Hungarian, Serbia-based violist-double bass player-composer-improviser Szilárd Mezei’s Octet relies on his long-time musical comrades, especially his trio’s members for the past twenty-five years: double bass player Ervin Malina, «the philosopher of the double bass», and drummer István Csík, «the universal drummer, ready and willing for anything».
The album’s title, and its opening, 32-minute piece, «Csak a filmekben / Only in Movies», emphasize the word «only», and do not attempt to refer to specific film music or a parody of film music. But its playful, dramatic, openly emotional, and chamber jazz dynamics suggest a nuanced, cinematic and even theatrical, story-like narrative. The short and mournful «Se dió se mogyoró / Neither Walnut nor Hazelnut» refers to the way Hungarian poet István Domonkos, once also a trombonist, colourfully recounted a not-so-good solo trombone of his, as a metaphor for his life: «no walnut, no hazelnut, no walnut, no hazelnut». But it also reflects on another Hungarian key figure, pianist György Szabados, considered to be the «father» of the Hungarian free jazz movement since the 1960s.
The 25-minute «Szabólegények / The Tailor’s Apprentices» is a sort of homage to Cecil Taylor, though Mezei tells that he is «not yet ready to write a true homage piece, just as I am not yet ready for a Peter Kowald homage». But even this «apprentice tailor’s attempt at sewing a waistcoat» is an impressive piece, incorporating Taylor’s rich, forward-thinking and stormy free jazz vision with Mezei’s collective, multilayered, lyrical, and contemplative chamber work. The following, shorter, «8 – 6 + (2 – 8) + (6 – 2) + 6», emphasizes the collective, thoughtful yet playful aesthetics of the octet, driven by the indispensable 2 – Malina and Csik, as well as Mezei’s experience of many years of collaboration with the octet’s musicians. This fine album ends with the ironic and sarcastic «Léckeringő / Lath Waltz», which Mezei insists that it is also an «emotional pamphlet».
Only In Movies may not be film music, but it tells evocative and colourful musical stories that wisely play with elements of darkness and light, discipline and spontaneity.
Eyal Hareuveni
Szilárd Mezei (viola), Andrea Berendika (flute), Bogdan Ranković (alto saxophone, bass clarinet), Nemanja Mihailović (bassoon), Ivan Burka (vibraphone), Máté Pozsár (piano), Ervin Malina (double bass), István Csík (drums)
