Muzsikas

To Western ears, the Hungarian folk music on Morning Star is not as accessible as the Celtic folk which blossomed into ubiquity in the U.S. in the 1990s. But Muzsikas and Marta Sebestyen have nonetheless become a comparable international phenomenon, selling out concerts in the most Western of places. Hungarian dance music is no less jubilant than Celtic reels (and in fact the fiddling bears a striking similarity), but the rhythms are often trickier, and the nuances of the arrangements more complex. Hungarian ballads are no less emotional, but they lack the sort of sweeping sentimentality of Irish ballads. In fact, Marta Sebestyen's vocal meandering almost seems to have less in common with the singing styles of Hungary's western European neighbors than with that of the Middle East or India. Why has this distinctly un-Western music, so challenging, raw and offbeat, been such a universal hit? The explanation may lie in the purity of the music: pure musicianship, pure ritual, pure community. The sheer antiquity of this music is also impressive: the band has painstakingly studied in communities which have kept these ancient musical traditions preserved for centuries -- even under Soviet occupation, when any expression of local identity was viewed as a punishable threat. Some of the members of Muzsikas risked their own safety by pursuing their love for this music during that period. That passion shows on Morning Star, even if the inherently communal experience of this folk music loses something in the translation to audio recording. ~ Darryl Cater, All Music Guide