Fast and furious, fingers flying with a fiery panache, the Hungarian group Söndörgo are one of the most exciting bands in Europe. With their signature instrument, the tambura, the band brilliantly combines respect for tradition with a desire to innovate and a fizzing virtuosity.
Listening to the band play, you soon hear it's nothing like traditional violin-led Hungarian music. Söndörgo's sound is light, springy and delicately plucked. Their signature instrument is the tambura, a mandolin-like instrument, probably of Turkish origin, used by the South Slav (Serbian and Croatian) communities in Hungary.
The band is made up of three brothers, Áron, Benjamin and Salamon Eredics, plus cousin Dávid Eredics and Attila Buzás, the only non-family member, on bass tambura. Áron Eredics is also part of the band Vujicsics, winners of Hungary's most prestigious state-sponsored cultural award, the Kossuth Prize, in 2014.
'Tamburocket' is Söndörgo's second international release and features revived tunes drawn from the rich Hungarian archives and annals of the countries esteemed song-collectors and musicologists of yore.