"Ági Szalóki entered the Hungarian music scene right at the top with her bold musical experiments of bonding folk songs and jazz, and reinterpreting classic Karády songs. The delicate singer is a true vocalist virtuoso who acquired and mastered the musical ornamentation honed by the most talented village singers for hundreds of years. Her solo records are characterized by a thoughtful selection of folk song lyrics and poems, a performace that touches the soul, and graceful, elegant musical accompaniment.

With her album Fújnak a fellegek, Ági Szalóki returns to the sources of her inspiration: village folk songs and folk music. Complemented by artistic photos and lyrics to all songs, the album is beautiful to behold. Keeping her good custom, the singer invited a prime selection of folk musicians as her creative partners. If you are curious why Ági Szalóki chose singing as a career, this album holds the answer." Endre Liber

Ági Szalóki – vocal
Szilvia Bognár – vocal (5.)
Ágnes Herczku – vocal (5.)
Máté Kalász – violin (2.)
Gergely Koncz – violin (1., 7.)
László Mester Pintyő – viola (1., 2., 6., 8., 9.)
Barna Mihálydeák – double bass (1., 2., 6., 8.)
Csaba Ökrös – violin (6.)
Bea Palya – vocal (5.)
Balázs Szokolay Dongó – flutes (4.)

Ági Szalóki - voice
Dávid Lamm - guitar, voice
Zoltán Kovács - double bass, voice
András Dés - percussion, voice

Featuring:
Kornél Fekete-Kovács - horn
Gábor Juhász - guitar
Péter Szalai - tabla
Balázs Szokolai "Dongó" - flute, tárogató
Tale teller: György Cserhalmi

On her newest record Ági Szalóki sings songs by the most famous Hungarian actress and singer of the 1930's, 1940's, Katalin Karády.
"Six or seven years ago I sang two Katalin Karády tunes: 'Holnap' [Tomorrow] and 'Száz panasz ég a dalomban' [A Hundred Complaints Burn in My Song] at the Ráczkert and Tütü Tangó (in Budapest). Then about a year ago, I got those songs out again, got ahold of everything by Karady and listened to all of it. It was a cathartic experience. I like those confessions of love because they are simple, brave, sincere and relevant today. I can relate to the kind of wisdom and pleasant irony in her songs. Karády was a 'woman of fate' - a diva of Hungarian films of the late 30's and 40's, a beautiful, strong woman. From her biography it turns out that she had guts and conscience. From a working class family, she became Hungary's first real star, later she was tortured by the gestapo, ousted by the Communists, then finally awarded the title 'Righteous Among the Nations' by Israel's Yad Vashem Institute. Hungarian common knowledge remembers her velvety, purring voice and her cigarette holder. Karády sings like a woman who has been through a lot. I try to identify with that, rather than the diva role, since I can't and don't want to aspire to that. But when I go up on stage, I am a diva anyway, even though my personality is different. I try to convey the message that every woman is capable of being a diva, all of us have been through the same loves, anyone can be a real queen. Like Karády, I sing what I know about love, longing, waiting, pride, humiliation, coquetry, disappointment and fulfillment.
The fact that I can sing Karády after my folk music recording 'Hallgató' is proabably the result of the freedom I got from the jazz musicians. In folk music I also discovered the freedom to improvise within the framework of a style. In a song from Transylvania's Kalotaszeg region, there are the same opportunities for improvisation as in a hit song from the 1930's." - Ági Szalóki

Ági Szalóki - voice
Kristóf Bacsó - tenor saxophone
Ferenc Schrek - trumpet
Gábor Juhász - guitar
Dávid Lamm - guitar
Zoltán Kovács - double bass
András Mohay - drum
Róbert Szakcsi Lakatos - piano
Richárd Szaniszló - vibraphone
Tcha Limberger - violin

The album entitled „Lament” by Ági Szalóki and her band won the award for Hungarian Jazz Album of the Year in 2006. The versatility of the singer is verified yet again by the release of a solo album for children. The CD consists largely of folk songs from Transylvania and the Uplands arranged by the band, together with poems by Ágnes Nagy Nemes and Sándor Weöres set to music. The poems are also narrated by two noted performers from the theatre, Mari Kiss and János Kulka.

Ági Szalóki – voice
Dávid Lamm – guitar
Judit Nagy – cello
András Dés – percussion
Zoltán Kovács – double bass

Featuring:
József Balázs – piano
Balázs Szokolay Dongó – flute, bagpipe
Attila Jakab – violin
József Barcza Horváth – double bass
poems and tale telling: Mari Kiss and János Kulka

These folk songs originate from Moldva and Gyimes (the most interesting and valuable archive Hungarian culture in Romania both). The material is arranged by those jazz and classical musicians whom might already had closer ties to the Hungarian traditional music, nevertheless they are all open for modern and contemporary arrangements. These newly-dressed lyrics meanwhile still sounding familiar acquire distinct meaning and one step forward to the level of the understanding of the modern society. This is the reason while folk literature is evergreen the verses will reappear in a new environment and immediately seem to be a new idea. Happened the same in this case.
These young musicians did not wanted something special, their only goal was to play these songs on their own way on their learning. This music is not tradition-preserving and not any fashion-following. They feel their music is a round world that has soul, beat, and captivates the audience with its pure clearness.

Ági Szalóki - voice
József Balázs - piano
Dávid Lamm - guitar
Kristóf Bacsó - tenorsaxophone
András Dés - percussion
József Barcza Horváth - double bass, bass guita