Leaving college life behind in 1995, Kálmán studied at Brooklyn Law School while maintaining a demanding performance schedule, mostly on weekends. This balancing act continues today; Kálmán is a full-time litigation attorney, travels throughout North America to perform on a regular basis, and leads the Életfa Hungarian Folk Ensemble and the Continental Dance Orchestra, both with active gig schedules. Kálmán also performs with DalamDougou (Afro-Hungarian groove-based music), Equinox (a rock band), Skitnice (Canada-based Croatian band), and with several other groups. Kálmán's musical journey spans several genres - folk, jazz, classical, gypsy, rock - but remains centered on the folk music of Eastern and Central Europe. He has appeared at venues such as Epcot Center, Library of Congress, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Lincoln Center, Clearwater Revival Festival, Liberty State Park, Manhattan's Town Hall, B.B. King's Blues Club, Bitter End, and Heinz Hall. Kálmán has performed in Venezuela and Hungary, and has appeared in countless cities throughout North America, including San Diego, Miami, New Orleans, Toronto, San Francisco, Boston, Montreal and Calgary. His media credits include television and radio broadcasts and two film soundtracks.

The music on this disc was arranged and performed solely by Kálmán. It was recorded and mixed in his basement studio using a Shure KSM32 microphone onto a Yamaha MD8 machine, supplemented during mixing by an Alesis reverb unit. The keyboard used for some bass parts and piano sounds was a Yamaha P-150. No sampling, editing or other computer devices have been used.

Recorded & Mixed: Kálmán Magyar, Hungaria Records Recording Studio, Rockaway, New Jersey
Mastered: László Hajdu-Németh, Jr.
Graphics: Beatrix Magyar-Nagy
Produced: Hungaria Records, Inc., 51 Addison Avenue, Rockaway, NJ 07866
Instruments: Violin (1-5, 7-18); Viola (1, 4, 7, 11); Kontra (1, 3, 4, 10, 13, 16-18); 4-string guitar (2, 4-8, 14, 15, 17); accordion (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 11, 12, 15, 17); 3-string double bass (10, 13, 16, 18); 4-string double bass (1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 14, 17); Bass Guitar (8); Keyboard (2, 5, 9, 11, 12, 15); Trumpet-Violin (17); Tapan (7, 15); Darabuka/Dumbek (2, 5, 6, 8); Percussion [cymbal/bass drum] (17); Jew's Harp (7); Ütõ-Gardon [percussive cello] (3).

This CD is the first compilation to showcase the North American echo of the Hungarian Táncház movement. The CD's breadth - involving a good selection of the nearly twenty groups that exist from Vancouver to New York - the scope of its instrumental music and singing - presenting styles from Dunántul to Moldva - and its surprisingly accomplished musicianship all stand as testament to the power of this amazing revival movement.

The artists featured on this CD represent a remarkably diverse spectrum. From Feketeföld, whose founding arguably pre-dates the Táncház movement, to recently born, up-and-coming groups like Forrás and Vadkelet; from the work of independent musicians like Rokka and Kata Harsaczki, to dance-group related efforts like that of the Csürdöngölõ girls choir; from groups rooted in Hungarian communities, like Szikra and Kõvirag, to bands composed of non-Hungarians, like Jómóka and Szászka; from bands accomplished in a broad range of regional styles, like Életfa and Cifra, to Kecskeszem, which specializes in the music of Gyimes and Moldva - the diversity of this compilation makes it a truly polyphonic echo of the Táncház movement.

Perhaps the most poignant "viszhang" is Andrea Speck's rendition of the Csángó song "Ez a kis lészped," which was first heard in the West in 1976 on Hungaria Records' pioneering production of Zoltán Kallós' field recordings, when the publishing of such recordings in Hungary or Transylvania was impossible. This is truly a direct echo of the original source, and appropriately reflects the progress of the Táncház movement and what the future may hold, particularly here in North America.

Kálmán Dreisziger
Montreal, Canada, May 2003

THE PERFORMANCES ON THIS DISC ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1) Életfa Hungarian Folk Ensemble (New York/New Jersey - USA)
Songs of the Immigrants
Ildikó Magyar, Katalin Hajdu-Németh (vocals); Beatrix Magyar-Nagy (kontra, vocals); Kálmán "Öcsi" Magyar (violin, viola, vocals); László Hajdu-Németh (vocals); Attila Papp (bass)

2) Szászka Band (Madison, Wisconsin/Washington, D.C. - USA)
Erdõszombattelki Lassú & Friss (Northern Transylania)
Nienke Shinkevich (violin); Doug Code (kontra); Sara Bruins (bass)

3) Kata Harsaczki (North Brunswick, New Jersey - USA)
Lament from Gyimes collected by Pál Dsupin (Eastern Transylvania)

4) Cifra Hungarian Folk Music Ensemble (Edmonton, Alberta - CANADA)
Romanian Music from Méhkerék (Eastern Hungary)
Jim Cockell & Moni Mathew (violins); Paul Radosh (bass)

5) Márton Faragó-Thököly (Toronto, Ontario - CANADA)
Lamenting Songs of Béla Kótai (played on the shepherd's flute)

