This is a live performance firmly set in the area of free improvisation but exhibiting a degree of structure a round five of the leader's compositions. Anyone interested in the contemporary European scene who has open ears will probably want to try, especially in view of the undoubted gifts the protagonists bring to the recording. They'll find it's true to the principles of the independently minded label founded and tirelessly sustained by baritone saxophonist George Haslam.

Peter Gamble Jazz Journal July 2012

 

Chronologically – at least in terms of released discs – musical polymath and violist Szilárd Mezei seems to be drawing closer to Jazz-influenced music. That's doesn't mean that his compositions are less reflective of the mixture of improvised, notated and folkloric sounds he has uniquely made his own over the past couple of decades, or are shifting one way or another. , It's just that the saxophonist in the quartet session that makes up the most recent (2008) release by this Serbian-born member of that multi-ethnic country's Hungarian minority not only plays unabashed Free Jazz, but has the space on Februári Fodári Fodöntés to do so.

A young Budapest-based graduate of the Liszt Ferenc Music Academy, tenor saxophonist Péter Bede has also recorded with veteran Hungarian trumpeter/violinist Ferenc Kovács, drummer Zsolt Sárvári Kovács and his own band. Plus on the Mezei LP's three tracks Bede's extended glossolalia and split tones put him firmly in the orbit of exploratory saxophonist like Albert Ayler. Meanwhile the violist, bassist Erno Hock and drummer Hunor G. Szabó use Bede's stylistic musings as a unique construct that is added to the tradition-styled melody fragments and extended New music tropes that characterize Mezei's compositions.

Mezei's usual reed soloist – Bogdan Ranković, who moves effortlessly among alto and tenor saxophones, clarinet and bass clarinet – is featured on Tönk and Bot, recorded in 2007 and 2004 respectively. But, as notable as his solos might be with melancholy, folkloric inflections, coupled with slurred extended techniques, in contrast to Bede his sonic models are from microtonal and New music. To his credit as a group member though, Ranković adds linear and harmonic weight to the two-man reed section on the earlier CDs, where the woodwind players share the front line with the violist and cellist and one trombonist on Tönk; or with Mezei, a different cellist plus trumpet, trombone and tuba on Bot's two CDs.

Illustrations of Ranković's talents, as well as Mezei's compositional and arrangement skills are evident in contrasting versions of a few tunes. On Tönk, for instance, the octet's version of "Bot" is staccato and discursive, with double-stopping string continuum, clicking drum flams, solipsistic piano comping and hunting horn-like brays from trombonist Bravislav Aksin. With the theme reoccurring throughout, usually sounded by the full band, each appearance is framed differently; whether it is by cheeping flute and staccato string interjections; guttural gutbucket trombone and percussive shuffle bowing from the strings; or pumped and pizzicato strings and drum rebounds. The most affecting intermezzo arises from the composer's taut playing itself, with counterpoint provided by romantic string glisses and Gergely Ittzés' bass-flute vibrations. At length, a stop-time ending completes the initial exposition with walking bass line and cymbal clanks.

In contrast Bot's title tune is much more expansive, harmonized and orchestral – with the fuller sound spread among additional brass. Although Mezei's arrangement is cleaner than the one he created for Tönk, timbres still match. Radmila Stanišić's vibrating cello lines are paired with Aksin's tailgate trombone and the guttural tuba farts of Kornél Pápista, for instance, while Emöke Zákány's chirping oboe chatters contrapuntally. Midway through, a big-band- styled vamp gives way to biting trumpet blasts and woody bass clarinet echoes from Ranković before a tutti nocturne is exposed. Low pressure and moderato, the variant is stretched as far as possible until rippling tuba tones introduce another lucid orchestral part. It, in turn, is completed by double-stopping viola lines, followed by sequential call-and-response from trumpet and trombone, and irregularly vibrated brass snorts.

In the same way "Nõi box/Female Boxing" on Tönk is extended by slow crescendos from the top range of the octet's instruments, circled by squeezed sul ponticello lines from the strings and mid-range, horn slurs and bites which intermittently protrude from the bouncy Balkan-styled melody. The Bot version elaborates the theme so that tremolo textures from one trumpeter and irregular vibratos from one clarinetist stand out as the other horns maintain a processional line. By the mid-point clipped drum figures and a walking bass line accompany a trumpeter whose sharply paced solo full of bent notes could slide unnoticed into any Bop arrangement. Later angled double stops from the cello and viola presage a circus-like drum roll which sets up the final theme variant. Unlike the composition's final section on the other CD, this variant is rich with polyharmonies and polytones with the theme passed among bass string plucks, sputtering trombone blasts and a cacophonous tutti with unmistakable oboe cries high in the mix.

