a r t i s t : A Hawk And A Hacksaw
t i t l e : And The Hun Hangar Ensemble
d a t e : 2007
l a b e l : Leaf
c a t : DOCK47CDVD
s o u r c e : CDDA
g e n r e : Folk
r l s. d a t e : May/2007
t r a c k s : 08
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 40,4 MB
_______________________________________________________________________
Late in 2006 Jeremy and Heather, making an exploratory trip to
Hungary, discovered Fon≤, a music shop, venue and centre for
Hungarian folk music based in the capital Budapest. Here they
met musicians fluent not only in traditional Hungarian folk,
but also in jazz and minimalism, with a real hunger to make
original music using the palette of musical styles that they
had acquired, and The Hun Hangar Ensemble was born.
Bela Agoston, an open minded and highly influential character
within the Budapest music scene, brings expertise on many an
instrument including Hungarian bagpipes, the clarinet and the
alto saxophone. Ferenc Kovacs, who has played with Archie
Shepp amongst others, was recruited for his outstanding
ability on trumpet and violin. Zsolt Kurtosi's talents lay
with the upright bass and experience in traditional Hungarian
and Transylvanian folk and klezmer, while a young maestro of
the cymbalom (a dulcimer-like instrument central to
traditional Hungarian music), Balßzs Unger, completes the
group.
Jeremy already had in mind the songs he wanted to record û a
mixture of traditional Hungarian, Serbian, Romanian and
klezmer melodies, as well as new compositions by himself and
Heather - and brought rough drafts when he joined the ensemble
to record in Budapest in December 2006. The Ensemble had just
a week to lay down their parts before the tracks were brought
back to AHAAH's Albuquerque base for Jeremy and Heather to add
their sections, once again supplemented by members of Beirut.
The songs were carefully chosen to showcase the individual
prowess of each of the six musicians, in ensemble pieces (such
as "Ihabibi"), duos ("Kiraly Siritas2, featuring violin and
cymbalom) and solo pieces (the virtuoso cymbalom of
"Vajdaszentivßny"). Perhaps most impressive of all is
"Zozobra", which features only Balazs (cymbalom) and Jeremy
(everything else), and sounds like it ought to be
soundtracking Buster Keaton.
In addition to the CD, a 20-minute bonus DVD (An Introduction
To A Hawk And A Hacksaw) documents the last two years of almost
continuous touring by the original duo of Jeremy Barnes and
Heather Trost, with behind-the scenes insight into their travels
across Europe, as well as some great live footage captured
(by director Dave Herman) in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Anyone not yet au fait with AHAAH's blistering but delightfully
intimate live performances would do well to sample some of the fun.
... soon :)
_______________________________________________________________________
01-Kiraly Siratßs [02:32]
02-Zozobra [04:02]
03-Serbian Cocek [04:14]
04-Romanian Hora and Bulgar [03:15]
05-Ihabibi [03:57]
06-Vajdaszentivßny [02:36]
07-Oriental Hora [05:18]
08-Dudanotak [03:29]
-------
29:23 min