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Bartok's profoundly original musical language, linked in different ways to folk music, has had an inspiring influence on many exponents of modern jazz. The Bartok project launched by jazz guitarist Andras Parniczky two years ago is thus not without precedent. Yet in many respects it takes a different tack on the composer's oeuvre, which transcends eras and musical cultures. Not only in the sense that in this combination the guitar is the only harmonic instrument, and the parts are to be played by various other instruments, but also because since the copyright restrictions on Bartok's works expired in 2015, he has 'interfered' in the compositions far more courageously and creatively than his predecessors. He has loosened the shackles of unswerving respect for Bartok in a way that has enabled him to realize his own visions. Bartok was a proud, sincere character, who brooked no compromise, who was at one and the same time a late Romantic composer full of feeling, and an incredible, lean, determined ethnomusicologist, who composed with surgical precision. On the other hand, Bartok was one of the last composers not to exploit in any way whatsoever the opportunities afforded by electronics. One reason Parniczky decided to call his project Bartok Electrified was because for years he had been curious as to how these works would sound on electric instruments. Most of the music chosen is from Bartok's short pieces: some of them have been translated into a jazz idiom 'as is', while others he has played around with considerably, using them as a source of inspiration. He has endeavoured to keep a constant balance between Bartok's ideas and improvisation, even though the jazz impro in these compositions doesn't necessarily happen in the same way as in the standards. In several instances he had to write improvisatory riffs for Bartok's themes, but there are some pieces where there aren't even riffs, and basically he and the band play free impro.

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The Hungarian guitarist Andras Párniczky has composed / rearranged / revisited his repertoire using some of Bartók's shorter pieces such as Mikrokozmosz, Easy Pieces for Piano or Contrasts for Violin, Clarinet and Piano. His is a musical operation that is at the same time courageous, intriguing and contemporary. An operation made possible by the expiry of copyright on the works of Bartok, which took place in 2015, and the desire to re-propose in a more modern and jazz way his works, with a music that is both complex and emotional. At the same times, all this allows the Párniczky Quartet to maintain its own recognizable, saturated and decidedly energetic sound. Bartók Electrified is a great job, let yourself be tempted by the ideas of the Párniczky Quartet.

     —Andrea Aguzzi, neuguitars.com

Throughout, the ensembles are extremely tight but never stiff. Most of the tracks are brief (only two exceed the five- minute range) but pack a lot into their short-ish running time. All in all, another effective contemporization of Bartok's music.

     —Robert Iannapollo, Candence Magazine