Kornél Fekete-Kovács - The Peacock (Tribute to Zoltán Kodály) (2024) Hi-Res

With its latest album, the Modern Art Orchestra, Hungary's leading big band ensemble, undertakes to further interpret the choral works of Zoltán Kodály, one of the leading figures in Hungarian folk music research and musical culture.
One of the most characteristic features of the work of Kornél Fekete-Kovács and the MAO is that they integrate the various trends of contemporary classical music and jazz into a single artistic vision, a good example of which is their album reflecting Bartók's 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs released in 2018. The approach of the current album is different only thanks to the line-up, since this time they partnered with the Kodály Choir from Debrecen. While in the Bartók recording the compositions and improvisations were even less separable in the orchestra's performance, here first Kodály's original choral works - including Mátrai képek, Este and the iconic Fölszállott a pava - present a cross-section of the composer's oeuvre, followed by the members of the orchestra big band and choir paraphrases written by folk songs.
"For a Hungarian musician, Kodály is much more than a composer. We grew up in the music education system he developed, and although his legacy seems to be fading today, his legacy surrounds us to this day." (Kornél Fekete-Kovács)