New review in from Canada by Raul da Gama!
Thank you very much Raul!
Nikolett Pankovits: River In keeping with its idiomatic title, the repertoire of this disc flows mightily from one song to the next. It is as if the music is meant to take us – body and soul – into another world.
Read full review here
2 songs from my record ‘River’ are featured in a Hungarian short film, JHVH directed by Judit Kocsis!
Film premier was at the BUSHO - Budapest Short Film Festival.
Congrats to the team and thanks to Judit!
Two Hungarian folk songs from different regions melding with a beautiful poem by Lőrinc Szabó finding comfort and peace in nature.
Since you are nowhere /Mert sehol se vagy/ by Lőrinc Szabó, translated by Paul Sohar
Since you’re nowhere, I seek you everywhere, the sun, the fields; a cloud can be your dress, the world keeps showing you, continues to possess your essence, even in the way my stare predictably fails to capture you; the play of light and shadow, cricket noise can reproduce the tinkling of your voice, imagination can always find a clue: I see you and I don’t, your dear name in my heart always echoes yours, yet every moment robs me of my claim: I open myself to the stars and prick my ears, but while chasing you, this predator is lured into your grave; into himself he disappears.
Mert sehol se vagy, mindenütt kereslek, nap, rét, tó, felhő, száz táj a ruhád, mindig mutat valahol a világ s mindig elkap, bár kereső szememnek tévedései is hozzád vezetnek, úgyhogy fény-árnyak, tündérciterák villantják hangod, a szemed, a szád, csöndes játékait a képzeletnek: látlak s nem látlak, drága nevedet csengi csendülő szívembe szíved, de percenkint újra elvesztelek: csillagokig nyílok szét s hallgatózom, üldöződ, én, mégis, mint akit ólom húz le, sírodba, magamba csukódom.
Recording credits: Song: Fújnak a fellegek / Ne aludj el, két szememnek világa (The clouds are blowing/Do not fall asleep my dear), Dunántúl / Felvidék (Transdanubia / Upland)
Album: River
Artist: Nikolett Pankovits
Musical arrangement: Josh Deutsch, Artemisz Polonyi, Nikolett Pankovits
Performers: Nikolett Pankovits, Artemisz Polonyi, Josh Deutsch, Manu Koch, Bam Rodriguez
Actor: Adam Boncz Song selection: Ildikó Nagy, Boglárka Raksányi
Producer: Juancho Herrera
Video credits:
Editing: Nikolett Pankovits
Footage recorded in Hungary, Iceland, Transylvania/Romania, Switzerland, U.S.A and in the sky around the world
Thanks for the inspiration to Tímea Jaksa! Special thanks to Mimi & Gabi!
By FRIEDRICH KUNZMANN
February 1, 2021
A dominating proportion of Hungarian lyrics paired with various Hungarian folkloric elements spread across fourteen compositions lend influential character but aren't all-defining on vocalist Nikolett Pankovits' ambitious sophomore outing, River. On the album, the Hungarian singer, based out of New York, is joined by an octet choir of handpicked Hungarian vocalists, who add complex harmonic movements and much body to traditional Hungarian songs that are treated to improvisational arrangements and Latin grooves. The result is a fusion of styles that defies national boundaries and claims a sound of its own.
Read full review here: https://www.allaboutjazz.com/river-nikolett-pankovits-ninwood-music
Thanks to the Editors at magyarjazz.hu for voting for us and having ‘River’ in the list of best Hungarian Jazz Record of the year!
I am excited to announce that ‘River’ is on the ballot for nomination eligibility for the upcoming GRAMMY Awards®. Voting members of the Recording Academy, for your consideration:
- BEST WORLD MUSIC ALBUM
- BEST IMPROVISED JAZZ SOLO: Josh Deutsch – 'Ideki'
- BEST ARRANGEMENT – Instruments and Vocals:
'Ideki' (Juancho Herrera, Artemisz Polonyi, Nikolett Pankovits)
'Kis kece lányom' (Josh Deutsch)
- PRODUCER OF THE YEAR – Non-classical: Juancho Herrera
- BEST ENGINEERED ALBUM – Non-classical: 'River' /Dave Darlington, Duff Harris, Jeremy Loucas, Juancho Herrera/
Link to listen: https://fanlink.to/rivernp
Thanks to everyone who was part of this project!!! 🙏
Link to record: RIVER
The Nikolett Pankovits Sextet & The River Voices infuse the haunting traditional songs of Hungary with the improvisational imperative of jazz and buoyant grooves of Latin America on River, an album inspired by Pankovits’ unprecedented 2019 production at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall produced by Juancho Herrera.
Obliterating borders, epochs, and stereotypes, they recorded traditional Hungarian music with a jazz ensemble steeped in Latin American rhythms, delivering an intoxicating body of songs rooted in ancient traditions and as fresh as tomorrow’s dawn.
Pankovits has assembled a sextet that reflects the central role of Latin American musicians on the New York jazz scene featuring Colombian-born Juancho Herrera on guitar, American trumpeter Josh Deutsch, Swiss pianist Manu Koch, Venezuelan bassist Bam Rodriguez, and Argentine drummer Franco Pinna.
A brilliant follow up to Pankovits’ acclaimed 2016 debut album Magia, which was also produced by Juancho Herrera.
Her second release 'River' grew out of her hit production Sad But True - interspersed with poems in English by actor Adam Boncz, featuring Latin jazz-inflected arrangements of traditional Hungarian songs which she performed to sold-out audiences in New York at venues such as the Blue Note, Joe’s Pub, and Lincoln Center.
