Musicians: Félix Lajkó - violin, zither
accompanied by various other musicians
LAST FEW COPIES OF THIS NOW DELETED CD!
Felix Lajko - a rising star in classical music, folk music and jazz!
This release is a collection of Felix's work from various projects and
festivals between 1997 and 2002. None of it has appeared on any other
releases. It includes pieces on zither as well as violin.
For someone still in his 20s Felix Lajko exhibits an astonishing confidence in his highly improvised playing. A virtuoso in both the violin and zither, his playing is often described as 'burning', and leaves his audience awe-struck wherever he plays. Born in the small town of Subotica, Serbia, he is now based in Budapest, Hungary where he enjoys a cult following that is growing fast.
"He is a fiddle player from Hungary and is one of my all time favourite players. His first album,
'Lajko Felix Es Zenekara', was given to me years ago after a concert in Berlin and is long unavailable. I listened to it non-stop through the making of 'Ocean Songs' and it is one of those albums you just find yourself coming back to...He is a reminder that the fire is still there." Warren Ellis (Dirty Three/Nice Cave)
'I had heard that Lajko is regarded with awe in the Balkans, but was still unprepared for the impact of hearing and seeing him at such close quarters.... he attacks his violin with such ferocity that broken threads cascade from his bow during each number. There is a tendency for Balkan musicians to fit into one of several generic categories – gypsy, folk, Klezmer, etc – but
Lajko seems to have invented a style of his own, and any reference to existing genres would be misleading. Each of his instrumental songs had a clear structure, and yet each seemed open to the spirit of the moment.' Charlie Gillett BBC LDN
"My music is based on the delicacy and colourfulness of my
instrument. I do not play any new types of musical genre, I only follow my
own path and improvise and write music. I cannot see differences between
musical styles and ways, so I play folk-, classical, rock, blues, and
improvisational music. I have written music to several theatre plays and
films for Yugoslavian and Hungarian directors. I wrote a musical piece for
the festival commemorating the Sarajevo Cultural Olympics." Felix Lajko