Havasi - Anyone familiar with him?

[jefftiger]

I came across a video of a Hungarian pianist named Balázs Havasi (Havasi, for short) on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hje5mAO7EI). What interested me most about the video was the presence of After Crying cellist/bassist, Peter Pejtsik. I've been listening to a lot of After Crying recently and I'm in awe of these guys, particularly Peter, Balázs Winkler (trumpet/keyboards), and guitarist Ferenc Torma (now unfortunately departed from the group). These guys are one of the most criminally under-appreciated prog groups of the last 20 years. Being from Hungary probably doesn't help with their popularity in the West; we're just too insular most of the time.

Anyway, back to Havasi... the music is sort of the pseudo-classical, ethnic variety, kind of reminiscent of Yanni (not my favorite musician). But Peter's presence, as well as that of Judit Andrejszki (the female voice of After Crying) make Havasi's new album "Symphonic II" particularly interesting. I bought the album from iTunes, something I rarely do, but I had a $5 credit to burn. I'm not sure if you could characterize this as truly prog, but the album has a pleasant feel and good musicianship.

[HONDO]

Thanks for posting. I watched the video and was impressed, something worth my time to dig deeper into. I like the modern day feel to the classical musicianship.

[PeterG]

Does he live close to the old London Bridge?

[jefftiger]

Does he live close to the old London Bridge?

Yeah, a bit over the top, pretentious, and pseudo new age. But, it was fun to listen to. I wasn't familiar with the other cellist, Tina Guo. I watched a few of her YouTube videos which I found interesting.

[omvibes]

Ha, ha....Havasi :-)) Sorry for the rather cheeky first post, but to be honest, he's considered a bit of a joke here in Hungary, well at least amongst the musicians I hang out with here in Budapest... must be his hair? He does play concerts in large venues here however, but having said that, the way things go in these parts that could well just be due to having the right connections and a privileged/ monied background... Certainly, my lasting impression of the guy was a bunch of Hungarian musicians (jazz/ experimental/ prog guys) laughing their heads off while watching one of his concert videos recently, but again, maybe it was just jealousy..
I would suspect that the After Crying cellist is involved as much for the payday as anything else, I would assume that After Crying's work does not, unfortunately, pay the bills. He's also quite a 'showman' when performing live with AC, compared to the rest of the band who are rather 'static' live performers (I've seen them many play many times in Budapest), so I can see the appeal to Havasi.
My two cents on AC is that I suspect their lack of fame in the wider world may be as much due to their approach, as 'western ignorance' (although, yes, singing lyrics in Hungarian probably doesn't help). Like many other Hungarian performers, who sell out large venues here in Hungary, but are largely unknown outside the country (you will probably know of Omega, but have you heard of Akos, or Zsuzsa Koncsz, for example? They perform at the Budapest equivalent of London's O2, but I don't think any non-Hungarian has heard of them beyond the country's borders), as far as I've observed as a foreigner living here for over five years, the Hungarian psyche is not particuarly outward-looking or pro-active. While I have no connections to the band at all, and don't know the full story of their background and situation, the rarely-updated website, and occasional gigs here in the capital would seem to indicate to me that they either don't have the practical time, or the natural ambition, to take things any further than they are already.