Rather surprisingly, this extremely limited edition recording first showed up in Hungary a good 34 years after its inception. It's a strong and valuable addition to the Hungarian guitarist's recorded legacy - and one that deserves a wider hearing than even this outstanding release affords.
Gabor Szabo hadn't been back to his homeland since he was forced to flee in 1956. In the mean time, he became a renowned jazz guitarist in the United States and was accorded some modicum of crossover success throughout pretty much everywhere in the world except Hungary.
Still, he was treated like musical royalty upon his first return to his homeland in 1974 (oddly it was his last trip to his native land in 1981 where the guitarist fell ill and died). Hungarian TV offered him a program performing the music of his choice with Hungarian musicians of his own choosing. The program, recorded on September 12, 1974, was broadcast in Hungary only in two parts in May and August 1975 - the first such show ever devoted to jazz music broadcast on Hungarian television.
The program, nearly an hour in length, is mostly remarkable in every way, musically, artistically and, more importantly, one of the strongest official recordings Szabo made during the time. If there was to be one single recording of Szabo's during the 1970s to hear and or to have, this is the one.
The CD's unique packaging has the glossy mini-LP sleeve fold out into an eight-panel poster with many photos from the show (color on one side, black and white on the other) and extensive liner notes - in English! - by Laszlo Kovacs detailing the origins of the program, a translation of the interview Szabo provides during the program, a reference to the guitarist's Hungarian biography (by Karoly Libisch), the guitarist's Hungarian discography and filmography and biographies of the participating musicians.
There are constellations within the grooves of Cymbalom Solos. Innumerable points of light, rendered audible in glowing, radiant sound. There are entire worlds too - undiscovered, yet familiar - both terrestrial and celestial. There are moments of quiet comfort and exultant discovery. And all of it conjured by one man with a handful of ancient and invented instruments, recorded mostly-live, with precious few overdubs.Michael Masley has been a fixture of Berkley, California, since he arrived from Michigan in 1982. Even today, he remains a common sight, working as a street performer - catching the attention of passers-by as he summons otherworldly overtones from a coterie of arcane instruments. This is how he met fellow east-coast transplant and musical voyager, Barry Cleveland, in 1983. Cleveland was enraptured by the sound of Masley's wildly innovative bowhammer cymbalom. The cymbalom is an ancient instrument, similar to a zither or hammered-dulcimer - originating in Eastern Europe in 1874, but with primitive early examples dating back as early as 3500 BC. Yet Masley's approach to the instrument was wholly original. Masley replaced the two traditional cymbalom hammers, with bowhammers - an invention wherein he fitted each of his fingers with it's own combination hammer/bow device, which allowed him to both strike the strings, and bow them like a violin. Outfitted with his bowhammers, Masley was able to wrest startlingly new sounds from a centuries-old instrument.In 1985, after performing together for a couple years, Cleveland produced Masley's first solo endeavour, Cymbalom Solos. With the help of Cleveland's timely production, Masley's technique reached it's zenith. His complex and beautiful compositions combined elements of Eastern-European classical, new minimalism, and celtic/folk music, yet the end result falls squarely within the world of new age kosmiche. Music of the spheres, conjured by earthbound strings. Masley estimates that he sold tens
Hungarian guitarist Gabor Szabo (1936-82) issued only three live recordings during his lifetime. Significantly, the first of these, The Sorcerer (1967), remains the most popular album in the guitarist's all-too abbreviated discography. But there were also More Sorcery (1968) and Gabor Szabo Live with Charles Lloyd (1974), offering Szabo totally in his element and at his bewitching best. Several more of Szabo's concert recordings have surfaced in the intervening years, including this one, superbly captured for radio broadcast live in 1976 at the 600-seat Agora Ballroom in Cleveland, Ohio. It is a revelation. There is a sense here that concert patrons may have been hearing an altogether different Gabor Szabo than record buyers. For one thing, Szabo is heard fronting what is likely his own
group, rather than an army of studio musicians. In 1976, Szabo was leading a tremendous quartet with George Cables (or Joanne Grauer) on piano, Tony Dumas on bass and Sherman Ferguson on drums. Szabo had not had a band with this much jazz clout since his famed quartet with Jimmy Stewart in 1967-68 - and it is a union worth savoring: Szabo's records during this period were light, at best, on jazz. It's unclear if any of these musicians are on the Agora date, but as Dumas's "It Happens" opens the program, it's a good bet, at least, that the bassist is on board here. But as Szabo's '76 quartet is not known to have recorded a studio record, Live in Cleveland is the closest thing to what a mid-seventies Szabo jazz album would sound like. Gone, are the strings, vocals, and concessions to commercial consideration so prevalent on so many of Szabo's studio records at the time. What is present, though, is fine craftsmanship, tremendous interplay, and the exciting improvisation that good jazz always yields. This particular concert was part of Sansui's "New World of Jazz," a series of 13-hour-long jazz concerts recorded at Cleveland's iconic Agora Ballroom and broadcast over 40 FM radio stations. The series was sponsored by Sansui Electronics, a Japanese manufacturer of audio and video equipment, which previously sponsored a similar series of rock concerts recorded at the Agora as well. Sansui was promoting it's matrix QS 4-channel sound system - offering, what was considered at the time, superior diagonal separation and stereo compatibility. The firm, partnering with Agora Ballroom and Agency Recording Studio owner Hank LoConti (1929-2014), was looking to take advantage of what they rightly felt was
the then-current jazz renaissance. Each show's 16-track master tape was mixed through the Sansui QS 4-channel encoder," according to an August 1976 Billboard article detailing the arrangement, "for distribution to the 40 FM stations throughout the United States that bought the series" - allowing for three commercial spots for local dealers to advertise.' The recording is available for the first time on CD and VINYL. Mastering by grammy-nominated Jessica Thompson.