Jammin' at Siraly in Budapest
Budapest - Siraly - Jam!
Originally uploaded by innabar. I think that part of the reason we came to Budapest was to blend into the city music scene, discover our musical soulmates here, and bring something of our own New York melting pot here.
But for much of our stay here, we've been listeners more than participants in the scene. We assidously scout club listings every week for "interesting" music, peek into every live music cafe, stalk unsuspecting locals carrying fiddles (a common sight here), and catch as many shows as possible.
This past Saturday, the stars & the moons lined up, and we found ourselves jamming away at a great new cafe in Pest called Siraly. All-star cast in the picture -
-- my fiancee Ljova Zhurbin on the viola
--Jeff Perlman on clarinet (visiting from NY)
--Sarah Gancher on violin - our new friend in Budapest (most recently from NY)
-- Bob Cohen on fiddle - the local maven on everything folk in Hungary and Romania
-- Gergo Barcza - the saxophone player and leader of the legendary band Besh-o-Drom
We started with oldies-but-goodies klezmer tunes, ventured into some bluegrassy-jazzy pastures, and catapulted into balkan/gypsy repertoire.
Meeting and jamming with Gergo was particularly special (this was the first time we met him) - I've spent countless hours listening to Besh-o-Drom in the last few hours, and Jeff took much inspiration from Gergo's saxophone playing from the recordings as well.
And finally, we got to play with Sarah and Bob - a pure joy of musical conversation after weeks of talking ABOUT music.
I say we, though I only sang one song - there was no mic. But I was taking pictures, so that counts :)