Hungary - Budapest Part I

 We arrive in Budapest, the by all accounts beautiful capital of Hungary on the river Danube.  We'll be lingering here for a while as a lot of good music has come from this city.  We begin with one of Hungary's most popular folk ensembles called Muzsikás.  They were established in 1973 as a quartet with permanent guest vocalists, most notably Márta Sebestyén, who is also part of the Sebő Ensemble mentioned in the last post.  Apart from traditional folk they have also interpreted classical pieces, specifically works by Hungarian composer Béla Bártok.  They have collaborated with many international acts and have gathered numerous awards.  Their song Szerelem, szerelem (love, love) featured in the 1996 movie The English Patient and can be found on their 1991 album Prisoners' Songs:

Band leader Bela Lakatos was born in Budapest in 1943 and he went on to found the Gypsy Youth Project in order to preserve the traditions of the Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg region in the north-east of the country.  In Hungary Gypsy music falls into 2 main categories: 'restaurant music', which is played in the cities for the tourists and rural folk music, played predominantly for the gypsy community themselves.  The Gypsy Youth Project falls into the latter category.  The songs are led by vocals accompanied by simple percussion of foot stomping and tin can beating and some acoustic guitar and mandolin.  In 2006 they released their debut album Introducing Bela Lakatos & The Gypsy Youth Project.  This is fun party song called Na Suytom (I haven't slept):

Violinist Roby Lakatos (no relation to Bela to my knowledge) was also born in Budapest in 1965.  He combines traditional Hungarian Gypsy music with jazz and classical influences and describes himself as the fastest-fingered violinist in the world.  He sports a wonderful Dali-esque moustache and performs all over the world with his ensemble.  Here is a trio of tunes called Fire Dance - Gypsy Bolero - Cickom Paraphrase from his 2005 album Fire Dance:

Gypsy band Romano Drom (Gypsy Road) was founded in 1999 around father and son team Antal Kovács Senior and Junior.  Antal the elder has since passed away, but has been replaced by some of his grandsons.  They play a contemporary version of the traditional music of the Vlach Gypsies without a heavy brass section, led by the voice of Antal Junior singing songs in the Vlach Gypsy language mostly penned by the man himself.  Here's a song from their latest 2019 album Give Me Wine called Kamavla Me:

Gypsy Balkan band Besh o droM also started in Budapest in 1999.  Their name literally means sit on the road in the Lovari Romany dialect, but its figurative meaning is 'follow your path, get on with it'.  It is also a pun in Hungarian meaning 'rolling a joint'.  Their sound is much more brass heavy with influences from all over the Balkans and the Middle East and even punk.  They very much invite you to let loose and swing a dance leg.  Here is a rocky number from their 20th anniversary album Besh O droM 20 called Vaságy:

A capello trio Dalinda met in the folk music department of the Franz Liszt Music Academy in Budapest.  Whilst traditional Hungarian songs are generally sung in monphonics, the female trio reinterpret traditional songs to give them polyphonic harmonies and insert a feminine force to the music.  Here's a song from their 2020 album Átjárók called Tapsos Székeli:

In 2018 American guitarist Gary Lucas, formerly of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band, got together with traditional Hungarian folk singer Enikő Szabó and Serbian saxophonist Tóni Dezső in Budapest to form an ensemble called Pearly Clouds.  The sound revolves around traditional and contemporary Hungarian folk songs given some psychedelic and bluesy notes.  Here's the opening track of their 2018 self-titled album called Édesanyám Rózsafája (My sweet mother's rosewood):

That's it from Budapest for today.  We'll linger in the city for a bit longer next time.  In the meantime you can follow my virtual ramblings on my Tripline map.