SOLD-OUT - Tabula Rasa #4 - Kurátor: Sainkho Namtchylak (Tuva)

The House of Music's series Tabula Rasa, launched in the spring of 2022, starts with a clean slate, as the title suggests, and four musicians who will give an improvisational concert on the second night of the series following a day and a half of rehearsals. It is no secret that the aim of Tabula Rasa is to encourage fresh musical experimentation, improvisation and expression, independent of genre, by representatives of different musical styles. Each time, a curator invites the musicians, devises the concept and leads the formation, which is put together exclusively for the occasion, a recording of which is released by the House of Music. For the fourth such occasion, the curator is the Tuvan-born throat singer Sainkho Namtchylak, who lives and works all over the world, and the accompanying trio is made up of Ádám Mészáros (guitar), Ernő Hock (bass) and András Halmos (drums). Prior to the concert on 24 February, István Sántha will give a lecture on the sound image of the shaman of the Sayan-Bajkal region (in memory of Vilmos Diószegi,1923-1972) and will talk about Sainkho Namtchylak's work and the way in which his performance style is unique and pioneering even in Tuva. Sainkho Namtchylak is an extraordinary singer from the Central Asian Republic of Tuva. A singer with a rich energy and a wonderful voice, she has a completely unique technique and astonishing performance style even among Tuvan throat singers. Namtchylak's parents were nomadic, and she draws on ancient Islamic rituals, as well as local traditions.

Sainkho Namchylak is able to weave together a variety of elements from her culture: Siberian folklore with shamanic traditions, mysterious throat singing and the wisdom of the Buddhist religion. She works pure magic with her voice, bringing forth the sounds of nature and the voices of animals. Sainkho has been working with creative, improvisational musicians since 1988, and has been a member of the exciting Moscow jazz ensemble Tri-O, experimenting with avant-garde sounds in all her projects. She fuses cultural and religious heritage in her performances, allowing her audience to travel from the past to the present, from the imaginary to the realms of reality with her and her musicians. The singer, currently based in Vienna, has invited the first ten years of the Jü Trio line-up to be the musicians for his curated programme.

Hock Ernő, double bass player and bass guitarist, was born in Mezőtúr in 1979. One of the most sought-after jazz bassists of his generation, he has been a member of the Grencsó Collective, the Dresch Quartet and the orchestra of the Krétakör Theatre led by Árpád Schilling. In the past ten years he has been involved in several formations with Béla Ágoston and is a member of The Qualitons. He is currently working with Szilárd Mezei, Metrum Ensemble, and Gadó, and plays in the bands Jü, Decolonize Your Mind Society and Dzsindzsa. He lived for a while in Berlin, where he has had the opportunity to play with Axel Dörner, Rudi Mahall and Jean Paul Bourelly, among others. He has also worked with other inspiring and great musicians such as Charles Gayle, Chris Potter, Kjetil Moster, István Baló, Zsolt Kovács, Lajos Rozmán, Mihály Víg, Szilárd Mezei and György Szabados.

The guitarist Ádám Mészáros is an active participant in the improvisational and creative music scene in Budapest. The main genre pillars of his activity are based in three areas: in addition to the Hungarian free music and avant-garde jazz movement, he has interests in musical fusions with various African influences and experimental pop-rock. Jü is a founding and regular member of the Andalusian Sephardic music tradition fusion group Qiyan, who have three discs to their credit on London's RareNoise Records with the contemporary jazz formation Reservation Orchestra, the Moroccan gnawa and chaabi music traditions of Tariqa and Said Chalaban, and the Erik Sumo experimental pop band. In the last 15 years, he has appeared alongside artists and bands such as Péterfy Bori & Love Band, Mabon Dawud Republic, Jónás Vera Experiment, Rutkai Bori Banda and Dorota. His work as a guitarist and composer can also be heard in theatre performances, commercials and feature films.

The drummer, concert promoter András Halmos has been playing music since the early nineties and is also an active participant in the improvisational and creative music scene in Budapest, playing in a variety of styles and with a wide range of formations – from highly complex, scored works to the freest of improvisations. In the past, he has played with Mészáros and Hock in the Jü orchestra, and all three are still members of the Mabon Dawud Republic. As a drummer, he has played in a very wide range of styles, in many formations, on many records, including with: Kampec Dolores, Triton, Ágoston Trió, Pop Ivan, Santa Diver, Bajdázó, Zanzinger, Decolonize Your Mind Society, Gadó Gábor Quartet, Yvein Monk, Hó Márton és a Jetik, Papaver Cousins, among others. He has also worked on several film scores. András Halmos has been a concert promoter since 2004.