MAGNIFICENT! A real scorcher of an album! There are insufficient superlatives in the language to adequately describe this heady brew. Friends who visited Budapest brought back Vasmalom’s impressive first album; a few and line-up changes later, they’ve matured so much that they now occupy a well-deserved place in Europe’s premier division. It may seem invidious to single out individuals; all six are outstanding musicians. But special mention must be made of Kalman Balogh, whose scintillating cimbalom has to be heard to believed, and of Balazs Szokolay, for brilliant contributions on flutes, bagpipes, soprano sax - used to such blistering effect on Kerekes (Ring Dance) - and harmonica, when the whole band has enormous fun with Negy Tetel (Four Movements). Then there’s his vocal duet with Eva Molnar on which he uses a truly astonishing Mongolian harmonic overtone style. How does he do it.
Gabor Reothy’s nifty mandocello and percussion, and Tibor Csuhaj Barna’s bass provide solid rhythmic underpinning, while Andras Doczy adds typically fiery fiddle. Most pieces included are original compositions and are firmly rooted in the Hungarian tradition; energetic dance tunes with unquantifiable time signatures and delicate, often rather mournful, songs.
Vasmalom delayed their departure from Hungary, for a while, until the tape was ready. Next time they tour, they’ll have the CD and vinyl versions - and they will surely sell like proverbial hot cakes.
Keith Hudson
01 - Dudanóta (Bagpipe Song)
02 - Gergelem (Gergel Dance)
03 - Szerelem (Love)
04 - Kerekes (Ring Dance) - Péter Kertje (Peter's Garden)
05 - Járd Ki Lábam (Come On Feet, Dance)
06 - Testvér (Brother)
07 - Napra Csillag (Stars Follow The Sun)
08 - Add Fel Isten Azt A Napot (God Makes The Sun Rise)
09 - Bolgár Cigány Horo (Bulgarian Gypsy Horo)
10 - Keresztutak (Crossroads)
Reõthy, Gábor (founder): mandocello, darbuka, tapan, tilinkó, hurdy-gurdy, vocal.
Papp, Ágnes: vocal.
Balogh, Kálmán: cimbalom.
Szokolai Dongó, Balázs: bagpipes, flutes, soprano sax, mongolian style singing, mouthharp.
Nyiri, László: violin, trumpet violin.
Csuhaj Barna, Tibor: doublebass.