Although Tönk too has some overwrought sections which seem more attuned to 19th century orchestrations, in the main the disc is more of an improvisational showcase than Bot. This is made clearest when comparing "Ûlõ bika/Sitting Bull", from the first CD with "Napszekér/Chariot of Sun" from the two-CD-set recorded three years earlier. Arranged in more formalized sequences, the result is nearly a scherzo and could be a film soundtrack. The portamento layering of the instruments include the trumpets playing Dixieland-like triplets, discursive reed bites and the spiccato cello sprawl. But even as the time is broken up with ratchet-like friction and slide whistle shrills, the neatly stacked harmonies maintain equilibrium. Finally Balkan-like clarinet trills presage a final sequence that releases the tension engendered by the massed mid-range instruments and is completed by pressurized string motions and brassy pumps.

In contrast, the other version of the tune is as unfettered as its American Indian namesake. While the octet arrangement on this 2007 session calls for unison orchestral passages, that are meditative and low-pitched, the focus is on individual accomplishment. Ittzés' flute chirps, Ervin Malina slaps his bass strings and Ranković slurs tenor saxophone tones. Mezei himself triple stops his viola's strings like a combination of Stuff Smith and Billy Bang, preceding Aksin's guttural trombone break and leading to a penultimate aletrotic and abrasive hoe down between fiddle and drums plus splintered sax tones and piano chording. Echoing pops from all the strings constitute the ending

Coincidentally or not "Ûlõ bika/Sitting Bull" presages the emphasis on Jazz improv with the otherwise all-Hungarian quartet recorded the next year. The arrangements maintain a full sound by close voicing of the saxophone and viola, Hock thumping bass strings and Szabó whapping the bass drum and rattling drum tops. Mezei's downward string curves and splintering stops are complemented by the rhythm section, while Bede's reed bites rend the air. Eventually as the tenor man's geysers of split tones and guttural spews abate, as in a conventional Jazz line, the fiddler makes reference to the initial theme, which is reprised in a smoother fashion.

If these CDs are accurate guides, the Hungarian-Serbia composer continues to excel at combing elements of compositions and improvisations, with the same high standards applied to whichever sounds he feels like emphasizing. Considering Mezei's most recent session is almost three years old, one wonders what advances he's involved with right now

--Ken Waxman http://www.jazzword.com/review/127500

 

"Tonk - Ho/Stump - Snow" by the octet begins with a majestic orchestral swell. A stately melody with complex internal dissonance takes over, soon giv­ing way to intense collective improvisation over skittering drums and a feeling of suspended time. That's in just the first two minutes of this 13-minute piece, and words utterly fail to convey how wonderful his impressively rich and nuanced charts actually sound. In his investiga­tions of control versus disorder and the nuances of sound, Mezei has effectively created his own sound world. While it's true that he has pretty much the same tools as everyone else, he uses them in original ways imbued with a keen sense of curiosity and adventure. Mezei has built up an impressive discography over the past few years with bands of varying sizes, and this pair of splendid releases reinforces the point that something wonderful is brewing in Serbia.   Stuart Kremsky  Cadence January 2011.

Over the last years, violist and composer Szilárd Mezei has steadily amassed several remarkable and unjustly unsung albums, gradually expanding a creative individuality whose crucial constituents reside in the influence of his native region's folk — he's a Serbian of Hungarian descent — aptly fused with the freshest ramifications of contemporary jazz and chamber music. This live set from 2007, recorded in Budapest, takes a comprehensive snapshot of these issues, a path that bifurcates between the respect of a written score and a next-to-mayhem discharge of communicative energy. The whole is permeated by artistic integrity and unwillingness to bend to average Western standards, both in the very material and its presentation; the only English words correspond to the translation of the titles, while a poem by B. Pap Endre printed on the inside leaflet is left in the original idiom. Make what you want of these things.

