Times New Román at Budapest Ritmo, April 7

No, they are not a typeface, but Times New Román is the clever name of a new five-piece Hungarian band playing urban Gypsy folk. They did an excellent showcase in Szimpla Kert, one of the most atmospheric ‘ruin bars’ of Budapest. It was the band’s pair of clarinets that took the lead, namely Bence Babcsán and Márton Deáky, plus a backline of accordion, kontra (viola) and double bass. The clarinets (or sometimes saxophones) tossed melodies back and forth, picking up from each other and sometimes coming together and playing in thirds. The music was joyous and the band segued brilliantly from one tune into another.

Much of the music was Romanian in flavour, from the western Banat region. They played an exquisite Romanian suite, with sinewy clarinet lines, halting irregular rhythms and moments of exquisite melancholy. And there was a tribute to Nicu ‘Anghel’ Ministeru, a Gypsy saxophonist who has a statue in Maciova, near Timişoara. Benedek Réti, the droll accordionist who did the introductions, says he “played two-times faster than anyone else, and because he looked 60 when he was 30 must have been living twice as fast as anyone else!”

Times New Román are exciting and refreshing new characters on the scene.