Cover of Linda Kovács’ Sunflower album (from its Amazon.com Web page)
Linda Kovács is probably much better known in her native Hungary than she is here in the United States. Her talents include singing jazz, improvising on instruments, composing, and arranging. Recently, the album Sunflower, on which the Budapest Jazz Orchestra plays her works, was released. It currently has an Amazon.com Web page, but Purchase Options are limited to MP3 downloads.
Sadly, this album had limited impact on me. I was lured to it by advance material, which suggested that her music “evokes the musical legacy of Bob Marley, Frank Zappa, or event Stravinsky.” Sadly, I do not agree. I suspect that, were any of those three highly inventive musicians were still alive, they would probably feel the same way.
To be fair, I am not particularly aware of jazz activity in Hungary. During my only visit to Budapest (for a computer conference), I did not encounter any jazz performances. Mind you, that visit was several decades in the past; and I am sure that things have changed since then. However, given what has been happening elsewhere in the world, I suspect that the Budapest Jazz Orchestra has some catching up to do.
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