Tin Tin Quartet / Quintet
Orchestra, choir, ensemble
The ensemble, then a quartet, had their introductory performance at the 2nd WOMUFE festival in the spring of 1994. The original members were Gábor Juhász on guitar, András Monori on kaval, Szabolcs Szőke on gadulka, and Gergő Borlai on drums. Later Péter Szalai replaced Borlai on tabla and since then he has been the member of Tin Tin. Later the group was extended to a quintet with the addition of Iván Nyusztai on south-indian percussions and Gabor Kardos took the place of Gábor Juhász on guitar. Szőke is not only a musician but is a creative multitalented artist. Monori and Kardos studied jazz besides immersing themselves in folk music traditions, while both Szalai and Nyusztay have been students of great Indian master percussionists. The Tin Tin Quintet plays improvised chamber music inspired heavily by oriental musical cultures. The compositions are often penned by the members cooperatively. The melodies are built on scales from the East (ragas), Bulgarian-Turkish scale variations (makams) or scales with one and a half steps frequently used by Bartók. Their rhythmic world is characterized by asymmetric pulsation, a feature of Bulgarian, Asian or African music. Fixed, composed elements and a free, sometimes jazz-like mode of performance form a unity in their music. The Tin Tin Quintet has been a frequent guest of Hungarian and international jazz, ethno, and world music festivals. They have toured in Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Switzerland.
| Year | Title | Publisher | Code | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | WOMUFE - World Music Festival Budapest | Hungaroton | HCD 31603 | |
| 2000 |
Tin-Tin Quartet: Ütközés
(Tin-Tin Quartet: Confrontation) |
Ananda Sounds | SPE-445 |
Own |
| 2004 |
Tin Tin Quintet: Ötösfogat
(Five-in-hand) |
Magánkiadás | CD TIN-TIN 1 |
Own |
| 2005 | Hungarian Jazz Store | BMC HMIC | BMC PCD 016 | Not for sale - only for promotion / 4 CDs |