Mandoki Soulmates will give a free jubilee concert with world stars, including Grammy Award-winning guitarist Al Di Meola, American jazz guitarist Mike Stern, bassist Richard Bona and jazz trumpeter Randy Brecker on Friday in Budapest, Szentháromság square.
The supergroup Mandoki Soulmates, led by Leslie Mandoki, is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary with a jubilee concert in Budapest. At a press conference in Budapest, Leslie Mandoki introduced the artists joining the band on Thursday evening: Al Di Meola, Mike Stern and Randy Brecker, along with Nick van Eede, Till Brönner and Tony Carey. In addition to the international stars, singer Tamás Takáts will perform with the band as a domestic performer. But the young discovery, professional sophonist Max Merseny, as well as Indian zither artist Deobrat Mishra and Italian jazz accordionist Fausto Beccalossi will also play music at the free concert.
He also talked about the fact that Al Di Meola gave the name of the supergroup, he and the Grammy-winning guitarist know each other very well, and have made a lifelong friendship. He also emphasized that his daughter, Julia Mándoki, will also perform at the concert. This is not a retro team, they do not look to the past, but to the future, he said. Leslie Mandoki noted: it was very challenging to create the album Utopia for Realists/Hungarian Pictures, inspired by Béla Bartók’s musical heritage. American jazz guitarist Mike Stern – who has performed with many world stars and also played in Miles Davis’ band – emphasized: it is amazing how Leslie Mandoki put together this huge project, everyone appreciates this work, and he considers Hungarian folk music beautiful – he emphasized. Al Di Meola, one of the best-known and most influential guitarists of fusion jazz, said: he is very happy to perform in Hungary again. Whatever may happen in the world, music lifts us up – he believed.
Living in Germany and California since 1975, Leslie Mandoki founded his band Mandoki Soulmates in 1992. From the beginning to the present, the band members are Randy Brecker, Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull), Al Di Meola, Mike Stern, Chris Thompson (Manfred Mann’s Earth Band), David Clayton-Thomas (Blood Sweat & Tears), Bill Evans (Miles Davis Band ), Bobby Kimball (Toto), Peter Maffay, Nick van Eede (Cutting Crew), Jesse Sibenberg and John Helliwell (Supertramp). The fellow musicians from Soulmates have won more than 35 Grammy awards in total, and the number of audio carriers sold exceeds 350 million. The latest album of Mandoki Soulmates, Hungarian Pictures/Utopia for Realists, was released last September.
The concert can be visited free of charge in Szentáromság square as part of the St. Stephen’s Day celebration series.
MTI
Photo: MTI/Balázs Mohai
