Grencsó Open Collective ‎- Derengés / Dawn (2015)

Throughout the 1980’s I played extensively in Hungary for the National Radio and many jazz festivals; one of my outstanding memories is the excitement of hearing the groups of György Szabados live in concert and at festivals. Like Bartók before him, but following a different strain, Szabados’ work is much influenced by Hungarian folk music and has found its own recognised place in the culture of that country. When the Hungarian label ‘Hunnia’ told me of this double CD project and invited SLAM in a joint production I had no hesitation in accepting and I could not be more pleased with the result. ~ George Haslam


Although he recorded with master improvisers like Roscoe Mitchell, Joëlle Léandre and Anthony Braxton, pianist György Szabados, who would have been 77 this month but died at 71 in June 2011, is little known outside of Hungary. Yet his influence loomed over his country’s post-war music as much as the specter of communism haunted Europe. Like the AACM’s Muhal Richard Abrams, Szabados organized workshops where musicians absorbed his mixture of improvisation, jazz and notated music.
Unlike Abrams, though, Szabados’ opportunities were limited by his government’s Stalin-esque distrust of free music. That’s one reason why Derengés/Dawn is so valuable. Almost the equivalent of a samizdat novel given mass publication, the two-CD set provides expanded performances of six Szabados compositions. ~ Ken Waxman


Each of the players is quite distinctive, and they mesh well together. I was especially compelled by Miklós (Szilveszter), who plays all over the kit, liberally using cymbal texture contrasted with work in the lower register, able to generate all kinds of cross-cutting patterns alongside the other instruments. And the group as a whole is, while able to generate plenty of heat, often quite patient and deliberate in building patterns and themes. Sometimes this seems to happen as if from nowhere, with brief Bartókian reels flowing from bass clarinet and viola, but backing off quickly into a melismatic pause. It’s quite curious, but very satisfying, as is their equally sound melodic work: "Supplication" is like occupying a very specific, silvery atmosphere. ~ Jason Bivins