Concerts

Wednesday June 24, 2009

V. Our happy last days Festival - MIDSUMMER NIGHT

20:00:

Harcsa Veronika Quartett, Sergent Garcia (Fr), Vida Tóni - Tordas Rádió Party

Location:

Gödör Club

Ticket Price:

5000 HUF

Pre-emption:

4500 HUF

Sergent Garcia: 'Mascaras' - the new album - Wednesday June 24 22.00

He may be the man behind salsamuffin, an obvious and yet innovative blend of reggae and salsa – two of the most important musical styles to come out of the Caribbean. And OK, so he did usher in a number of other similar blends along the way (reggaeton in particular) which are now setting Latin America on fire from one end to the other. But there’s no getting away from the fact that Bruno “Sergent” Garcia’s catalogue does much more than stick to a formula – magic and original though it may be.

Bruno still has a tendency to want to shatter anything resembling convention or habit – a legacy from his years playing guitar with the cult punk rock group Ludwig Von 88. His first four albums all met with international success. The self-produced Viva el Sargento was followed by the album that established him – Un Poquito Quemao, with its large ensemble band, so reminiscent of Fania’s finest hour. Next came the more refined Sin Fronteras, just ahead of La Semilla Escondida, a back-to-basics album in search of his Jamaican and Cuban roots. And now Sergent Garcia is back, three years and a greatest hits album later, with Mascaras, his most accomplished and most uninhibited work to date.

“I wanted to find some way of linking everything I had experimented with on my previous albums”, says Garcia. “Being on tour for the last two years – either with an ensemble of musicians or on my own with just a sound system – has enabled me to play and travel throughout the world. And to find out that there really is such a thing as urban music, a ‘big town’ sound that’s part of a worldwide, universal wave – although it has its roots in different local traditions. With this album I wanted to get back to a more modern and more urban sound. I wanted to use machines again, while at the same time keeping that raw, unprocessed flavour that traditional instruments provide”.

This was the global, all-embracing ambition that was the motivation behind the twelve tracks of Garcia's new opus. The whole album was written over a period of two months in Valencia and Paris, and features the collaboration of percussionist Ivan Montoya.

For the album’s production, the Sergent sought help in the shape of Toy Hernandez, one of the most prominent contemporary producers in the world of Latin music.

“I was aware of the work he had done with Control Machete (one of the most successful Mexican rap groups, both domestically and abroad until its split – they counted the Beastie Boys among their fans) and his expertise in hip hop”, Bruno continues. “But I’d also noticed – through his other production work and his DJ sets – that he had a genuine understanding of how to use acoustic instruments. He’s very au fait with traditional styles, particularly cumbia, which was one of the main ingredients for the songs I had in mind. Toy knows how to weave the sound of an accordion played from a street orchestra into a completely electronic riddim. And I found the idea of going to Mexico to record the album appealing - it’s a country that seems to function much more capably than others as both a cultural and a geographical junction between tradition and modernity”.

Although on a number of tracks the Sergent reminds us how comfortable he is with styles in their purest form - whether it be roots reggae (as on the love-themed "Non Words" or "Les 5 sens du guerrier"), rocksteady (as on “Guantanamo City” and the message its lyrics convey), the most sizzling salsa (as on “Eres tu” or “En este mundo de locos” – a cover of a track by Cuban group Sur Caribe), or even ballads (Yaité Ramos duets with him on “Tantas Cosas”), the general mood of Mascaras is much more of an unpredictable mix of explosive styles. “Dulce con chile”, the first single, oscillates between cumbia and hip hop, as does “Si solo fuera yo un pajaro”. “Toi tu es là bas” is a blend of reggae and rap, while “Pintame” weaves mambo brass with a reggaeton beat. And for “El camion no para”, the Sergent has pulled out all the stops, fusing all the highly explosive musical ingredients he has to hand into a carnival of rhythms that culminate in a high-energy instrumental, a mix of funk, afrobeat and salsa for a track that is set to be one of the high points of his tour which kicks off in early summer 2006. The new album is a festive cross-section of some of the sounds that make our planet rock, bringing together the streets of Mexico, Barranquilla, Los Angeles, Kingston, Lagos, Paris and Valencia.

And what about “Mascaras” (masks), the title of the album? “It’s a tribute to lucha libre, a kind of wrestling that is very popular in Mexico”, explains Bruno. “The sport’s biggest stars wear distinctive masks. They never go out in public without them, and some are even buried with them. I like the aesthetics, the design of the masks. And it’s a way of reminding us that basically, we all wear a mask. That nothing is quite as it seems.” Of course it may be a nod in the direction of Zorro, Sergent Garcia’s inevitable alter ego…

http://www.myspace.com/sergentgarciasargentogarcia

V. Our happy last days Festival - 21-24. June

For the first time we have organized our free four-day-long (ending on Midsummer Night) festival in June 2005 as a traditional celebration of the festivity of music. Because of the great interest and the professional support, the event has built itself into the capital’s summer cultural life. From years to years we organize it on a higher level and wider spektrum with our old and new ideas. Jazz, alternative rock, acoustic music, folk- and world music is all on the palette, with contemporary dance performances, giving a cross section of Gödör’s yearly action. The thematic days follow the complexion of the yearly programs including the terrace of Gödör into the circulation.

