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Lucian Ban & Mat Maneri:Transylvanian Dance (A multimedia performance)
Drawing from their acclaimed 2024 ECM Records duo release Transylvanian Dance, pianist Lucian Ban and violist Mat Maneri will re-imagine live through improvisation the Béla Bartók Field Recordings of early 20th Century folk songs from Transylvania bringing back to life century old songs using video projections featuring rare archival footage, audio from the original Edison wax cylinder recordings, handwritten manuscripts and photographs taken by Bartók himself in his field trips.
The 20th century Hungarian composer Béla Bartók loved the folk music of Transylvania in western Romania. He famously experienced an epiphany in 1904 when he heard an 18-year-old woman singing songs from her Transylvanian village and was soon on the road in search of more music. Between 1909 and 1917 he transcribed thousands of melodies, recording hundreds of folk musicians on wax cylinders and would call the completion of his research into Transylvanian folk music, as “my life’s goal”. The profound knowledge and beauty of these ancient folk songs will change forever his compositional vision.
A century later, two outstanding improvisers – violist Mat Maneri and pianist Lucian Ban – draw fresh inspiration from the music that fired Bartók’s imagination, looking again at carols, lamentations, love songs, dowry songs and more through their unique duo sound and improvisatory concept.
Called “A name to watch" by The Guardian and “one of the most gifted pianists to move to New York" (B. Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery), Lucian Ban is a Transylvanian born, NYC based pianist & composer known for his amalgamations of Transylvanian folk with improvisation, for his mining of 20th Century European classical music with jazz, and for his pursue of a modern chamber jazz ideal. His music has been described as “emotionally ravishing" (Nate Chinen, New York Times/WBGO), a “triumph of emotional and musical communication" (All About Jazz), “Unorthodox but mesmeringly beautiful" (The Guardian) and as holding an “alluring timelessness and strong life-force" (Downbeat Magazine). Lucian Ban has released 20 albums under his name for labels such as ECM, Sunnyside Records, CIMP, Clean Feed featuring a wide array of ensembles and some of the most important jazz musicians of today.
Violist and composer Mat Maneri is a master of improvisation. He follows in the footsteps of stellar improvisers Paul Bley and Paul Motian with a sound that is distinctly his own and developed over years of discovery and practice. Considered as one of the original and compelling musicians of exploratory music, Maneri has collaborated with countless musicians including Cecil Taylor, Evan Parker, Lucian Ban, and Craig Taborn, among others. Pianist Matt Shipp called him “one of the five greatest improvisers on the planet.”
The evolution of Maneri’s remarkable and individual sound began with his initial forays into classical violin. His discovery of Baroque music and his explorations of modern classical and improvisation led him to develop his own practices. Through the influence of his father, woodwind player and educator Joe Maneri, he was able to find a way of vocalizing on the violin or viola in his own unique manner, channeling Ben Webster and Miles Davis.
accessibility: two steps from street to venue.
Please note, entrance is via the side door on Arizona Street.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
The Perch Music & Arts Community, 2321 Emerald St, Philadelphia, PA 19125-1503, United States
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