listening back. After the first rehearsal, the two of them put aside the written parts and improvised like one man. However, the most significant and elaborate piece on the album is Snétberger's Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra in three movements. Dedicated to the memory of his people, the Roma and Sinti, the concert is inspired by the soulful melodies of Gypsy tradition. A vital statement against human suffering, "In Memory of my People" was written on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camps. Snétberger improvised his own part within the frameworks of the score and presents his instrument as a mighty concert voice.
1. Mazurka
2. Hajnal
3. Gond Nélkül
4. Alkony
5. Hallgató (Adagio - Allegro)
6. Emlékek (Adagio)
7. Tánc (Allegro furioso)
8. Fantázia
9. Vals Criollo / Vals Gitano
Ferenc Snétberger - acoustic guitar
Markus Stockhausen - trumpet (# 2 & 4), flügelhorn (# 3)
The Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra
Liszt Ferenc Kamarazenekar, Budapest: (# 5-7)
Concert Master: János Rolla; Violins I: János Rolla, György Lovas, Zoltán Tfirst, Péter Hamar, Lili Áldor; Violins II: Kálmán Kostyál, Zsuzsa Weisz, Péter Gazda, György Kiss, Éva Isépy; Violas: Mihály Várnagy, Attila Lezsák, András Pista; Cellos: Mária Frank, Otto Kertész, Anna Sándor; Double Bass: Alajos H. Zováthi
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"Pianist Béla Szakcsi Lakatos has a lengthy history that includes playing classical music and jazz standards as well as being the first in Hungary to explore fusion. As a member of Special EFX, he toured the world and appeared on many recordings. He has also worked extensively at exploring his Hungarian heritage and turning gypsy-flavored melodies into jazz. Although one can hear a bit of Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett in his playing, much of the time Lakatos plays the piano like the folk instrument the cimbalom, a bit out of time yet swinging in its own fashion. Lakatos' originals are full of rich melodies, and the lengthier pieces on Na Dara!, particularly "8th District," are episodic, unpredictable, and intriguing. The occasional wordless vocals of Csaba Rostás and particularly his wife, Mónika Rostás, are haunting and authentic, giving this music an even stronger flavor of Eastern Hungarian music. Lakatos wraps up this continually interesting set with a stately reading of John Lewis' "Django." Recommended!"
"I believe that what we have on this album is world music in the truest sense of the word. To my mind, world music is not when a Cuban musician or a Gypsy plays the tunes of his own people but when various musical cultures and styles merge into one. Here you have the Hungarian and Gypsy elements fusing with the strains of Oriental music, occasionally straying into the blues while phrases crop up even from Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 1, and there is the undeniable influence of twenty-first-century contemporary music. But all through this pulses the underlying current of jazz."
01-Red caravan
02-8th district
03-Peace of the stars
04-Little gipsy song for you
05-Gipsy groove
06-Bell of my soul - tribute to Péter Eötvös
07-Django
Béla Szakcsi Lakatos - piano
György Orbán - double bass
András Peczek Lakatos - drums
Mónika Rostás - vocal
Csaba Rostás - vocal
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"Elemér Balázs is one of Hungary's best known jazz drummers. Three years ago he invited six of his colleagues, all fine musicians in their own right, to form the Elemér Balázs Group, and they have become a highly acclaimed band by now... The Group has been touring Hungary extensively, and they are regularly invited to festivals not only in their home country but abroad as well. ... The group is striving to create their own sound characterised mainly by the contrast of the female and male voices. In their music they mix ethnic songs with original compositions."
"Elemér Balázs is one of the best drummers around right now, in my opinion. He plays with such musicality and finesse and has the ability to listen inside each musical moment with the kind of spontaneous decision - making that allows everyone that plays with him to sound their best. He also has a wonderful touch on the instrument - I always enjoy the chance to play with him and to hear him."
01. Menyecske, menyecske
02. Végigmentem a lónai nagyutcán
03. Lányok ülnek a toronyban
04. Szózat Katitzához a férfiak ügyiben
05. A nagy hegyeken túl
06. Árva madár
07. Arra kértem az én jóistenemet
08. Kivel háltál az éjjel
09. Szeretőm e táncba
10. A nagy erdő meséje
Musicians:
Gábor Winand - vocals
Elemér Balázs - drums
Gábor Juhász - guitars
Klára Hajdu - vocals
Péter Glaser - double bass
András Dés - percussion
József Balázs - piano
Guests:
Bea Palya - vocals
Ágnes Szalóki - vocals
Link
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The Jávori Sound Machine, founded by acknowledged drummer Vilmos Jávori in 2002, strives always to create a special atmosphere on stage with their energetic performance of an amalgam of Hungarian folk music, jazz, pop, and Latin rhythms. They mostly play original compositions and traditional arrangements. Vilmos Jávori (1945) has been a definitive character of Hungarian jazz life for decades. He has won numerous prizes and awards including the Special Prize of the Montreaux Jazz Festival, the eMeRTon Prize, and the 1st Prize at the San Sebastian Jazz Festival. Péter Sárik (1972) started to play the piano at the age of 7, and graduated from the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music in 1997. He has played and made recordings with several jazz and pop formations, and has also composed music. László Nagy (1982) has achieved high ranking
and won a number of music contests despite his young age. József Horváth Pluto (1980) won the talent contest for bassists organized by the Hungarian Radio in 2003, and is a sought-after session musician on both acoustic and electric bass. Dávid Jávori (1982), son of Vilmos Jávori, is pursuing classical music studies. He ranked 3rd at the 1998 European Festival.
01. Tavaszi szél
02. Duna Parton
03. Doberman
04. Megkötöm a lovamat
05. Duo (Sax: Tony Lakatos)
06. Kicsi madár (Sax: Tony Lakatos)
07. Just For You (Sax: Tony Lakatos)
08. Felülről fúj
09. Szivárvány havasán
10. Hol jártál az éjjel
Horváth Plutó, József electric bass/double bass
Jávori,Dávid violin
Jávori,Vilmos drums
Nagy,László guitar
Sárik,Péter piano
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