Veronika Harcs, Gábor Gadó - Shekhinah (2023) Hi Res

Gábor Gadó has been working with BMC Records for a quarter of a century, releasing an incredible number of more than 20 albums, including one of the label's biggest hits, Orthodoxia (2002). Gadó has recorded with many other line-ups after his French quartet, and on his last two albums, he played in duos with János Ávéd and Laurent Blondiau – the wind section of this new album. The Sextet was formed at the initiative of Gadó, who wishes to continue the vocal jazz tradition, formerly hallmarked by the name of Gábor Winand. He couldn't have found a more suitable partner than Veronika Harcsa, who is by far the most popular Hungarian jazz singer at home and the most recognised abroad. Her duo with Bálint Gyémánt, invited to the Jazzahead! showcase years ago, is already releasing its third album on German labels, while on BMC Records, we find her contemporary, improvisational and classical projects such as Debussy NOW!, the Modern Art Orchestra's Bartók album, or Different Aspects of Silence featuring Kornél Fekete-Kovács, the Robert Balzar Trio and Dan Bárta.

But the special thing about Shekhinah is not just the bandleaders' history. Although they are both known primarily as jazz musicians, their work is increasingly shifting towards classical and contemporary music, and this sextet is another step in that direction, with a dialogue between contemporary classical musicians and jazz musicians that dissolves (believed) conventions of genre. From the side of jazz, two wind players – Belgian trumpeter Laurent Blondiau and timbre magician saxophonist János Ávéd –, and from the classical side, two string players – Tamás Zétényi, a prominent cellist of the contemporary music scene, and Éva Csermák, a Hungarian violinist living in Berlin – add defining colours to the music. In their translucent songs, the world of jazz, early music and contemporary classical music are intertwined: broken traditions and modern musical devices are brought to life from a unique perspective, weaved together in a mystical and ethereal, diverse and organic fabric.