MUZSIKAS - Blues for Transilvania

1. Old Song from Somogy
2. Legényes from Kalotaszeg (Kalotaszegi Legényes)
3. My Lord, My Lord (Istenem, Istenem)
4. Szapora
5. Outlaw Song (Betyárnóta)
6. Dawn Song from Bodonkút (Bodonkúti Hajnali)
7. On My Way to Kolozsvár Town (Ha Felmegyek Kolozsvárra)
8. Cimbalmos from Bonchida
9. Kati-Kata
10. Old Wedding Song (Régi Lakodalmas)
11. Time Is Autumn (Ösz Az Idö)

Despite the best efforts of Romania's Ceaucescu dictatorship to make Transylvanian folk culture disappear, it survived at least in part due to the very deprivations (e.g., the lack of electricity and education) that were intended to destroy it. This well-known Hungarian quintet began rooting around in the one-time Hungarian territory a decade ago, and their first collection of Transylvanian tunes is a deep and diverse treasure trove of nearly forgotten centuries-old acoustic history. A droning hurdy-gurdy introduces a song about the "damned misery of love"; a pair of fiddles rouse dancers to high-stepping wedding and Christmas dances; a sad string quartet accompanies a song describing "The Time of Autumn" when conscripted soldiers left their villages. And, as with all Muzsikas's albums, Marta Sebestyen's wise and clear and cold voice re-creates another world in your living room. (Richard Gehr)

MUZSIKAS FlaC