Working closely with her longtime collaborator Juancho Herrera, she featured special guest Ildiko Nagy on gardon, a traditional cello-like instrument played percussively with a stick.
“It was Nagy who inspired me to learn more about folk music,” she says. “I wanted to showcase the five regions and I wanted to unite the Hungarian singers living in the tri-state area.”
Pankovits, Nagy and Boglarka Goldea-Raksanyi spent the fall of 2018 selecting and refining the material for the Zankel Hall concert incorporating elements across the five major regions in Hungarian folk music: Transdanubia, Upland, Great Plain, Transylvania and Moldavia.
Pankovits assembled a female vocal octet featuring some of the East Coast’s finest Hungarian singers, including Laura Angyal, Réka Bányai, Kinga Cserjési, Kata Harsáczki, Ildikó Nagy, Artemisz Polonyi, Boglárka Goldea-Raksányi.
Throughout the first half of 2019 the singers rehearsed weekly, expanding the harmonies and honing arrangements by Herrera, Josh Deutsch, Artemisz Polonyi, and Pankovits.
By the time they got to Carnegie Hall they’d created a barrier-breaking repertoire for both Hungarian music lovers and music fans drawn to creatively charged cross-cultural collaborations.
While the vicissitudes of history have left the Hungarian people divided by statecraft and separated by borders, reinterpreting the music through a New York lens puts the pieces back together, offering a unity that transcends time and politics.
Vocalists: Nikolett Pankovits, Boglarka Raksanyi, Artemisz Polonyi, Laura Angyal, Ildiko Nagy, Réka Bányai, Kinga Cserjési, Katalin Harsáczki
Trumpet: Josh Deutsch
Guitar: Juancho Herrera
Piano: Manu Koch
Bass: Bam Rodriguez
Drums: Franco Pinna
Gardon: Ildiko Nagy
Tilinko: Boglarka Raksanyi
/Overtone flute/
Bombo legüero: Artemisz Polonyi
Actor: Adam Boncz
Special guest: Maria Petras
Poems:
Track 1: There are regions/Vannak vidékek/ by Sándor Kányádi translated by Paul Sohar
Track 8: Since you are nowhere/Mert sehol se vagy/ by Lőrinc Szabó translated by Paul Sohar
Producer: Juancho Herrera
Co-producer: Nikolett Pankovits
Editing: Juancho Herrera
Recorded at East Side Sound & Sear Studio by Duff Harris & Jeremy Loucas
Mixing & Mastering: Dave Darlington
Folk Repertoire Selection & Arrangements:
Boglárka Goldea-Raksányi, Ildikó Nagy, Nikolett Pankovits, Artemisz Polonyi
Photo: Timea Jaksa
Dress: Meyke
Special thanks to Juancho Herrera, Ildiko Nagy, Boglarka Raksanyi, Artemisz Polonyi, Laura Angyal, Réka Bányai, Kinga Cserjési, Katalin Harsáczki, Adam Boncz, Dorottya Mathe, Alejandro Berti, Aron Szekely, Levente Szekely, Branislav Brinarsky, Denes Takacsy, Jake Shulman-Ment, Anna Boros, Paul Sohar, Margit Arnoczy, André Csaba, Tankó Jánosné Gábor Eszter, Szabolcs Molnár, Massimo Biolcati, Miranda Danusugondo, Andrej Tóth, Anna Korolovszky, Csilla Criner, Melinda Madarász, Miklós Mester, Charlotte Madvig Schmidt, Steve Holtje, Astrid Kuljanic, Tímea Jaksa, Katalin Néveri, Máté Vincze, Márton Szegedi, Josh Deutsch, Aquiles Báez, Klára Égei, Tamás Barát, László Bartus, Nikolett Csók, Judit Czakó, Dániel Bényi, Fanni Fazakas, Gabriella Szabó, Anita Bak, Csilla Csűrös, Eddie Rosenstein, Tamás Szebeni, Balázs Horváth, Fanni Kaszás, Andrew Gilbert, Tyler Blanton, Esther Kando Odescalchi, Katharine Bride, Deborah Steinglass.
Thanks to the Carnegie Hall concert donors: Balassi Institute, Elizabeth Rajec, Dr. Ernő L. Holló and Mrs. Irén Holló, American Hungarian Folklore Centrum, Hungary Live Festival, Film Emporium Insurance Brokers, Meyke Fashion, Palinkerie, Andrea’s Chocolate
"Many a true word is spoken in jest" - despite the fact that the lyrics of this folk song is funny, there is some truth to it :)
Here is a new song from the Great Plain (Alföld) in Hungary - a great arrangement by Josh Deutsch! 🎶
Thanks to Boglárka Raksányi who found this song in her incredibly huge folk-song-library-jukebox in her head! 😘
Featuring Laura Angyal, Boglárka Raksányi, Artemisz Polonyi and myself on vocals and my sextet:
Josh Deutsch, Manu Koch, Juancho Herrera Rey, Bam Rodríguez, Franco Pinna
Enjoy ;)
Listen here: https://fanlink.to/ohmydeargod
Further credits:
Editing: Juancho Herrera
Mix&master: David Darlington
Recording: Duff Harris & Jeremy Loucas
Vocal arrangement: Artemisz & Niki
Photo: Jaksa Tímea
Dress: Meyke
Cover: Dragana & Aleksandar Veselić