Studio and live – 2016 edition

In autumn 2016 one of the most prominent album of Hungarian music history, the ’Sheafs are dancing’ CD Deluxe re-release hit the shelves of local stores – the 2003 album was one of the best release of Djabe to date. The compositions were inspired by paintings of artist Imre Égerházi which gave the album unique importance. The editorial concept followed the ’one painting, one track’ policy and consists of compositions of bass guitarist Tamás Barabás and guitarist Attila Égerházi. The band succeeded in mirroring the visual thoughts of the painter, with sounds ’painted across’ the canvases, and moved the visual experience further. The tracks echo the spirit of the Great Hungarian Plain, the Transylvanian landscape, or the field trips to Italy, Bulgaria, Poland and France. Djabe received numerous foreign invitations with the album and this was the beginning of international career for the band.

The 2016 edition christened ‘Sheafs are dancing – studio and live’ and it’s first CD is essentially the same as the original release. The second, now-debuting extra CD entitled ‘Sheafs are dancing – live’ with recordings of four different locations but sounds as an integrated concert album, thanks to the quality editorial and engineering work. The concert CD’s main material, seven recordings from the ‘Sheafs are dancing’ album tour at Pesti Vigadó, Budapest in 2003. Further two compositions (Szemrehányás, Ház a dombtetőn) had its recordings done at the same tour but different location, at Petőfi Csarnok.
In 2015 one of the band’s long-time dream came true, Repülés and Jégvilág compositions had their symphonic version was born. Tams Barabás recomposed the two compositions, arranged by pianist Zoltán Kovács with a 59 piece symphonic orchestra. The ‘Repülés’ and ‘Jégvilág’ recordings of ‘Sheafs’ concert disc was recorded at Művészetek Palotája, Budapest with the Hungarian Symphonic Orchestra Miskolc on November 10th, 2015.
A further interesting fact about ‘Sheafs’ concert CD is aside from the 5 and 6 ipece line-up of Djabe one track features a 7 piece line-up: recordings of ‘Fátyol mögött’ were made at a gig at New Orleans Club in 2004 with Viktor Tóth as a saxophonist; the artist was a full-time member of Djabe for a short time but no studio album was ever released under his membership.

The two discs are packaged to a extended, 36-page hard cover handbook, on digipak trays. Form to content. Good to hold in your hands. This quality must only be presented this way. Five stars.

Joze
music journalist