Winner of the Parliamentary Jazz Award for Best Media, 2019

Review

Tea Hodzic Trio

Live: The Burton Hotel, Kington, Herefordshire 25/01/2009

image

by Ian Mann

February 02, 2009

/ LIVE

Songs and Music from the Balkans and Beyond- distinctively sung and brilliantly played

The singer and guitarist Tea Hodzic was born in Sarajevo but is now based in the UK. Her trio operates under the umbrella of Dave Kelbie’s lejazzetal organisation and recently released the album “Stay Awhile” on Dylan Fowler’s Taith record label. The album received rave reviews in the prestigious Songlines magazine.

Both the album and tonight’s concert are billed as “Songs And Music from the Balkans and Beyond” and this was precisely what we got in this charming show promoted by the local Arts Alive association. 

In the second of two shows in rural Herefordshire Hodzic was joined by album personnel Luke Carver Goss on accordion and occasional guitar and the brilliant violinist Oliver Wilson-Dickson. The trio have played together in the larger Balkan ensemble Szapora who have also performed in the Welsh borders. Judging by the size of the large and enthusiastic audience crammed into the function room of The Burton they have managed to acquire a considerable following.

Hodzic possesses a deep, resonant voice that manages to convey considerable emotional content even to an English speaking audience. She plays taut rhythm guitar which provides the ideal counterpoint to the instrumental flights of Carver-Goss and Wilson-Dickson. Both British musicians add backing vocals and harmonies and collectively the trio realise a surprisingly full sound. 

The trio’s repertoire is mainly drawn from the countries of the former Yugoslavia. Macedonian songs and circle dances predominate but there is also material from Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia. From further afield comes music from Bulgaria, |Romania and even Russia along with a substantial helping of traditional Roma or gypsy material. 

Operating in an essentially acoustic setting with only the minimum of amplification the trio commenced with the traditional “Makedousko” or “Macedonian Girl” which introduced Hodzic’s deep, expressive voice. It’s the kind of voice that expresses hard won experience and a stoic “woman of the world” quality. A girlish shriek it most emphatically is not. The instrumentalists got the chance to shine briefly in a brisk dance like coda.

The lilting Montenegran traditional tune “Oj Vesela Veselice” (Joyous Joy) possesses a gorgeous melody line that was shared between Wilson-Dickson’s violin and Hodzic’s wistful vocal. It proved to be quietly beautiful.

The album’s title track features a tune in the Macedonian style by Hodzic and an English lyric from Wilson-Dickson. It gave the audience a rare chance to sing along and was quietly stirring and effective.

A traditional Bulgarian circle dance introduced the Balkan “Racenica” sevens rhythm (3/3/1) in stirring fashion. The call and response vocal refrain brought an enthusiastic response from a packed house. 

This was followed by “Zal Za Mladost” and “Otvori Mi” a segue of traditional songs from Macedonia and Serbia, the former a lament for lost youth.

A lightning fast Romanian dance tune featured the dazzling playing of Wilson-Dickson, his frantic bowing punctuated by pizzicato flourishes. Hodzic’s guitar was deployed in breakneck rhythmic accompaniment. Scintillating.

A pause for breath followed in the form of the traditional Romany tune “Cororo” which opens the trio’s album. The song reflects on the hardships of Romany family life.

A further Roma tune, “Caj Sukeria” closed a well received first set and featured the soaring vocal harmonies of Hodzic and Carver-Goss.

If the first set had been good the second was even better as the trio warmed to their task. The steadily accelerating Carpathian dance tune “They Are Teaching The Bear To Dance” got the second set off to a storming start.

Wilson-Dickson then introduced another Romanian dance tune, this time with a call and response vocal line which invited the audience’s involvement and helped to keep them engaged for the rest of the set.

The Serbian song/circle dance “Fatise Kolo, Gradske Devojke” began with accapella vocals and featured rousing choruses and swirling instrumental breaks. The following Macedonian song “Eleno, kerko Eleno” continued the momentum utilising an “eights” rhythm (3/3/2).

To Bosnia next for “Ruzo Moja” before a return to Serbia for the haunting “Magla Padnala V Dolina” which featured Hodzic’s voice at it’s best.

A set of two Bulgarian circle dances in time signatures unorthodox to Western ears followed.  These allowed both Wilson-Dickson and Carver-Goss to show their abilities with the violinist again switching between arco and pizzicato.

The stirring Russian song in translation “Where Are My People” cast the trio’s net yet wider and was followed by the traditional Roma song “Verka Kaluderka”. With it’s fast/slow dynamics this proved a great favourite with the increasingly animated crowd. 

The closing Serbian/Romany tune “Get Up And Dance” found a few members of the audience finding room in a cramped venue to do just that. The thunderous applause that greeted the trio showed that everyone was dancing in spirit and had thoroughly enjoyed it. The trio returned for a brief encore.

This had been a well paced show featuring some excellent traditional material allied to a distinctive vocal performance and some brilliant musicianship. The announcements were amiably shared between the three musicians generating an atmosphere of bonhomie. I hadn’t been quite sure what to expect but this had been an enjoyable voyage of discovery with some quite magnificent music.

The size of the turnout was particularly heartening. Recent gigs I have attended in rural locations suggest that live music is still thriving despite the recession and that people will still spend money on something that genuinely interests them. The lack of a scrum at the bar at the interval suggests that economies are being made in other ways. 

Let us hope that this support for music of all genres continues.

See http://www.teahodzictrio.co.uk for details of the album and further live shows.

For details of other lejazzetal artists see http://www.lejazzetal.com

See http://www.taithrecords.co.uk for details of further releases on the label

blog comments powered by Disqus