Light-hearted introduction to the Brass in the Five brass quintet who make music with everything and everyone they can get their hands or feet on. The members of the ensemble help audiences to associate the world of “serious music” with good cheer and laughter.

The Eugenia plays mainly “merry-making in tears” Balkan music, but their repertoire also includes Polish, Russian and Portuguese folk songs, some performed in authentic manner, others in a rock or even punk arrangement. László Katona is the bass guitarist, the other members are: Lili Rontó (saxophone), Árpád Beöthy (drums), Péter Varga (mandolin).

The Fabula Rasa group was formed in 2006. They made their debut at the Budapest Fringe Festival where they won the jury’s special prize for their production. Since then they have given concerts at festivals, in cultural institutions and clubs around the country. Their first album “Csindratta”, featuring their own compositions, was released at the end of 2007. Their eclectic music is inspired by the exciting rhythms and themes of the folklore of neighbouring peoples, and is characterised by its exceptionally strong emotional intensity and colourful variety. Added to this is their studies and experiences of contemporary classical music, often spiced with elements of modern electronic music. Their second album “Pörgettyű-Lankattyú” appeared in the spring of 2008.

The current four members of Rackajam have been working together with György Ferenczi since 2005. They play fusion music in which Hungarian folk music, rhythm and blues, funky, reggae, hip-hop and groove are all important elements.

Through long and persistent learning and music-making for pleasure, the Kerekes Band has transformed itself from an ensemble playing authentic folk music of Gyimes and Moldova into a band combining the melodies of Hungarian folk music with a wide range of popular light music styles. Their major innovation has been to blend authentic Hungarian folk music with funk, jazz, rock, psychedelic and electronic music genres into a very unusual style they call simply “ethno-funk”. It is the compactness that makes their sound unique: styles that normally have nothing to do with each other are closely intertwined into an inseparable whole.

The group was formed in 2009, arising from a friendship between jazz and folk musicians. Their music is a brilliant blend of jazz piano with the cimbalom, folk singing with jazz bent notes, the kaval with the saxophone. This is environment-friendly music that embraces both musical worlds with painless professionalism and brings together the fans of both.

The group playing the traditional Rusyn (Ruthenian) music of Máramaros are the best known band in and around Técső, a former crown city on the upper reach of the Tisza River. The accordion-player Jóska Csernavec and his brothers are descendants of the renowned local dynasty of Gypsy musicians, although their violinists are not family members. For some reason violin playing has been lost in the family. They all learned the music traditions of the region from their predecessors. Due to the extremely strong interethnic influences their repertoire includes local Romanian, Gypsy, Jewish, Russian and Hungarian melodies.

Tűz Lángja (Flame of the Fire) is the name of a Moldavian round dance. The group has travelled a long and adventurous road since its formation, playing in many places for many different people. Some of the members gave up after a while but they were replaced by newcomers who fitted in better and shared the same love of folk music.

Zuboly is Hungary’s most modern folk music formation and at the same time one of the most amazing undertakings in the history of Hungarian music. Over the past two years they have played, sung, recited and rapped in every acoustic space in Hungary worth mentioning with the determination of the musicians of Bremen.
Zuboly toss opera, operetta, pop hits, hiphop, beatbox-rhythms, jazz elements, folksongs, mouth organ and leaf solos, double bass, grotesque, folk tradition and modern urban folklore into their blender – and what comes out is enjoyable and riveting.