Of all new European jazz, the Hungarian scene is the one that just keeps on delivering surprises. The psychedelic beats of Jazzbois’, Mörk’s silky assured nu-soul flavours and Àbáse’s far reaching cosmic expeditions all edged into the consciousness last year. Now comes someone new knocking at the gates with Basel-based drummer and composer Marton Juhasz releasing his third album ‘Metropolis’ on Unit Records.
Juhasz is no newcomer to the European circuit having played with an impressive sweep of jazz luminaries including trombonist Christian Muthspiel, UK trumpet legend Byron Wallen and fusion guitarist extraordinaire Lionel Loueke. His notable work as part of the Bacsó Kristóf trio on ‘Pannon Blue’, which featured Loueke, went on to win the ‘Best Hungarian Jazz Album’ award in 2017. Add to this a swathe of other collaborative and solo projects stretching right back to 2012 and it’s clear Juhasz is keeping busy. So if nothing else, the release of ‘Metropolis’ signals that he’s at least been able to make space to highlight his own compositions once more.
Juhasz says his aim for the project was to make connections between his interest in the grooves and moves of African, Brazilian and Caribbean sounds, new digital approaches to music making and classic seventies jazz fusion. On paper that might sound a bit formulaic but ‘Metropolis’ sparkles with life and spontaneity. Juhasz and his quintet are musicians after all, so theories were never likely to shackle their natural expression.
Opening cut Plato’s Clave does more than quirkily play on words. It’s a nimble stepping, hot salsa whipped along lightly by Juhasz’s whisking cymbal work and frisky beats. Clearly there’s a vibrant nod to the jazz fusion golden age, sort of Weather Report momentum meets Return To Forever power, but all given a fresh look by the ‘Metropolis’ ensemble, Charley Rose on sax, guitarist Fabio Gouvea, Lorenzo Vitolo on essential Fender Rhodes and bassist Jérémie Krüttli. The song’s tightly melodic sax guitar hook does sparkle but it’s Gouvea’s fret gliding solo which urges the tune up another notch.
São Paulo also draws on that illusive Zawinul spaciousness as it paints a dreamy, atmospheric portrait of a waking mega-city. The ever-inventive Juhasz takes a different percussive tack here, hi-hat intensity and an effortless Tony Allen afrobeat shuffle. Rose’s sax calls out warmly, tone softened by the matching wah-wah guitar line, the Rhodes ripples keep things cool and there’s a bubbling Pastorious-like break as the song builds to a conclusion.
On early listens to ‘Metropolis’ two dimensions immediately impress. First is the uncluttered, live sound of the recording, a sense that you are watching this dynamically attuned five piece in the moment. There appears to be few overdubs, the instruments ring clear though without losing the locomotion of being a unit. In addition, the range of rhythms and stylistic flavours keeps you on your toes but doesn’t interrupt the album’s flow. ‘Metropolis’ may be busy and frequently shifting but it maintains an overall personality.
So if you go to Helio you’ll find a funky stomp where Gouvea’s guitar takes up the lead, striding through riffs and chunky chords then soaring somewhere cosmic, Coryell style. Closing track Mr Busyman Goes On Holiday conjures up something less strident but still has impact because of its story telling progression. Beginning jaunty and carefree, jazz swinging along, the final destination is something grander, signalled by forceful guitar riffs. The soundscape here feels cinematic, the whole band caught up in an orchestral sweep then ending on a necessary big music chord.
Of all the avenues that get explored on ‘Metropolis’, perhaps Ancestral Drift is the most extensive. The tune skips in with a highlife bounce, Juhasz’s ratcheting snare and some close clipped guitar adding to the excitement. From here the band slide into a sultry ethio – jazz swing, all fluttering sax and tumbling Rhodes, before working towards a more tranquil, celestial pause. How Juhasz and his band smoothly get to a coda of math rock intensity says a lot about the musical ingenuity of this combo.
While Juhasz’s compositions and leadership bring some stunning jazz rock invention to ‘Metropolis’, it’s the more experimental tracks which raise the bar even further. Winged Travelers sees flighty patterns of guitar, sax, Rhodes and bass interwoven, sometimes swooping and climbing in unison, at others drifting apart before returning. Buoyed by Juhasz’s rhythmic pump, the tune has an airborne quality. Those cycles of connecting notes return on Radar but more complex and improvised, adding a spooky electrical charge to the song’s skulking, fractured blues. Then there’s the leftfield Wren Song which flits enigmatically between a frenetic signature note flurry and tensely alert improv. Echoes of Coleman/Osby M-base music here perhaps but delivered from Juhasz and band’s own strong perspective.
That singularity is what gives ‘Metropolis’ its dynamism. You can point to the jazz rock influences, the post rock flavours, the improv inclinations and the world music undercurrents but Marton Juhasz has used these foundations to create a distinctive place that you should definitely plan to visit.
For download info about ‘Metropolis’ by Marton Juhasz go HERE
