world music & new beats from heart of Europe
BABELE
unrest, chaos, mishmash similar to the construction of the Tower of Babel & A mountain in the Romanian Carpathians & In Yiddish – darling, addressing small children
BEAT
beats and grooves connected with live music
BAND
a group of musicians of different origins united into a strong whole
The region of Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans is a very interesting place for exploring the culture and musical traditions of different nations. Music originating in the wider region of the Carpathian Mountains, the native folklore of different countries have confronted each other for centuries and shaped it into its present form. Our band is interested in the tradition of this region, Slovak, Balkan or Jewish music. It tries to take it as a basis for its work and look for new ways to interpret original compositions and compose new original songs.
The group recorded a new album, SOVÍ LES, in the spring of 2022. When asked what the intention was for the new project, the bandleader and its creator, Erik Rothenstein, answers: „The original intention was to work with the roots of our region, with the Carpathian musical tradition based on the blending of multiple musical styles. I wanted to work with various musicians from this region who would have different musical backgrounds. We played, for example, with Serbs, Bulgarians, Hungarians, who dealt with folk music, classical music, and the like. So, for my part, I wanted to use my experience in the field of jazz or klezmer and connect with musicians with whom I would understand each other on stage and in person. We tried to experiment with irregular Balkan rhythms, folk melodies, but also with electronics and insert them into new contexts.“
TEASER:
The wide range of instrumental palette combines Slovak, Hungarian, Jewish, Bulgarian creations with other roots of ethnic music. At the same time, each of the musicians brought something from their musical cuisine – jazz rock, world music, traditional jazz, etc.
LIVE SHOW CASE FESTIVAL HEVHETIA 2021
There is also an interesting story behind the title of the album Soví Les / Bubu Forest. People go to Soví Les, a protected natural area in Petržalka, to relax, meditate, and be inspired. Not only nocturnal creatures gather there, but also musicians. When creating this project, it turned out that nature is an endless source of inspiration and knowledge for them. That is why they decided to use the sounds of the forest and owl hooting among the songs. Three folk songs come from a folk source – Padá dížd (Eastern Slovak), Botosanka (Romanian), Dos Amantes (Sephardic), which complement the original compositions of Erik Rothenstein and Juraj Raši to the lyrics of Zuzana Vasičáková Očenášová.
BABELE BEAT BAND is a group playing music with original folklore from Slovakia as well as from Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. It combines this inspiration with new beats and sounds. It interprets its own compositions as well as original folk songs supplemented with improvisational surfaces and grooves. It uses elements of folk and klezmer music, jazz harmony as well as solo and collective improvisation combined with captivating rhythmic grooves.
He collaborates with musicians from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria, Bulgaria and Serbia.
Fools from chelm
Babele beat band interprets songs from the project Blázni z Chelmu.
The core of the project are compositions written according to the literary model of the writer Isaac Bashevis Singer, The Fools of Chelm. In it, the author describes the history of the poor city of Chelm in an engaging way. With his linguistic playfulness and use of intelligent humor, Singer leaves us with a message in which he emphasizes that we should learn to distinguish human stupidity and limitation even when it is born in the heads of our leaders. He entertains us with absurd and funny stories, but somewhere in the background he raises a warning finger and warns of the danger threatening from our leaders, who often behave like the Fools of Chelm. The project, using programmatic musical processing, tries to convey the message of Singer’s literary model The Fools of Chelm. It uses elements of klezmer music, jazz harmony, as well as solo and collective improvisation combined with captivating rhythmic grooves.
LIVE Gypsy Jazz Festival 2020
KLEZMER SONGS – LIVE
our guest from Hungary, endpipe and Transylvanian flute player BALASZ DONGO SZOKOLAY – recording of a concert from Bratislava
before the concert KIRIL STOYANOV – Bulgarian percussionist plays on TAPAN with Erik on the composition H Stein C……