(2021) Djabe - First Album Revisited          


Review:
The first Djabe album, recorded between June 1995 and September 1996, was already noticed by both the audience and the professional scene. It was created by the two founders of Djabe, percussionist András Sipos (1954 – 2007) and guitarist Attila Égerházi. They were joined by Tibor Karvaly, a violinist from the former Novus Jam band of Égerházi and Sipos, for the recordings. Among the invited musicians were Ferenc Muck saxophonist, bassist Tamás Barabás and trumpet and violin player Ferenc Kovács. From the criticisms of the time, the opinion of the American writer Mike Ezzo should be highlighted, who predicted, right from the first album, that Djabe would achieve significant success and a great career internationally. And he was right. In recent years, Djabe released successive versions of the first records of its career, in both refurbished, remixed LP and surround sound. On the part of the band’s fans, both at home and abroad, there was a demand for vinyl and surround releases related to the first album. The possibility of renovation first arose in 2016, when Tibor Karvaly joined the line-up of the Djabe20 anniversary concert. There were also two tracks from the first CD that Djabe had never performed live before: Hagar Qim and Déjà Vu. Attila Égerházi searched the archive for the original multitrack tapes, which had to be “baked” in the Abbey Road Studio in London, i.e. made playable again. Studio work began at the time of the COVID-related closures. Attila Égerházi and Tibor Karvaly worked on the material for 8 months, joined by Ferenc Muck and Tamás Barabás for the last 3 months.





Track Listing:

CD1 – Refreshed
Attila and Tibor located the multitrack recordings of all the tracks on the original CD and refreshed them. They accurately modelled the original mix balance and then re-edited the pieces in places if they saw fit. Some tracks recorded during the original sessions but not audible in the mix were also used. In a few a compositions in which they were bothered by an inappropriate note for the last 25 years, an issue now corrected. They didn’t have their own studio 25 years ago, so they often had to compromise because they slipped out of time. In case of the songs November and Demon, Ferenc Muck also recorded new saxophone tracks for similar reason. The CD, which was updated and remixed and mastered by Tamás Barabás in the end, was named Refreshed.
01. Camel Run
02. Leaving The Desert
03. Late Night Drink
04. Djabe
05. Northern Adventure
06. Sorcerer
07. Déjá Vu
08. Hagar Qim
09. Hangover
10. Chase
11. November
12. Demon
13. Ocean
14. Passage
15. Venezia
16. Waiting For A Distant Dance
17. Djabe part II

CD2 – Then & Now
However, the project did not stop there. Several unused tracks were found on the multitrack tapes, which, now taking advantage of the unbound opportunity provided by their own studio, were finalized. The current members of Djabe, Áron Koós-Hutás (flugelhorn), Péter Kaszás (drums), János Nagy (keyboards) also played on these recordings, such as Pier 95 and Sunrays.
Tamás also wrote a new composition based on Sipi’s original and unused drum and vocal recordings, which became We Are Okay.
An old-new composition, Lost In The Desert, was also written around a fantastic unused violin solo by Ferenc Kovács, in which a previously recorded guitar solo by Steve Hackett and Sipi’s vocal track can also be heard. Of course, Attila Égerházi, Tibor Karvaly, Tamás Barabás and Ferenc Muck also contribute to these two compositions.
On the second CD we can hear a renewed recording by Égerházi, Karvaly, and Gesztelyi-Nagy Judit; Fragments, from 1993. On the album also can be heard Sipi’s 1995 conga solo titled Sipi Falls and three recordings from the first Djabe concert ever. These were recorded on April 7, 1997 in Budapest, with a line-up of Égerházi, Sipos, Muck, and Barabás.
One of the greatest delicacies of the album is András Sipos’ 15-minute djembe solo, which, moreover, is not a concert, but a studio recording.
Égerházi has a rarely played in live guitar piece titled Venezia. A version of it from the Pecsa gig recording made in 2006, is also featured on the Then & Now. The second CD from the 2016 Djabe20 concert closes by Hagar Qim and Déjá Vu.
01. We Are Okay
02. Pier 95
03. Sunrays
04. Lost In The Desert
05. Fragments
06. Sipi Falls Live
07. Djabe Live
08. Passage Live
09. Waiting For A Distant Dance Live
10. Venezia Live
11. Djembe Extravaganza
12. Hagar Qim Live
13. Déja Vu Live


Media Report:
Genre: jazz
Country: Hungary
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits