Rambling Blues 5 (Hungary)

Rambling story    Concerts, style    Members    Photos    Contact
 

The Rambling story The frontman of the Rambling Blues Trio, Vajk Király (acoustic guitars, vocals) started giving concerts as a soloist in 1993, but not long after that he was joined by Tamás Hrabovszky on harmonica and Anetta Tóth, vocalist (at first for only a couple of songs). A few months later, in May 1994 the small band appeared in the Majulas '94 Festival in Szeged - called from this point on 'Rambling Blues'. This first more serious formation participated in the First National Blues and Bluesrock Talent Scouting Competition in Budapest in 1994, where the judges ranked them among the best. Out of the 23 debuting bands they were the only acoustic group. Stimulated by the success they entered for the Blues and Jazz Festival and Competition (March, 1995) in Budapest, where they received the illustrious second place. In the summer of 1995 the band's female vocalist, Anetta Toth, finishing her studies in Szeged waved good-bye to the city and unfortunately to Rambling Blues as well. They decided to take in Csaba Szabo, the drummer, who has already been a guest musician for the band on several occasions. He uses snare drum and hi-hats for base and a washboard, sheep bell, etc. for special effects. This is how Rambling Blues was formed at the beginning of 1996. In the year 2000 they made their first own CD under the title Tissassippi. As the increasingly arising new and more complex musical ideas required a bass instrument they often invited their old guitarist friend Peter Torok to play with the band. At the same time during a jam session they ran across Edina Szirtes "Mokus" and from that time onwards Rambling Blues Trio had two regular guest musicians and changed the name of the band into Rambling Blues 5. This formation has kept on working well: Vajk Kiraly - acoustic- & dobro guitars, vocals, kazoo Tamas Hrabovszky - harmonica, vocals, "rattling banana" Csaba Szabo - percussions, washboard Edina Szirtes "Mokus" - vocals, violin Peter Torok - electric-and bass guitars Top of page Concerts, style Since 1996 they have had around 90-100 concerts yearly all over the country at clubs, pubs and festivals. Also, they had offers to play from abroad, at first in ex Yugoslavia then clubs in Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Italy. It was a great honor to be invited to the Dobrofest of 1998, which had taken place for the seventh time in the Slovakian city of Trnava. In 2000 they had a successful, 13-gigs tour in Germany and Holland where they appeared on several big festivals and in exclusive clubs. As a result of all these successes in the past years this little band became one of the most famous acoustic blues bands in Hungary. The style of the band is mainly based on the American acoustic folk music of the 20s and 30s which includes country blues, ragtime blues, Mississippi or delta blues, but they are "rambling" when they want - a few Hawaiian songs, some Chicago blues, or their own songs. As this style is hardly known in Hungary, they have proclaimed to have an aim to present this music, the "roots", to show how variable blues can be. To be loyal to the style most songs are in English. The wide repertoire of the songs can be heard in a "rambling" style, using their individual voices and trying to adapt the original recordings to all their audiences. Top of page Members: Vajk Kiraly acoustic- & dobro guitars, vocals, kazoo I was born in 1974. My parents are musicians of the Szeged Symphonic Orchestra, so I grew up in a musician family. 5 years of piano lessons long time ago, followed by a year of French horn then came the guitar at 14. I played old Hungarian hit songs - using maximum five chords... Later I heard about acoustic blues and finger-picking technique from an English musician called "Bee". This was a milestone. The time when I decided to stick to the acoustic blues of the 20s and 30s was when I heard recordings from Blind Boy Fuller and others: Blind Blake, Charlie Patton, Robert Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt, Bo Carter. (These entertainers have been my favourites ever since.) My first appearance in public was in 1993 at the Mojo Club Szeged - at that time I was only 18. A few months later I have performed at the first international Adafest (Ada, Yugoslavia), for about 2000 people. In 1995 I bought my first resonator guitar to have better sound for slide guitar techniques - the rest of the story is about the same as the 'Rambling Blues'. Top of page Tamas Hrabovszky harmonica, vocals, "rattling banana" I am 32, currently I am a driver at Hungarian Railway Company. My first experience with blues was a blues program on the radio. I started playing the harmonica in 1993 after hearing a great Hungarian harmonica player called Tamas Szabo. His musicality on the mouth organ fascinated me. Later I got many of harmonica recordings from him. At the same year I met Peter Torok guitarist (who is a relative of mine) on a beer festival, and we realized that both of us were close to blues music, so came the idea to form a band. This was the birth of my band the Blues Bell, where in addition to a drummer and a guitarist I play the harmonica and I sing as well. We have already had a few performances when Vajk called and very simply invited me to play with him, with the Rambling Blues. I gladly accepted, why not? The challenge was important, because very different techniques, sounds and performance styles are part of this music. Different from the ones used in "electric" blues. Top of page Csaba Szabo percussions, washboard I taught myself to play the drums. I have been playing for about 15 years regularly and I was lucky to be able to try my talent in various styles. I have played from rock to jazz, blues and for a while I played in a brazil band. Currently I'm a member of 3 different bands: With Caffe-Café Jazz Quartet we play traditional jazz, the 50s' and 60s' Hard-Bop and Cool music. With Blues Bell we follow the Chicago blues line with a little funky and jazz elements. In Rambling Blues Trio I use a snare drum (with brooms) and hi-hats. Also I have a washboard and several various rattling, clinking, clicking and jingling instruments. In this "unplugged" formation I have the opportunity to do many solos, and I really enjoy it! Top of page Edina Szirtes 'Mokus' vocals, violin Originally I'm a classical musician I've graduated in violin and I'm a self-taught singer as well. I've played with a lot of bands in different style - pop, folk, rock, jazz, blues etc. I mix all of these styles in my own sound both at singing and playing the violin - naturally paying attention to the characteristic of the given genre. In 1996 I won first prize at The Hungarian National Popfestival and also The National Festival of Songwriters in 2001. These successes resulted foreign tours (Denmark, Scotland) almost naturally. I was invited to play regularly for various recording artists so I made numerous guest appearances on several albums. I've played with Rambling Blues Trio for a couple of months and fortunately our interest in music proved to be very similar. Top of page Peter Torok electric-and bass guitars Brought up in a musician family (my parents are founder members of The Symphonic Orchestra of Szeged) I've discovered music very early and it became a natural element of my life. At the age of 12 I started lessons on the guitar and after three years of learning I became an autodidact musician. Beside my musical training I was studying at a college and took a degree in electrical engineering and marketing management. Looking for the roots of modern rock music I gravitated towards blues and artists like B.B. King, Muddy Waters and later on Stevie Ray Vaughn, Robben Ford had very much influence on me. In 1993 I formed my first band known as Blues Bell. The group followed the Chicago-blues traditions completed with funky and jazz taste. In 2000 Vajk Kiraly leader of Rambling Blues Trio invited me to play bass/guitar in his band as a guest performer. This co-operation turned out so well that I became a "regular guest" of their concerts. Top of page Photos Click for full size!             Top of page Contact Address:     Vajk Kiraly     HUNGARY     Szeged, Szucs u. 3/b.     H-6721 Phone:     (+36) 30/330-3002 Fax:     (+36) 62/323-382 E-mail:     mr.vajk@ramblingblues.hu Homepage:     www.ramblingblues.hu Top of page