The Hun Hangár Ensemble

The Hun Hangár Ensemble have been assembled to join A Hawk And A Hacksaw on their CMN (Contemporary Music Network: www.artscouncil.org.uk/cmn) tour of the UK in 2007.



Jeremy Barnes and Heather Trost of AHAAH travelled to Hungary in the Autumn of 2006, where he developed a huge respect for Budapest’s Fonó, a music shop, venue and centre for Hungarian folk music. Following a succession of concerts and impromptu sessions with Fonó-affiliated musicians, The Hun Hangár Ensemble was born. These musicians have vast experience and respect for Hungarian folk traditions but are also well versed in other idioms such as avant-garde jazz and minimalist composition and play in some of Hungary’s most esteemed groups as well as small ad hoc bands and projects. They share AHAAH's desire to tread new ground, and when they were invited along for a new ride they took up the challenge.



Here's a bit about the band:



Béla Ágoston is well known in his native Hungary. He plays clarinet, bagpipes, shepherd's pipes, viola, all manner of saxophones, and the taragoto and has worked with The Odessa Klezmer Band and Szvorák Kati among others. A inspiring figure within the Budapest music scene, known for his freedom of thought and expression.



Ferenc Kovács, a self-proclaimed ‘contemporary peasant’ and a phenomenal trumpet and violin player, is a member of the Balogh Kálmán Gipsy Cymbalom Band and the Romano Kokalo, and has played with Archie Shepp, Roscoe Mitchell, Hamid Drake and more. His solo recordings combine a Reichian approach to minimalism with a Hungarian folk influence.



Zsolt Kürtösi is an experienced upright bass player who plays the three string bass by plucking and bowing. He has considerable experience in traditional Hungarian and Transylvanian folk musics as well as Klezmer.



Balázs Unger, a young maestro of the cymbalom (a dulcimer-like instrument central to traditional Hungarian music) has played since the age of 14 in a wide variety of styles, including jazz (with the Mihaly Dresch Quartet), and Hungarian and Balkan folk.