• List Price: $15.99  
• Your Price: $15.99
• In Stock: [{"available":"0"}]

You must login to place orders.




Not purchasing for a business? See our consumer site.

Guitarist Gyula Babos, one of the iconic figures of the Great Generation of Hungarian jazzmen who successfully transplanted jazz-rock fusion into a Hungarian context during the 1970s and 80s, was never one to rest on his laurels. His innate love of challenges drove him to enrich his musical vocabulary further by drawing on his Roma heritage, on mainstream jazz, on classical and even Indian music. In his Macrocosmos the musicians express themselves in the language of contemporary improvised art, pushing the boundaries of jazz even further while keeping the music accessible. He has always managed to pick his fellow musicians best suited for the purpose. This quintet includes singer, saxophonist and flautist, Gabor Winand, one of the most original jazz-vocalists in Europe who sings and plays what one might term as 'free-bop'. The trumpeter, Kornel Fekete Kovacs, himself a great experimenter, is the leader of Hungary's internationally acclaimed big band, the Modern Art Orchestra. Gyorgy Orban is probably the most sought-after bass-player in the country, while drummer Tamas Czirjak is one of the brightest newcomers. Babos, understandably, claiming the European tradition as his own, has created a loose framework with his compositions based on Bartok's 'Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm', within which he and his fellow musicians can enjoy a great deal of freedom. This combination of spontaneity, invention and freedom coupled with self-discipline demands the highest standard of musicianship which is unerringly present throughout the album, all the more remarkable for it being a live recording.

Track Listing

Press Quotes

The veteran Hungarian guitarist Gyula Babos' 'live' quintet's energizing electric jazz originals have an unlikely inspiration in Bela Bartok's 'Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm'.

     —Jazzwise