Select Page

Inside Out Music ha recentemente annunciato l’ingresso in roster di MANDOKI SOULMATES, la band capitanata dal noto musicista, compositore e produttore Leslie Mándoki. L’artista ungherese pubblicherà il 24 settembre 2021 una nuova versione di “Hungarian Pictures” sotto il titolo di “Utopia For Realists: Hungarian Pictures”. L’album conterrà l’intero disco originale remixato e rimasterizzato con l’aggiunta di un Blu-ray con l’intero concerto tenuto in occasione dell’anniversario dei 30 anni dalla caduta del Muro di Berlino, un dietro le quinte e un documentario making of dell’album. “Utopia For Realists: Hungarian Pictures” sarà pubblicato nei formati Gatefold 2LP+CD+LP-Booklet e standard CD jewelcase.

Oggi i Mandoki Soulmates presentano il video del brano “Sessions In The Village”https://youtu.be/KpKwF611WmM 

Il commento di Leslie Mándoki
“Nella sua fede nel potere unificante della musica, Béla Bartók ha creato il proprio capolavoro, in un momento in cui le fiamme del nazionalsocialismo minacciavano di inghiottire l’Europa.

Dopo oltre 70 anni dalla sua morte le composizioni sono più attuali che mai. Quindi, cosa c’è di più naturale che riportarli alla rilevanza sociale sotto delle nuove sembianze progressive rock?

Tutto comincia dall’introduzione al pianoforte del mio professore Szakcsi, mente della tradizione musicale rom e leggenda della musica ungherese, seguita dall’interpretazione di mia figlia Julia, questa canzone trova il suo culmine musicale nei soli di star del mondo come Cory Henry, Randy Brecker, Bill Evans o John Helliwell, prima di riunire le diverse voci all’unisono nel gran finale.”

(Leslie Mándoki – photo credit: Red Rock Production)

Molti sono gli artisti ad aver partecipato a “Utopia For Realists: Hungarian Pictures”, come Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull), Jack Bruce (Cream), Nick van Eede (Cutting Crew), Chris Thompson (Manfred Mann’s Earth Band), Bobby Kimball (Toto), David Clayton-Thomas (Blood, Sweat and Tears), John Helliwell (Supertramp), Al di MeolaMike SternRandy BreckerTill BrönnerBill EvansCory HenryRichard BonaTony Carey (Ritchie Blackmores Rainbow), Jesse Siebenberg (Supertramp), Steve Bailey e Julia Mandoki

Disponibile inoltre il video dell’evento in streaming realizzato dai Mandoki Soulmates a inizio 2021, con oltre mezzo milione di visualizzazioni sul canale YouTube e 700000 sul canale televisivo tedesco ARD: https://youtu.be/gDDpdhuC4Rg  

Di seguito artwork e tracklist di “Utopia For Realists: Hungarian Pictures”:

CD/LP
1.    Sessions In The Village (00:06:50)
2.    Utopia For Realists (00:02:08)
3.    Transylvanian Dances (00:26:38)
4.   You’ll Find Me In Your Mirror (00:02:34)
5.    Return To Budapest (00:15:27)
6.    Barbaro (00:04:31)
7.    The Torch (00:05:50)

Blu-ray
1.    Session In The Village – Live In Berlin (00:07:12)
2.    Utopia For Realists – Live In Berlin (00:02:19)
3.    Transylvanian Dances – Live In Berlin (00:21:42)
4.    You’ll Find Me In Your Mirror – Live In Berlin (00:02:54)
5.    Return To Budapest – Live In Berlin (00:09:22)
6.    Pre-Barbaro – Live In Berlin (00:04:43)
7.    The Torch – Live In Berlin (00:09:37)
8.    Intro – The Movies (00:03:04)
9.    Session In The Village – The Movies (00:03:20)
10.    Transylvanian Dances – The Movies (00:02:13)
11.    The Truth Behind The Dance – The Movies (00:02:05)
12.    Cedar Of Life – The Movies (00:01:42)
13.    Session In The Academy – The Movies (00:03:34)
14.    Utopia For Realists – The Movies (00:02:13)
15.    Children’s Dance – The Movies (00:03:26)
16.    You’ll Find Me In Your Mirror – The Movies (00:02:38)
17.    New York – The Movies (00:02:25)
18.    Furioso – The Movies (00:05:51)
19.    The Torch – The Movies (00:05:51)
20.    Behind The Scenes (00:47:45)

Background on ‘Hungarian Pictures’:
‘Hungarian Pictures’ is constructed as a suite, based on compositions and themes by Bartók, supplemented with the bands original songs. Together with Greg Lake of Emerson Lake & Palmer, and Jon Lord of Deep Purple, Leslie had worked on the seed of this idea years ago.

Leslie explains:
“For Bartók, diversity in culture creates enrichment. He believed that it is precisely from these differences that art draws the strength that enables further development. He
mixed sounds and traditional melodies from different regions of the Carpathian Plain in order to set an example against the burgeoning threat of National Socialism (Nazism) through the unifying aspects of music. That unifying impulse inspired Jon Lord, Greg Lake, and me.
After completing our Mandoki Soulmates “Wings Of Freedom” tour through Europe, we gave a concert in New York’s Beacon Theater. The Soulmates show was a great success with an enthusiastic New York audience, standing ovations, and positive press reviews.

For me, a former asylum seeker who over four decades ago fled from a communist dictatorship to freedom, this success in the “Land of the Free” is a very special moment.
After the concert, I spent a few days with my children in Van Morrison’s former house in
Topanga Canyon, one of the old “hippie” neighborhoods of Los Angeles. I used this free time to reflect on social developments over the past few years.

It became clear to me that we as artists are being challenged to become louder, to be a thorn in the side of society, and to bring progressive jazz rock back to real socio-political relevance. This is how the first ideas for a new album came about. It is the most ambitious and best project we ever worked on.”

MANDOKI SOULMATES online:
www.mandoki-soulmates.com/
www.facebook.com/mandoki.soulmates
www.instagram.com/themandokisoulmates/
www.youtube.com/channel/UCNfanei2WBdqOS_73uua4Xw