Nova Festival
Festival of New Art
13–15 October 2016
Pančevo/ Kovin/ Beograd

KOVIN

14th October at 20:00, Centar za kulturu Kovin
Cara Lazara 85
Concert: Szilárd Mezei / Albert Márkos
Szilárd Mezei – viola
Albert Márkos – cello

PANČEVO

15th October at 20:00, Dvorana “Apolo” Doma omladine Pančevo
Maksima Gorkog 6
Concert: Szilárd Mezei Tubass Quintet (Serbia / Hungary)
Zoltán Csányi – double bass
Ernő Hock – double bass
Szilárd Mezei – double bass, composer
Ervin Malina – double bass
Kornél Pápista – tuba

Living life in Serbia as an uncompromising artist of avant-garde direction seems nearly like fiction or a wishing well buried by harsh reality. Chances are you will not be getting much publicity or making tons of money by doing shows and selling discs. Even “ordinary” jazz musicians from abroad are forced to work in countless line-ups and record numerous albums in order to secure bare existence. While such life certainly brings a considerable amount of stress and everyday struggle, it also incites creative effort and constant improvement of personal expression.
Violist and composer Szilard Mezei, residing in Senta, out of the way of main domestic centres of cultural and artistic life, is a perfect example not only of willpower, tenacity and diligence, but also of brimming creativity which transcends the domain of the environment it comes out of. Starting from the early 2000s, he quickly established himself as an artist more recognized abroad than in domestic circles. Reviews of his records have appeared in the most renowned jazz media such as Downbeat or the webpage AllAboutJazz, while his albums have been released by esteemed labels such as Not Two (For instance, the famous Chicago saxophonist Ken Vandermark is also on it.).
Mezei records in small bands and ensembles, creating avant-garde and traditional as well as original stage music, for which he has been awarded at the Sterijino Pozorje Festival. His stylistic influences include Witold Lutoslawski and Anthony Braxton, which is precisely the kind of see-saw between classical music and avant-garde jazz, with discreetly implanted elements of traditional Hunagrian music, in which Szilard finds his original expression as a composer. Having worked for more than fifteen years with numerous Hungarian and domestic musicians in several different line-ups, this artist should also be credited for drawing attention to a large number of talents and developing the domestic scene of composed avant-garde music and jazz, especially in the region of Vojvodina.
Szilard will appear at the Nova Festival in two line-ups which have not frequently performed on the concert stages of Serbia. Tubass Quintet is an atypical ensemble in which we can hear four double basses (!) and a tuba, with Szilard Mezei on double bass, out of the comfort zone of viola as his primary instrument. The other line-up is a duo of viola and cello, comprised of Mezei and his collaborator of many years Alberto Markos. In both line-ups, Mezei tests our expectations of string ensembles and leads them into new, unexpected directions, somewhere between composition and provocative improvisation.