KOLINDA

One -who lived in Spain and loved Folk, Folk-Rock, etc in the late seventies- cannot be too thankful to Manuel Domínguez, the creator of the Guimbarda label, whose principal aim was to publish Transatlantic productions in the Spanish market. If the rock industry was weak and sick in Spain at the time, you can imagine about the folk one. Inexistent.

But then appeared Manuel Domínguez and with his contribution -and with the help of the mail selling through its magazine catalogue by the Discoplay company-, music, especially folk in this case, could reach every corner -however distant could it be- of Spain. And that's the way I became acquainted with these "Fabulous Hungarian Four", a fresh surprise which brought us exotic winds from central Europe, full of gypsy airs, Bartók's reminiscences, glorious vocal harmonies à la Bulgarian and much more...

Kolinda appeared in France at a cultural French-Hungarian interchange programme and astonished everyone, as the leaflet -which included not only photos and the lyrics, but also translations into Spanish and introductions to the tracks; besides an illustrative repertoire of all the instruments played by the band; and excerpts from interviews to the band members- in the LP stated.

Graced with a beautiful folky illustration of an imaginative playing cards set by Robert Coutelas, and, much more important, by the production of Malicorne's member Hughes de Courson, the disc is a compilation of songs and suites -see the beautiful and long Kantata- which separates from the traditional folk to get into more personal arrangements, everything influenced -as the members admit- by South American folk bands, at the time very fashionable in Hungary. In fact, the band started singing in Spanish, playing south Latin American folk songs from Quilapayún, Daniel Viglietti or Cuban songs about the revolution.

Visiting Romania and Bulgaria, studying Béla Bartók and Zoltan Kódaly's treaties on folk music, learning about Turkish and Arabic instruments, the band started building their own repertoire based on tradition but with a modern approach, remaking the songs after the multiple versions they had listened to. Writing and arranging were collective tasks in the group, which counted on a solid musical background. They chose the name Kolinda after the traditional Hungarian groups of carol singers which used to go from door to door singing and asking for food and drink for Christmas' Eve's parties.

Their instruments are: gardon (traditional village Csango cello), flutes, Bulgarian tambura, Hungarian zither, bagpipe, alto from Szék (a three-string fiddle), double bass, Hungarian oboe, percussion. And the players:

Agnès Zsigmondi: voice and flutes.

Férenc Kis: voice, fiddle, Hungarian oboe.

Peter Dabasi: voice, tambura, gardon, guitar and cymbals.

Ivan Lantos: voice, double bass, Hungarian oboe, gardon, bagpipe.

The tracks:

Kantata: A suite in four movements: Lament, Revolt, Prisoners's Song, Dance. Based upon Bulgarian and Hungarian airs, deals with villagers' lives and destinies.

Szerelem (Love): An a cappella love song.

Duda Notak (Bagpipe Airs).

Menyassznony (The Bride): A wedding ritual suite, from the nostalgic bride's room to the banquet at the groom's house through the church ceremony.

Somogyi Ugros (Jumping Dance from Somogy): Jumping or Stomping Dance.

Gyongy Virag / Kerek a Slölö (The Lily in the Valley / Grapes Are Round): Two dances from Csango tribes at the feet of the Carpathians in Romania.

Gymesi Dalok (Dances from Gymes): More Csango dances, the last one, a csarda.

Peter Barna: A ballad upon a popular bandit, good with the poor and evil to the rich, with a tragic end.

Szeki Tancrend (Dance from Szék): Three dances from a Hungarian village in Romania which keeps the 17 and 18 centuries' traditions.

Rabenek (The Captive Song): An original which tries to blend all the influences from Romania, Bulgaria, the old Yugoslavia and Hungary.

All the information is taken from the Guimbarda edition's leaflet. Thanks again to Manuel Domínguez from CFE.