Szilard Mezei Szabad Quintet 2012 Singing Elephant

Szilárd Mezei Szabad Quintet ~ Singing Elephant ~ 2012
Not Two Records MW 893-2.

http://i2.imageban.ru/out/2017/06/04/8045ff084838813bf56b78f85af4221e.jpg?042148

1 Among Carbon 9:23
2 Leopard 9:08
3 Beautiful Lilly's Sorrow 13:57
4 Cocoa 9:12
5 1 Piper In 5 Inn 9:37
6 Singing Elephant 11:32

Ernő Hock: double bass
Hunor G. Szabó: drums
Péter Bede: tenor saxophone
Adam Meggyes: trumpet, cornet
Szilárd Mezei: viola

This is a very diverse recording with some straight ahead jazz moments, some folk music that Mezei's viola adds to perfectly, and a few tracks that will leave you scratching your head. 'Leopard' comes at you in a series of punctuations as if the group were counting the cat's spots. Over time they separate and soon you are wrapped up in their cat and mouse game before everything catches to itself again.
Hunor G. Szabo (drums) and Emo Hock (bass) start 'Beautiful Lilly's Sorrow' at a breakneck pace and maintain it as the backbeat and pulse for Mezei (viola), Péter Bede (tenor sax) and Adam Meggyes (trumpet, cornet) to play some beautifully tortured notes over. The subtle beauty of '1 Piper in 5 Inn' make it a superb star attraction of the show. The band are precise and controlled like they are creeping around you waiting for the perfect moment to add sound. Mezei's viola manages to keep everything organic and grounded, his sound perfectly suited to this style. Beautifully timed and executed. - Philip Coombs, freejazzblog.org