We are so used to nylon string guitar work that looks to the Spanish tradition that anything outside of it almost comes as a surprise. Hungarian Ferenc Snétberger weaves subtle beauty with but a passing glance to the Iberian peninsula.
Snétberger (born 1957) was studying classical guitar lessons at the tender age of 13 and he studied jazz guitar in Budapest before basing himself in Berlin in 1988. On Titok, 13 pieces edge onto the listener’s consciousness with mostly quiet grace. It's the product of years of study and of careful listening to Django Reinhardt, to Roma and Brazilian and to other Latin American musics to achieve this eclectic style.
His sidekick, Swedish double bassist Anders Jormin is a voluble contributor to the record, a man who can mould a sturdy cornice of sound on to pieces like Ease. American drummer Joey Baron uses sticks, brushes and the palms of his hands to tamp down the compositions, six of which were improvised.
There is the sense of a lost world, a vanbished El Dorado about the tune, Renaissance, a vein of resigned yearning runs through the piece. The final track Inference is similar in tone and it is hard to believe that it is improvised, given its formal lines.
The opening pair of tunes Cou Cou and Titok and the penultimate track, Rush, are essentially free-form exercises. On their own, they may test your patience, but imbibed as part of the entire listening experience they appear to highlight the more lyrical pieces. It's a sweet and sour vibe ultimately.
Paddy Kehoe
