From Hungary comes a really good instrumental band fronted by guitar and accented by sax and horns. The first disc of the two-disc set is mostly structured, with some dynamite improv over the top. The guitarist plays a mean experimental guitar, which I suppose is somewhat comparable to David Torn. He tortures all manner of screams, wails and decidedly uncivilized sounds from his guitar using pedals, whammy-bar, string-bending, and Van der Graafian applications of high voltage (I think). Sax, trumpet and trombone get their share of the spotlight as well, dominating the title track and adding a welcome, judiciously applied tonal variety throughout the disc. Sneaky, sinister Middle Eastern modes creep out of dark corners, suggestive of smoky cafes in foreign lands, and if I ever were at a café like this I don’t know if I’d stay or flee. Percussion also figures prominently, making it sound like what Santana might have come up with if his first name was Mohammed. The second disc is largely full-band improv, which doesn’t do nearly as much for me. It does take flight at times, but the runway is long and the destinations arrive too soon. Not a big problem though since the first disc is so good.

Mac Beaulieu