Jól Élünk (We Have a Pretty Good Life)

This is the debut recording of a pretty new Hungarian band who were one of the local highlights of 2022’s Budapest Ritmo. While most Hungarian bands tend to be led by strings, Times New Román are dominated by the clarinets, alto saxophones and reedy taragots of Márton Deáky and Bence Babcsán, and backed by the piano accordion of Benedek Réti. Much of the music is inspired by the Gypsy musicians of Romania and Serbia’s Banat region. Most tracks are tunes built up into lengthy suites, like the 15-minute ‘Suita de la Kot’, which begins with a slow bittersweet melody over accompanying viola and speeds up with bubbling clarinet melodies tumbling over each other or playing in thirds.

The clarinets go from plaintive to playful in an instant. There are three tracks in homage to particular Gypsy musicians: one for one of Romania’s greatest accordionists, Vasile Pandelescu, another for taragot master Luca Novac, learned from his recordings, and lastly to Hungarian clarinet player András Puporka. The mellow ‘Bánáti Angyal (Banatian Angel)’ is also a tribute to Romanian saxophonist Nicu Anghel Ministeru and is particularly memorable. The Transylvanian-sounding ‘Program Ardeal’ is full of Romanian-style irregular rhythms and shifting tempos. A fine conclusion to the impressive debut of a strong and distinctive band.