Modern Art Orchestra

The Modern Art Orchestra is a 20-piece Hungarian big band and musician's workshop founded and led by trumpeter and composer Kornél Fekete-Kovács. From the beginning, the ensemble's approach has been to stretch the boundaries of contemporary classical music and jazz, often combining them while encouraging and showcasing the work of the composers within their ranks. Eclectic Path, their 2009 debut, featured nine original jazz compositions played through the lends of the advanced harmonic approach of modern classical music and vanguard improvisation. 2013's Zene Hajó featured vocalist, comedian, and TV host Hajós András. 2018's globally acclaimed Modern Art Orchestra Plays Béla Bartók: 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs with guest David Liebman toured the world. 2020's Foundations: Yamas and Niyamas featured iconic Hungarian jazz and pop vocalist Veronika Harcsa. 2021's Dedications was comprised exclusively of Fekete-Kovács' compositions. In 2024, The Peacock (Tribute to Zoltán Kodály), programmed the composer's choral works (sung by the Kodály Chorus) alongside MAO tunes chosen specifically for this recording. Kornél Fekete-Kovács founded MAO in 2005 in Budapest. There are five musicians in the rhythm section (piano, drums, percussion, guitar, double bass) and 15 horns (saxophones, trombones, tuba, French horn, trumpets, and flugelhorn). The ensemble's members often play more than a single instrument. The exceptionally well-rehearsed group plays swinging jazz with the intimate communication of a chamber group. From the beginning their aim has been to stretch the borders of contemporary classical music and jazz, and to intersect them. Most compelling, however, is that MAO's membership is comprised of musicians and composers who are the most significant personalities in Hungarian jazz, among them saxophonist/composer Kristóf Bacsó, trumpeters Gábor Subicz and Fekete-Kovács, and pianist Cseke Gábor. Moreover, they regularly commission new big-band works through the MAO Masterclass Academy for young, talented composers. After rehearsing and performing for several years, MAO recorded and released its first album, Eclectic Path, in 2009 on the Budapest Music Center (BMC) label; it reflects the influences of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra, Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band, and sophisticated charts informed by Don Ellis and Stan Kenton. In addition to glowing reviews in France's Jazzman magazine, it was also praised with a five-star review in the classical bible Gramofon. MAO spent the next several years touring, and in late 2012 re-entered the studio. They emerged with ZeneHajó, released on Hungary's Magneoton label in 2013, featuring vocalist András Hajós (also a comedian and former frontman for Emil.RuleZ!) up front. The following year they issued Circular: Modern Art Orchestra Plays Kristóf Bacsó, an album that drew global acclaim from jazz and classical critics; that acclaim enabled them to tour both sides of the Atlantic for the next several years. When they returned to recording, they released Mind's Ear, which showcased the compositions of Subicz. Later that year, they released Tribute to Stephane & Django, which showcased tunes by the duo individually and together, with guests including violinist Roby Lakatos, guitarists Andreas Varady and Biréli Lagrène, and drummer Niek De Bruijn. The following year, MAO released László Dés: The Villamosa of Desire, a score especially created for Marianna Venekei's ballet based on Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire. That said, they were so ambitious they also released the internationally celebrated landmark MAO Plays Bartok: 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs (the album is also an excellent example of how Béla Bartók's cultural legacy lives on in the generations that follow). The original piano pieces were adapted for orchestra by the MAO workshop, preserving the composer's musical forms and themes. Fekete-Kovács and Subicz, saxophonists Bacsó and János Ávéd, composed transitional and solo passages linking the works. In addition to MAO, the recording featured guest soloists including internationally renowned jazz vocalist Veronika Harcsa, American saxophonist David Liebman, Hungarian saxist Mihály Dresch, multi-instrumentalist László Gőz, and cimbalom master Miklós Lukács. Upon release, classical and jazz publications around the world lauded its sophistication and heart. The orchestra released one more album in 2018, Winding Road (Plays the Music of Szabolcs Oláh). Szabolcs, a guitarist and composer, was a founding member of MAO in 2005. Though their paths diverged, he continued to collaborate with them, particularly live. In 2019 MAO issued no less than four albums: Contemporary Music, a recital with works by several composers including Bartok, Igor Stravinsky, and Péter Eötvös; The Fruit of the Spirit, made up exclusively of compositions by Ávéd; and Music a'la Pangea, which highlights the compositions of violinist Edina Szirtes and was inspired by Eastern European folk music. The last one, Beat in Space, was composed and arranged by pianist Gábor Cseke using the language of mainstream jazz. 2020's Foundations - Yamas and Niyamas juxtaposed traditional music with compositions by Fekete-Kovács, who also conducted and played trumpet and electronics. Soloists include Harcsa, pianist Béla Szakcsi Lakatos, guitarist/electronicist Márton Fenyvesi, and percussionist/electronicist András Dés. Received with laudatory reviews from across the globe, it remains their most popular album. It wasn't the only one released that year, however, Swingin' on the Danube, featuring the compositions of trombonist/multi-instrumentalist Attila Korb. In 2022, MAO issued Dedications, a series of compositions by Fekete-Kovács that reference various historic composers and movements in jazz. That was followed in June with the digital-only Solar Crisis: MAO Plays the Music of Daniel Varga. Varga, a young Hungarian saxophonist whose trademark slipstream style embodies everything from post-bop, jazz-funk, psychedelia, and R&B. In 2023, MAO toured Europe and North America. Upon their return, they began rehearsing for their most ambitious effort to date. The Peacock (Tribute to Zoltán Kodály) was a sequel of sorts to MAO Plays Bartok. The orchestra collaborated with the Kodály Chorus, juxtaposing the composer's works with the MAO originals written to reflect and edify those by Kodály.
© Thom Jurek /TiVo