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Musicians: Lajos Dudas cl, Philipp van Endert g, Leonard Jones b, Kurt Billker dr, Jochen Büttner perc, Karl Berger vib
Recording date: November 1999
Recording place: ATM Stusios, Köln
Talk of the Town – the clarinetist Lajos Dudas presents his own, very intimate and extremely intensive style, ”the latest and hottest in the city,” from his native metropolis of Budapest. The cover shows the dreamy and historical skyline of the Hungarian capital – a magnificent sunset, fitting for the moving interpretation of timeless songs and compositions as well as the profound originals of the clarinet master, with arrangements that are very witty at times and at other times very moving. As he already demonstrated in his previous album Some Great Songs (DOUBLE MOON 1005-2), Lajos Dudas proves to be a cunning, imaginative and meticulous composer, a unique virtuoso on his instrument and a creative, varied and witty arranger.
His band with Philipp van Endert on the guitar, the American Leonard Jones on bass, Kurt Billker on the drums and percussionist Jochen Büttner form a unified ensemble, who have been playing together for many years and complement each other in each tone and mood fantastically well. But Lajos Dudas came up with something very special this time; his friend, the musician Karl Berger, an internationally respected and renowned artist, plays alongside him on the vibraphone and gives the new pieces on Talk of the Town a fresh, sensitive voice with cheerful sound. Karl Berger sounds soothing and relaxing, his playing is economical, precisely in the right relationship to the band and the clarinet of the leader. He plays in the intention of the compositions and arrangements without exception, without putting himself in the forefront, with a certain special feeling for the right moment, the suitable sound and the appropriate tonality. The vibraphone of Karl Berger complements the clarinet of Lajos Dudas ingeniously.
Six interpretations of known and less well-known pieces as well as three original works by Lajos Dudas bewitch and impress in the same way. The opener ”In Your Own Sweet Way” is a daring, very surprising recording of the Dave Brubeck composition. Rapid percussion rhythms, a Philipp van Endert at his best on the guitar and mysterious synthesizer sounds stir up the dust from the notes and give the ”oldie” a new and vivacious face. ”A Foggy Day” by George Gerschwin is ballad-like as expected and bewitches with its unique clarinet introduction, which represents the fantastic feeling of Lajos Dudas. The complete band demonstrates how you can achieve a great deal from very little – it’s just a question of feeling. ”Children at Play” marks the first contribution of Lajos Dudas to the topic of the ”latest and hottest” on Talk of the Town – a very groovy piece, with a lot of variety, a tendency to the culture of oriental music and a big portion of funk. Shorty Rodger’s ”Pirouette” sounds the same way as the movements of a master dancer look: accomplished, masterly and beautiful to behold. ”Urban Blues” is a 1982 Dudas composition in a new garb, which was first presented with Atilla Zoller at the Monaco Festival and awarded first prize there. A special high point is ”Gloomy Sunday,” which has been very popular recently thanks to the hit movie of the same name. Pain and sadness cannot be expressed much better than they are here. But the Latin feeling in ”Where’s That Summer” (another original) brightens the mood again immediately and puts the sun in our hearts with lots of melody. An unbelievably cool version of ”Valse Hot” from Sony Rollins, pulled apart into individual tones and slowed down, and a rock variant of Gerschwin’s ”Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” with lots of guitar round off these musical treats in the best of moods and fitting for our times.
Talk of the Town is nothing new, but this project follows up on the very successful concept of the previous album and provides top-rate, excellent entertainment. Lajos Dudas, his quartet and the outstanding star guest Karl Berger, who by the way can be heard on a new recording for the first time in 10 years, have a lot to contribute to the latest and hottest in the city – it’s the Talk of the Town!
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