6) Feketeföld Ensemble (Toronto, Ontario - CANADA)
Music from Mezõföld (Western Hungary) - LIVE IN CONCERT
Margit Bajnoczy, Árpád Verseghy, Géza Waller (violins); Gergely Roszler, Gábor Verseghy (kontras); Diana Verseghy (bass)

7) Kecskeszem Ensemble (Toronto, Ontario - CANADA)
Ú gy fáj az én gyenge szívem (My Heart is in Such Pain)
Imola Lõrincz (vocals); Gábor Dobi, Márton Faragó-Thököly (shepherd's flute); Mateusz Etynkowski (lute); Péter Szilágyi (drums)

8) Forrás Folk Band (Vancouver, British Columbia - CANADA)
Music from Bogyiszló (Western Hungary)
Szabolcs Kabok (violin); Frigyes Kabok (violin, vocals); Lajos "Lecsó" Miklós (kontra, vocals); József Molnár (contra-tambura, vocals); Peter Takács (tambura, vocals); Alex Csiszár (bass, vocals)

9) Szászka Band (Madison, Wisconsin/Washington, D.C. - USA)
Magyarszóváti Négyes (Central Transylvania)
Nienke Shinkevich (violin); Doug Code (kontra); Sara Bruins (bass)

10) Gyongyosbokreta Girls (Montreal, Quebec - CANADA)
Song from Dunafalva
Sabine Koszegi, Angela Mende, Jeszika Paulusz, Emese Tokes

11) Szikra Zither Ensemble (Detroit, Michigan - USA)
Katona vagyok én (Hungarian melodies)
Georgina Galba-Tamas, Eva Csernik (zither, vocals); Linda Enyedi, Diana & Margaret Kroll, Nicholas Kutny, Ilona Kutny-Hawk, Reka Zoltan (zither)

12) Életfa Hungarian Folk Ensemble (New York/New Jersey - USA)
Music from Magyarpalatka, Mezõség (Central Transylvania)
Ildikó & Kálmán "Öcsi" Magyar (violins); László Hajdu-Németh & József "Heki" Gartai (kontras); Raul Rothblatt (bass)

13) Jómóka Hungarian Táncház Band (Salt Lake City, Utah - USA)
Music from Somogy (Western Hungary)
Brian Salisbury (violin); Bonnie Baty (kontra); Craig Forster (cimbalom); Donald Stevens (bass) with Kõvirag Ensemble (Magdi Ordasi & Szilvia Gilbert, vocals)

14) Csürdöngölõ Dance Ensemble's Women's Chorus (New Brunswick, New Jersey - USA)
Songs from Magyarbõd (Slovakia)
Denisa Bott, Edit Csatorday, Chilla Gáspár, Csilla & Réka Gorondi, Krisztina Gyovai, Katalin Hajdu-Németh, Kata Harsaczki, Dianna Horváth, Zsuzsi Kemecsei, Ildikó Magyar, Emese Salopek, Erica Tábi, Zsuzsi Tass, Ágnes & Ildikó Vigh

15) Rokka Ensemble (Calgary, Alberta - CANADA)
Delalföldi Dalok (Southern Great Plains of Hungary)
Eszter Savanya (vocals); István Savanya (hurdy-gurdy)

16) Vadkelet Ensemble (Toronto, Ontario - CANADA)
Music from Mezõség (Central Transylvania)
Peter Horváth (violin); Mateusz Etynkowski (kontras); Gábor Dobi (bass, vocals)

17) Kõvirág Ensemble (San Francisco, California - USA)
Borsodi legénycsúfoló (Song mocking young men!)
Magdi Ordasi & Szilvia Gilbert (vocals)

18) Cifra Hungarian Folk Music Ensemble (Edmonton, Alberta - CANADA)
Invirtita (Romanian dance from Transylvania)
Jim Cockell (violin); Miriam Lewis & Moni Mathew (kontras); Paul Radosh (cello)

19) Andrea Speck (Toronto, Ontario - CANADA)
Ez a kicsi lészped (Csángó song)

Credits
Sponsored by the Hungarian Cultural Center, New York - András Márton, Director
Produced by Hungaria Records, Inc., Rockaway, New Jersey
Compiled by Kálmán "Öcsi" Magyar, based on material submitted by the artists
Final project mastering at Mix-O-Lydian Studios, Lafayette, New Jersey
Graphic layout by László Hajdu-Németh, Jr.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE ARTISTS, FESTIVALS, AND HUNGARIAN FOLK MUSIC & DANCE IN NORTH AMERICA, PLEASE VISIT WWW.TANCHAZ.COM OR EMAIL TANCHAZ@TANCHAZ.COM

COPYRIGHTS
The individual groups and artists have exclusive copyright to their performances on this disc
This entire compilation as a package is ©2003 by Hungaria Records, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS OF THE ARTISTS, GROUPS, AND HUNGARIA RECORDS, INC. ARE EXPRESSLY RESERVED; USE OF THE WITHIN MATERIAL WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE ARTISTS AND HUNGARIA RECORDS IS PROHIBITED