{"id":2169,"date":"2017-02-21T14:52:00","date_gmt":"2017-02-21T19:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/?p=2169"},"modified":"2019-09-12T12:31:27","modified_gmt":"2019-09-12T16:31:27","slug":"spring-break-with-budapest-jazz-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2017\/02\/spring-break-with-budapest-jazz-photos.html","title":{"rendered":"Spring break with Budapest jazz, photos"},"content":{"rendered":"

I went to Budapest for spring break — to introduce a photo exhibit by my Transylvanian-born\u00c2\u00a0friend \u00c2\u00a0S\u00c3\u00a1nta Istv\u00c3\u00a1n Csaba <\/a>and help jury the\u00c2\u00a010th annual M\u00c3\u00bcpa Budapest Jazz Showcase\/Talent Exchange<\/a>,\u00c2\u00a0held in the modernist musem\u00c2\u00a0and multi-theater complex on the east bank of the icy Danube Feb 3 – 5.<\/p>\n

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Viktor T\u00c3\u00b3th played alto briefly to open the\u00c2\u00a0photo exhibition – (and Saturday\u00c2\u00a0night at the Budapest Jazz Club) – photo by Janos Posztos\u00c2\u00a0M\u00c3\u00bcpa Budapest<\/span><\/b><\/p><\/div>\n

As I wrote in my \u00c2\u00a0DownBeat article<\/a>, the sound of the 12 sets I heard was jazz as we think of it\u00c2\u00a0now<\/em> — virtuosic horns, piano\/keyboards and\/or guitar, upright or electric basses and drums; vocalists\u00c2\u00a0singing standards, spicing up\u00c2\u00a0r&b grooves, toying with electronics; popular rhythms\u00c2\u00a0addressed through personal perspectives.<\/p>\n

There was a faint aura of the music of the Roma — gypsies — in the air, emanating not only from the quartets\u00c2\u00a0led by\u00c2\u00a0pianist Gyula Balogh and drummer Toni Sn\u00c3\u00a9tberger, with\u00c2\u00a0members from that community. It was hard to define — no overt\u00c2\u00a0Django Reinhardt,\u00c2\u00a0figurations or repertoire, but a tinge of\u00c2\u00a0darkness and interiority in those bands, and what I imagined was witchy wailing by singer Petra K\u00c3\u00a9sz with her performance art-like trio Cymbal Rush (video of that\u00c2\u00a0show below).<\/p>\n

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On walls, from left: Anthony Braxton, Chico Hamilton, Charles McPherson . . . Carla Bley, Charles Lloyd, Frank Wess. Photos by S\u00c3\u00a1nta Istv\u00c3\u00a1n Csaba<\/p><\/div>\n

Still, as in the Saturday night jam session at the Budapest Jazz Club<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0– a very cool hangout which advertised Jeff “Tain” Watts, Joe Lovano and Steve Coleman as coming attractions supplementing local groups, the vibe was familiar from my travels in Armenia, the Azores, Berlin, Cuba, Denmark, Gambia, Italy, St. Petersberg, Tampere, Trinidad, Ukraine as well as the States. Whatever a community’s resources, there are commonalities in the jazz world everywhere, this capital of Central Europe most definitely included.<\/p>\n

Second grouping of Jazzonance portraits in M\u00c3\u00bcpa<\/p><\/div>\n

The singing in English, allusions to Monk (as I took the approach of alto saxophonist G\u00c3\u00a1bor Baris’s Version), reverence for Coltrane (especially by alto\/soprano saxist Tam\u00c3\u00a1s Lud\u00c3\u00a1nyi) and interest in Herbie Hancock bleeding over to pop stars such as J Dilla (by drummer David Hodek, grooving with American pianist Paul Cornish and bassist Joshua Crumbly) and Betty Wright (smoldering singer Janka V\u00c3\u00b6r\u00c3\u00b6s’ finale<\/a>), with Santa’s\u00c2\u00a02.5 x 2 meter\u00c2\u00a0closeups of U.S. jazz masters on the walls \u00c2\u00a0–“Jazzonance” was M\u00c3\u00bcpa’s exhibit title \u00c2\u00a0— and companionable journo\/jurists\u00c2\u00a0from Sofia, Slovenia, London, plus\u00c2\u00a0Budapest-based\u00c2\u00a0freelancer Korn\u00c3\u00a9l Zipernovszky and the generously great Hungarian guitarist\u00c2\u00a0Gyula Babos – let\u00c2\u00a0me feel almost\u00c2\u00a0at home, while refreshed by particular differences.<\/p>\n