From cimbalom player (and former
Muszikas member)
Kalman Balogh, this aptly named album shows off an instrument popular in Hungarian Gypsy music but little heard otherwise.
Balogh takes on Hungarian, Romanian, and Moldavian Gypsy music (both modern and traditional); sad ballads; and uptempo dances. The range is remarkable, matched only by the stunning speed of
Balogh's mallets on his dulcimer. For listeners coming to
Balogh by way of his work with larger ensembles, the excitement may be somewhat muted, with less accompaniment and fewer full band numbers heard here. The cimbalom certainly doesn't have a sparse sound, but may seem sparse in relation to the well-known Eastern European Gypsy ensembles. The album opens with a slightly Turkish-sounding number before moving into a trio of more traditional stylings. A short Gypsy jazz interlude provides inflections of American swing, and a short bit of solfege in combination with
Balogh's cimbalom hints at the musical connections with India's santoor. After a piece originally written for violin, the music takes a turn into Romanian pieces for the rest of the main album's course. Tacked onto the end, however, are two items from
Kalman Balogh "and friends," larger ensemble pieces that make use of the full
ARC Records stable --
Hossam Ramzy on percussion,
Pablo Carcamo on bass, and
Enrique Ugarte on accordion, among others. The sound is less coherent but more groove-centric, and reignites what had become a slower spell of the album. Give the ensembles (
Muszikas,
Taraf de Haidouks, etc.) a shot first, but then come back to
Balogh as an excellent example of a solo player. ~ Adam Greenberg
