A natural interweaving of jazz and folk music, reborn with legendary instrument solos and catchy melodies. All members of the band have a strong personal bond with authentic Hungarian folk music, and many still perform and teach this genre, in addition to world music. Balázs Unger's own minstrelsy, his daily connection with folk music led him to realize how important improvisation is in this genre. Musical improvisation skills play an important role in the specific individual style of our traditionalist masters.

In 1998, Balázs met Mihály Dresch, the saxophonist icon of Hungarian ethno-jazz, in a Csángó folkdance house. Mihály invited him to play in his band, and then they performed together for two years in the Dresch Quartet, where our dulcimer developed a love of the ethno-jazz genre. In 2019, the violinist of Cimbaliband, Máté Solymosi, won the special award of the 1st International Roby Lakatos Violin Improvisation Competition for the best folk improvisation, which also gave a boost to the creation of our album Szabadon.

The eleven songs of the disc were based on the dialects of Hungarian folk music: a quintet formed by Transdanubia, the Highlands, the Great Plain of Hungary, Transylvania, and Moldavia. At least two folk songs from each major region form the basis of our compositions on the record, which gives an exciting reform to the original melodies, paying special attention to the dulcimer and improvisational violin tunes. Thanks to graphic artist Dóra Sára, an illustration was created for each song, with different graphic techniques, which can be found in the appendix of the album booklet. The listening experience becomes truly complete with these pictures.

1. Arass Rózsám 4’34”
2. Pacsirtás 3’21
3. Katonadolog 4’31”
4. Akácfa 3’22”
5. Vándor 3’29”
6. Erre gyere! 3’58”
7. Átokháza 4’00”
8. Katikata 4’23”
9. Mamikám 3’55”
10. Őszi szél 2’49”
11. Pince 3’42”

A Cimbaliband zenekar tagjai:

Unger Balázs - cimbalom, ének (zeneszerző)
Solymosi Máté - hegedű
Babos Lőrinc - dob, ütőhangszerek, vokál
Tóth Gergely - nagybőgő
Varga Kornél - gitár, vokál

A lemezen közreműködik:
Bede Péter - szaxofon
Agatics Krunoszláv Kico - harmonika

A felvétel 2021. tavaszán készült a Csend Stúdióban és az Audio Technica
referencia stúdiójában. Hangmérnök: Mazán Attila Fotó: Todoroff Lázár
Grafika: Sára Dóra Nyomdai előkészítés: Kiss Dóra, Szilasi Marianne