SLAMCD569 Szilárd Mezei Flute & Strings Trio – Fehér Virág

The Flute and Strings Trio led by violinist/composer Szilárd Mezei, was originally assembled in 2005 in Novi Sad, Serbia – the pure textures of viola, flute and acoustic guitar proving to be an enchanting combination.

Music of the trio moves from a completely free improvisation over dramaturgical compositional techniques to a fully-written compositions by Szilard Mezei. These compositions are mostly written with aleatoric technique, and despite the fact that it is a composition, due to the aleatory sonority is very close to improvised music, but with a clearer melodic, rhythmic and harmonic terms, as in a completely improvised music. In addition to the collective playing, solos and duets play a big role in the program of the trio.

Szilárd Mezei: viola, kaval
Svetlana Novakovic: flute
Maja Radovanlija: acoustic guitar

“The trio plays craggy and intervallic music that sounds like Julius Hemphill sitting in with the String Trio of New Yor, crossed with Louis Sclavis acoustic quartet covering Messiaen. I’m in. One key to the success of this music, aside from the superb instrumentalism, is the indissoluble melding of texture and line, which is one of my favourite (and most difficult to achieve) elements of truly top improvising. As strongly neoclassical as “Wild Geese” is in places – lyrical here, densely chromatic there, with some lovely a cappella sections for Mezei – it’s in the dynamic grain and colour of the trio that the music is most wondrous. With music this detailed and complex, that’s as necessary as the players’ technique. Speaking of which, I absolutely loved the guitarist’s playing, combining dense chordal investigations with fleet finger-picking and some bright lyrical flourishes that contrast smartly with the timbres and harmonic choices the other two tend to make. Breathy flute opens “Shadow Show,” a lengthy tribute to John Carter that grows in rhythmic intensity, abetted by Mezei’s use of the booming kaval percussion instrument, which seems to goad Radovanlija into her most gnarly playing of the date, and Novakovic to her most terpsichorean. When Mezei switches back to viola, the music swings infectiously. Things are similarly bracing on the fantastic title track, with overtones skirling amidst guitar chords, and a sombre, almost gagaku-like feel in the flute-heavy sections. Terrific music!” – Jason Bivins, Cadence Magazine

“Three comprehensive explorations in performance expression and creatively improvisatorial music composition. The composition of viola, flute and acoustic guitar gives this recording a purity of texture and much of the appeal of this album is in the interaction between these refined timbres.” – Jason Balzarano, Jazz Journal

“You get melancholy strings that weave together and drift apart with guitar and flute on “Wild Geese I-II” as classical guitar dances with percussive strings to moods of modern classicism. Some folksy brooding is featured on “White Flower” as the woodwinds create a dark panorama. Istvan Csik brigns drums and percussion to “Shadow Show” which adds to the mystical sounds of flute and viola, while rich textures hover like an evening fog. Rewarding for the patient.” – George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly

“The 70 minutes of Fehér Virág will flow like a breeze if you just set yourselves comfortable. It might sound as a mainstream recommendation, for all consequential musics should be absorbed in optimal conditions. But when Szilárd Mezei is a part of the equation, there’s that extra need of fine-tuning a listener’s receptors to envision the human dynamics at work. The ultimate outcome consists of sublime counterpoints whose textural fertility mostly derives from overtones and microtonal auras surrounding the so-called “regular” pitches. That harmonic wealth becomes conspicuous as soon as the initial “Vadludak I-II” begins, as the mind is projected in a lost world where musicians still have a command of the interior languages and spend more days practicing their craft than hustling to get a spot in the sun.” – Massimo Ricci, Touching Extremes

“He brings together elements from classical, folk and jazz music, balancing composition and improvisation and arriving at what he has named contemporary improvised music. ‘White Flower’ is very much in this genre and is a quite exhilarating musical work, the striking equilibrium only seemingly at odds with its multi-faceted nature.” – Ken Cheetham, Jazz Views

Composed by Szilard Mezei
Recorded 12th August 2005 at Studio Vilenjak, Novi Sad, Serbia
Mixed and mastered by Saša Milankov

SLAM CATALOGUE