Polygon

Mihály Borbély is a Hungarian player of saxophone, clarinet and other wind instruments. In this live recording he's with the remarkable cimbalom player Miklós Lukács, percussionist András Dés and Bulgarian guest musician Theodosii Spassov on kaval (flute). This is a highly skilled quartet. Lukács does everything that a jazz pianist might do on the opening track, ‘Kacsaleves’ (Duck Soup), with colourful flourishes and spiky chords. It's too jazzy for my taste, but you have to admire their instrumental artistry, melodic invention and the space they leave around the music, giving each of them plenty of opportunities for spectacular display. The piece that really stands out is ‘Pásztorok’ (Shepherds), which starts with deep growls on a fujara (deep flute) played by Borbély, with improvisations by Theodosii Spassov over the top. Very original.