The abundant duration — circa 72 minutes — is not a problem, in that the performance allows the listener to change perspectives rather frequently, enjoying a number of harmonic shifts, open-minded improvisations and thematic implications. It begins with silence broken by small instrumental noises — with the strings at the forefront — but soon enough the composition starts to exploit the octet's ever-changing dynamics, often suffused with a sort of sinister humor that's typically Balkan. One of the intriguing facets of Mezei's style is the superimposition of different rhythms, something that an untrained brain accepts with difficulty (see what happens when people teach that life's movements are all in twos and threes). Once familiarized with that, though, the process of assimilation is made easier by an expert subdivision of the parts across the orchestral ranks.

Space is allotted for each member's solo spots: a section by pianist Milan Aleksić impressively recalls Sergey Kuryokhin's furious flurries, whereas Albert Márkos' cello is a thing of beauty throughout. The jovially dissonant theme of "Hep 5" is the ultimate stamp on a work that desperately attempts to remain in the memory: not through easy-to-sing lines or surplus of skill, but via the kind of collective heart that throbs down to the most difficult-to-swallow sections. In that sense, Tönk may not be the primary symbol of Mezei's inventiveness, yet it portrays the personal consistency and the comradeship among the participants quite well.

-Massimo Ricci2010-10-14 http://www.squidsear.com/cgi-bin/news/newsView.cgi?newsID=1217

 

Toro seduto

di

Vittorio LoConte

Il violista serbo Szilard Mezei, ma di origine ungherese, ha messo insieme un bell´ottetto per presentarsi al festival di Budapest, esisbizione registrata e pubblicata da una label inglese, questa volta è però la Slam Productionsinvece che la solita Leo Records, dove è stato spesso di casa.

La formazione è fatta di connazionali molto abili a mettersi in mostra come possibili interpreti dell´avanguardia a livello internazionale: Gergely Ittzes al flauto, flauto alto e basso, piccolo, Bogdan Rankovic al sax alto e tenore ed al clarineto basso, Branislav Aksin trombone, Albert Markos violoncello, Milan Aleksic piano, Ervin Malinacontrabbasso, Istvan Csik percussioni. Tutti musicisti che non fanno rimpiangere i collettivi delle formazioni americane.

Tutti hanno modo di mettersi in vista all´interno di partiture articolate che lasciano ampio spazio all´improvvisazione, in un equlibrio tra le parti notevole. Sono musiche ispirate dalla contemporaneità, europea e americana, ma con la forza per parlare un linguaggio proprio. Gli intrecci tra gli archi, o i fiati trabordanti di forza sono uan caratteristica di questa band, guidata da un leader che sa bene mettere insieme momenti atonali ed altri dalla struggente bellezza melodica, per lo più eseguita dalla sua viola.

Non sono da dimenticare i cluster del pianoforte, in evidenza in "Bot" o la forza propulsiva della ritmica. È un progetto ben guidato, cui la dimensione live dà il qualcosa in più dal punto di vista dell´emozione. Szilard Mezei è ormai ben uso alla guida di questo tipo di formazioni, che rinnovano la tradizione europea di gruppi come la Vienna Art Orchestra con un sguardo misurato al passato della musica free per orchestra.

http://www.musicboom.it/mostra_recensioni.php?Unico=20100610041235

The Serbian violist Szilard Mezei, but of Hungarian descent, has put together a bell'ottetto to present the festival in Budapest, esisbizione recorded and published by an English label, this time however, the Slam Productions instead of the usual Leo Records, where he often been at home.

Training is made up of highly skilled countrymen to put on display as possible garde performers internationallyGergely Ittzes flute, alto flute and bass, small, Bogdan Rankovic on alto and tenor and the bass clarinet,Branislav Aksinia trombone Albert Markos cello, Milan Aleksic plan, Ervin Malina bass, Istvan Csik percussion. All musicians do not regret the collective American formations.

Everyone has a way to get a view articulated in scores that leave ample room for improvisation in a remarkable acrobatics between the parties. Are music inspired by contemporary, European and American, but with the strength to speak its own language. The connections between the strings, or woodwind trabordanti uan strengths are characteristic of this band, led by a leader who knows put together by poignant moments and other atonal melodic beauty, mostly carried out by its purple.

Can not forget the piano clusters, highlighted in "Bot" or the driving force of rhythm. It is a well-led, live where the size gives a little more in terms of emotion. Szilard Mezei is now well used to drive this type of training, which renew the European tradition of groups like the Vienna Art Orchestra