Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Szilard Mezei Vocal Ensemble, Fujj szel, Zenta, visszhangozz szel!, 2011

Today in our rough-and-tumble survey of the Not Two label releases by jazz composer-violist-bandleader Szilard Mezei, we come to an ambitious offering by the Szilard Mezei Vocal Ensemble entitled Fujj szel, Zenta, visszhangozz szel! (Not Two 883-2).

It's a full disk of Szilard's large ensemble doing five of his pieces. Kinga Mezei presides as vocalist and she has a hearty, earthy voice that carries nicely over the ensemble and sounds quite lovely as well. The ensemble for this outing is Szilard on viola plus Rankovic on alto sax and bass clarinet, Bede on tenor sax and clarinet, Burany on baritone and soprano, Aksin on trombone, Aleksic on piano, Papista on tuba, Malina on doublebass and Csik on drums.

It is a lively blend of musical colors that Szilard makes full use of, and there are solid avant improvisers to take the spotlight and carry the day when needed.

The disk stands out for its very intriguing, substantial large ensemble new jazz compositions, the distinctive sound of the band, Szilard's working of traditional Hungarian, eastern European folk elements into the mix here and there, and the improvisational heft of the band as a whole.

It is music that is very original, and as such difficult to describe in words. It's very beautiful, and this is an excellent album. If you are looking for something different on the new jazz scene, here it is!

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