21. June – Feast of Music

Maurice Fleuret (a French music scholar) suggested celebrating the first day of summer everywhere around the world with music. They have first celebrated this in 1982 in France. Today the feast of music has a European, moreover world wide fame, it is organized in more than 100 countries on the 21st of June.

In Europe 16 cities from 12 European countries has signed the Chart of the European Feast of Music in 1997 in Budapest.

Gödör Club has been celebrating music from the beginnings and to stay faithful to its traditions, all programs are free this year too.

This year the feast starts with Dévényi Ádám and the Átmenet kabát’s acoustic program, and then Bródy János will perform.

And then Átmeneti Kabát again but in a more rocky style. Dévényi Ádám is a freethinking, free soul man who you can easely call (without having to explain it): an artist. There is not many left of them, so it is better if we look after them. And the easiest way to do that is by listening to him. There will also be a special performance: Clean Smell. Popularizing the natural perfume…

From 23.00 we can listen to the KisTehén Tánczenekar-Dinamikusok concert in the Aquarium Hall, where the band will give a very energetic performance. And to give a worthy finish to the day, ef Zámbó Happy Dead Band will play hopefully until dawn.

Entrance is free. Starting time: 20.00

22. June – World music

The second day of the festival invites the folk and world music lovers to Gödör. From 8pm Kossuth-prize awarded Kalaka will play a „poem-concert“ on the terasse. They give these poems to the listeners in a very elegant way, since they have been doing that for almost thirty years, making sure people get to know poems and also that Hungarian poets come to known abroad.

After them the guitar primate, Both Miklós and his band, Napra will play. It is not impossible to wed accordion, drumkit and electronic guitars with acoustic folk instruments, such as dulcimer, violin or viola. Do not miss Napra if you wanna hear something fresh and new! (Also you can now get their Jaj, a világ album! Go for it!)

Chalaban’s concert will end the evening. Chalaban is mingling traditional, Moroccan Berber, Gnawa music with modern, etno elements. The musicians are partly Moroccan too, partly Hungarian jazz and folk musicians. In the songs we can hear the miscellany of gembri, karkabat, ud, derbuka, rebaba and flute, saxophone, trumpet, accordion and bass guitar…

Entrance is free. Starting time: 20.00

23. June – Jazzgödör Extra

Throughout the Wednesday Jazz Nights, the audience has been able to listening to jazz concerts for 6 years in Gödör Club. These concerts are usually fusional music from different genres. For the festival, Gödör Club has chosen the most colourful ones. The first performance is one of the leading jazz band of Hungary, Dresch Quartet.

Dresch is the king of saxophone, who builds his music upon traditional folk treasures. Sometimes in a direct, sometimes in a non-direct way (which can change within one song), many times his improvisations also follow the tunes of Hungarian folk. All of this comes with an authentic dancing folk music and the enthralling musical knowledge of the musicians.

After Dresch we travel to another part of the world. Gnawa Trio plays Moroccan Gnawa trans music with musicians who we can trust that they know the rhythms of Africa. Gnawa is based on wonderful rhythmical formulas, which are constant still variable all the time. Said Tichiti (from Chalaban) is playing with two musicians known from jazz and improvisational music, their goal is to create a trans experience using tribe music.

The last performer of the evening is Triton; they are returning guests in Gödör Club for many, many years. They play many different types of music: hip-hop, klezmer, etno-music, jazz, free-jazz, this has been changing all the time just like the front men, Vázsonyi János’s musical interest and mood. This formation is playing the mixture of all these styles.

There will also be (of course) a theatre production too, a dance performance: Nelson Reguera: In Fall.

24. June – Midsummer Night

This evening is the summit of the festival, since after Harcsa Veronika Quartet there will be a real star and his band performing on Gödör Club’s stage: Sergent Garcia.

The glamorous Harcsa Veronika with her extremely mature voice first played the piano and the saxophone and started singing 7 years ago; in moments she became one of the most glorious stars of Hungarian jazz scene.

Not long after Columbia, and before the American-Canadian tour, Sergent Garcia, the legendary salsa muffin man visits Budapest. Be careful! There will be a brutal Latin fiesta! The ancestor enemy of Zorro (and also a friend of Manu Chao) came to Hungary in 2001 for the first time, since then we have seen him at various festivals and finally he plays on the stage of Gödör Club, he is performing for us on the 24th of June at the 5th Víg Végnapjaink Festival.

Bruno Garcia was born in France (with a father from Bilbao and also Africal ancestors). His album, Un poquito quema'o brought him and his band the first real succes, which came out exactly 10 years ago. Since then the dash is undiminished.

Reggae ton, raga, cambia, hip-hop, ska – and we could keep counting the Latin or non-Latin genres, tunes and rhythms performed in Spanish, French and English languages, with musicians from many nations: that’s how we could express Sergent Garcia’s diversity in words, although it is still impossible to represent it. We need to see and hear it/him/them. And feel it most importatntly.

After the concerts Vida Tóni – Tordas Radio Party will be the closing event.

Tickets in advance for 4500 HUF at the Café of Gödör Club, online on our hompage, or nationwide in the Ticketpro offices.

On the day of the concert tickets cost 5000 HUF.