Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Photos: Jernej Vene
Location: Slovenj Gradec
Concert date: 16.07.2009
Attendance: 350
Ticket price: 0,00€
This year the traditional Slovenj Gradec summer music festival served up a genuine sensation for all the music connoisseurs out there. It doesn’t happen often that a guitar legend of this caliber, the great Steve Hackett, a former member of pioneering progressive rock outfit Genesis and a musician whose playing and guitar technique have influenced whole generations of more or less famous guitarists, turns up in our neck of the woods as a low-key special guest, with no media fanfare whatsoever. Steve appeared in Slovenj Gradec (and, at the same time, in Slovenia for the very first time) as a special guest of the excellent but relatively little-known Hungarian jazz fusion band Djabe, with whom he has been collaborating on and off since 2004. He also recorded the album “Sheafs Are Dancing” with them.
Over the past two years, the legendary guitarist, besides playing with his own band, has also joined this Eastern European group on tour as a big Djabe fan, and those tours are far from limited to the European continent. Among other places, Djabe have played in Malaysia, Mongolia, Canada and the USA. That of course meant Hackett only showed up on stage for some of the songs rather than the whole set, but even without him, Djabe met, if not exceeded, expectations in every way and put together a real concert treat for all lovers of quality progressive rock and jazz rock fusion. And those hoping for a few goodies from Steve’s solo career and the Genesis legacy didn’t go home completely hungry either.
The show took place in what you could call an ideal setting, the courtyard of the local castle. A few hours before the start it looked like Slovenian audiences would largely miss this one-of-a-kind musical event, but by the time the cult Hungarian jazz fusioneers took the stage, the seats in the courtyard were nicely filled after all. From the very first second, even before the guitar eminence himself showed up, Djabe surprised with their energetic blend of top-notch jazz fusion, into which they wove all sorts of world music elements, ethnic flavors from their homeland and even a few classical touches. They spiced up this melting pot of styles, which came through in a breathtaking ambient variety, with the virtuoso skills of the individual members and some exotic instruments.
Djabe, made up of Ferenc Kovacs on trumpet and violin, Attila Egerhazi on guitar, Tamas Barabas on bass, Zoltan Kovacs on piano and Szilard Banai on drums, proved to be fascinating, virtuoso musicians who won over the crowd in an instant. Then, after a short but dramatic introduction, maestro Hackett walked on stage and launched into the famous solo section from the Genesis classic “Firth Of Fifth” (originally from the legendary album “Selling England By The Pound”, 1973), and the audience’s reaction grew into open delight. Traditionally modest and incredibly laid-back, Steve spent most of the time in his typical stage manner, standing in a stiff, upright pose, while for some songs he sat down on a stool, jazz-style, and wove his guitar “magic” on his beloved Gibson Les Paul. Maestro Hackett wasn’t the only guest playing with Djabe that night, though, as Ferenc Kovacs on trumpet was occasionally replaced by his young countryman Aron Koos-Hutas, who eventually managed to shake off his initial stage shyness.
The latter stepped on stage when they all tackled Hackett’s solo classic “The Steppes” (originally from the album “Defector”, 1980), seasoned in fusion style with plenty of jazzy and oriental ethnic inserts. It’s no surprise they picked this song from Steve’s magnificent solo catalog, since the oriental ambience that dominates the original version suits them down to the ground. After one of the highlights of the night, Steve left the stage for a short while, and the members of Djabe and Aron surprised with an excellent “Afro Dance”, where they gave soul to all kinds of African rhythmic subtleties and improvisations. Along the way they traded solo spots on keyboards, trumpet, violin and guitar. Djabe’s rhythm section is truly phenomenal, and any modern jazz fusion band would surely want one like it.
Steve returned for “Blues in E”, where he and his Hungarian comrades delighted with a few shorter bluesy passages. The funniest moment of the concert, if not the most interesting, came when all the performers divided up the traditional Indonesian instrument angklung, made of bamboo tubes, and staged an ethnic number that briefly wrapped the castle stage in an authentic Pacific atmosphere. During “Distant Dance” every musician contributed an individual solo turn. Standing out in particular were drummer Banai, winner of the Hungarian award for best drummer of the year, bassist Barabas, and of course maestro Hackett, who showed off his trademark approach, a mix of blistering speed and finesse in his string picking.
They delivered a grand finale to the main part of the show with another Genesis classic, “In That Quitet Earth”, originally from Hackett’s last Genesis album, “Wind & Wuthering” (1977). Everyone who has long missed this legendary song on Genesis concert setlists was of course in seventh heaven. At the end, Steve and Djabe guitarist Egerhazi, who is also the band’s manager, received symbolic gifts from two young women. The roaring ovations were followed by a quick return to the stage and a performance of the superb “Behind The Veil”, the last song of this unforgettable night, where Steve and the gang once again blew everyone away by building an incredible ambience, along with brilliant solo passages.
In a good two hours we got to feast on first-rate jazz fusion packed with diverse elements from world music, Hungarian ethnic music and classical, enriched by the occasional but generous sonic presence of one of the greatest guitar figures of all time. Steve’s modesty and down-to-earth manner, which we got to know well even before the show began, is simply astonishing, and it’s a shining example for various guitar “people-haters” like Steve Howe or Robert Fripp, who refuse to shake hands with their followers and flee from them into armored vans.
Of course, every one of Steve’s traditionally “invisible” Slovenian fans would have had the greatest revelation if he’d shown up on our soil with his own band and played a big batch of solo and Genesis classics. Still, we got to see him (for the first time since the breakup of the supergroup GTR) in the rarely seen role of a hired hand, with his exceptional instrumental talent and gift for creating incredible ambience coming alive within a highly interesting Eastern European fusion idiom. Djabe fully justified Steve’s fascination with their music and at least partly explained his undoubtedly baffling statement that they are the best band he has ever played with. Considering it’s been more than thirty years since he last played with Genesis, you can hardly blame him for the enthusiasm. Hanging out with Steve and Djabe was one of those magical concert nights that everyone involved, especially those of us who had the chance for a short chat with the legend, won’t forget anytime soon. I sincerely hope some big-hearted and capable local promoter manages to lure maestro Hackett back in the near future. With his own band this time, of course.
Photos: Ivana Kisegi, Rok Podgrajšek and Jernej Vene
Setlist
1. Sheafs Are Dancing
2. Erdo, Erdo
3. Firth of Fifth
4. Reflections of Thierache
5. Underwater Sunlight
6. The Steppes
7. Afro Dance
8. Clouds Dance
9. Winter Forest
10. Blues in E
11. Angklung
12. Distant Dance
13. In That Quiet Earth
—encore—
14. Behind The Veil
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