"Where is my son? Get him up here - he'll show you how it's done!" And up he comes, Szilvási junior, to give us a display of the gypsy men's dance. Skipping, jumping, stamping, clapping, thigh-slapping, calf-slapping - it's so frenetic that his legs become a denim blur, but he's still full of grace and poise. But if your dad is the leader of the Szilvási Gipsy Folk Band, you'd have plenty of time to practice your dancing.
I climbed the long stairwell to Corvintető on Monday, certain I was going to enjoy the set. It was the first gig of their residency and it was pretty busy. At first people were shy to come into the centre of the dancefloor, and clung to the edges, bobbing up and down to the music. Every so often a gaggle of Roma girls, all dolled up in their bling and high heels, would come and do a fast jiggly dance, clicking their fingers with their arms high in the air.
Five songs into the band's set, and all the wallflowers were boogying unselfconsciously in the middle of the dancefloor. The music requires little description - it's dependable, well-played good-time gyspy music. Have a listen on their website, or better still, come and hear them live. They often get guest bands in too, some from as far away as Italy. What really intrigued me about this gig though was the audience.
This is real Roma party, with the band bringing folks up onto the stage to show off their gypsy dancing skills. Szilvási István, the bandleader, kept shouting things out over the mic, like, "A cigányság nem diszkriminativ!" and other messages about social unity. The dancefloor filled up with people, and became a sweaty mass of Roma, Hungarians and the odd foreigner, all having fun dancing together. I know it's often said that music can break down social boundaries, but on that rainy Monday it seemed truer than ever.
Lucy F.
I have a little portable radio on my bedside table. Radio C wakes me up, and Bartók Rádió lulls me gently to sleep (unless they're playing Schoenberg of course, in which case I start having the dreams about the pins again). But enough about me. Here are the radio stations I like listening to:
Rádió C - 88.8FM
www.radioc.hu
C stands for Gypsy. This is ‘Hungary’s first Roma radio’ as the tagline tells you in Hungarian. It's mainly music, with some discussion programmes. Every weekday lunchtime 12:00-13:00 there’s traditional Roma music. Sometimes it plays really cheesy pop but thankfully always goes back the crazy cimbaloms sooner or later.
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Bartók Rádió - 105.3FM
www.mr3.hu
Bartók Rádio is Hungary’s classical music radio. Click on Hangtár from their website and you’ll find a complete list of what you’re listening to. It’s not all straight classical –there’s also a lot of modern and experimental composers. Plus, they play jazz later on and the odd bit of folk. This is good stuff - I don’t miss BBC Radio 3 any more.
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Tilos Rádió - 90.3FM
www.tilos.hu
Tilos started out in 1991 as a radio station run by pirates, but has grown into a legimitate, socially aware brand. It's an unpredictable mix - Balkan folk, Gamelan music, Studio One Reggae, rare funk and soul - anything goes, even if that means 45 minutes worth of instrumentals from Madvillain. Tilos parties, held in various venues around the city, are also worth a visit.
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Folk Rádió – online only
www.folkradio.hu
Folkrádió is a not-for-profit, 24-hour online radio which plays, surprise surprise, traditional folk music. All music, no talking, and the best thing is that the website tells you what you’re listening to at any given moment, so you can track down what you enjoy. If you’re into Hungarian folk this is a great resource.
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BBC World Service / Radio France Internationale - 92.1FM
www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice and www.rfi.fr
These two broadcast giants have reached an entente cordiale, and share a radio station,
mainly broadcasting in English and French, with snippets in German and Hungarian. C'est en français toute la journée à partir de 9h30, et juste quand les rosbifs prennent leurs gin tonics, from 6pm it's in English again.
Find programme schedules through the beeb's website.
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And all the rest...
There's an awful lot of other radio stations in Hungary - these just my recommendations. To listen to all the rest online, a good web portal is Reciva.com - here is the link for Hungarian stations.
All of the FM frequencies given are for the Budapest area. If you're listening from elsewhere, check out the local frequencies on the station's website.
Lucy F
Lazar u. 16 [map]
Pest Centre, VI, Opera (M1), 1 min / Oktogon (T4/6), 3 min
I expected this to be awful – after all, it was described to me as poetry and improvising saxophones. Ghastly, I thought. But no, not at all.
One man plays instruments through a loop pedal, whilst another recites poetry rather slowly and nervously. It’s being filmed, and the lad holding the boom mic seems to be part of the act – he keeps lurching the big fluffy mic dangerously near our poet’s head, whilst nearly hitting audience members in the face with the other end. I’m enjoying the sideshow as well as the main attraction.
The poet, Dániel Dányi, reads his own material, jittery but purposeful. He has the kind of American accent you would expect to hear as a voice-over on an old black and white detective film. He pauses every so often to drink some wine, blink, eat a few more bites of a large pear, and let the musician do his thing.
The musician is Janó Nemes, who plays an electric bass, a tarnished sax and a flute through a loop pedal, by turns building up and taking away layers of rhythm and melody. It’s not showy or self-conscious, but rather melancholic and beautiful - he obviously likes Tom Waits. The sounds conjure up a rainy urban scene, and go perfectly with Dányi’s set of poems about Keleti and Nyugati.
This is one of the first events at the recently opened Treehugger Dan’s Bookstore Lounge, the first of many. Treehugger Dan himself tells us about the next few events – music from a UK singer-songwriter, a fair trade film night, acoustic Colombian music. At the end we all clap enthusiastically, put a donation in the hat, and take our teacups back to the bar. It's small and a bit righteous, but with cheap fair trade coffee, tea, eupathy, and thousands of good books, there are plenty of reasons to come back here.
Treehugger Dan’s Bookstore Lounge is in the lobby of Yellow Zebra, behind Opera House on Lázár u. 16. The original Treehugger Dan's Bookstore and Cafe on Csengery u. 48 is still open too. www.treehugger.hu
Lucy F
