More than once in
the last couple of years I have had
the good fortune to attend performances
by the extraordinary band that trades
under the name of ‘Zum’, a band which
fuses Eastern European gypsy music
with the Argentinian tango, elements
from jazz and much else (salsa, klezmer,
Irish fiddle music – you name it!).
A leading spirit in that band (make
sure that you get to a performance
if you possibly can) is violinist
Adam Summerhayes. Summerhayes is an
accomplished classical violinist and
on this present recording he is joined
by Bulgarian Emil Chalakov, another
classically trained violinist with
a passion for gypsy fiddling. One
of Summerhayes’s several musical hats
is worn as leader of the London Concertante,
and it is the twelve strings of that
fine chamber orchestra which support
the two soloists in this compelling
and entertaining selection of thirteen
numbers, some traditional, some originals.
How much of what we hear is improvised
I’m not sure – certainly some of the
central sections of these interpretations
are; but written and improvised fuse
seamlessly here and the whole exercise
has a refreshing sense of spontaneity
to it.
Some of the pieces
lie – more or less – within the boundaries
of specific genres; ‘Last Train to
Barking’, for example, is a kopanitsa,
that is a Bulgarian dance in 11/16
often performed at weddings; ‘Hot
Doina’ is, as the noun suggests, based
on a familiar Romanian form but (as
the adjective in turn suggests) is
not given over to the kind of soft
and melancholy mood that usually characterise
the doina – this, rather, is
altogether faster, more sensuous.
The traditional is constantly being
renovated here, but at a level far
beyond the merely gimmicky or self
indulgent. Most of the composing/arranging
credits go to Summerhayes, and his
is clearly the presiding spirit here.
But he doesn’t hog the limelight;
there’s an obvious joy in his collaboration
with Chalakov and the Bulgarian gets
his chances to take the foreground
role – as in his wonderful playing
on ‘The Lark’, full of passion, longing
and sensuality.
This is a CD to raise
the spirits, full of energy and commitment,
richly expressive and inventive, but
rooted in age-old traditions, traditions
which Summerhayes re-presents in a
fashion that is both respectful and
original. Whether you already love
the gipsy music of Bulgaria and Romania
and are happy to see it reinterpreted
in a distinctive and accomplished
fashion in which the players are true
to themselves as well as to their
sources; or whether you value fine
violin playing whatever the musical
genre; either way this is a CD sure
to give you lots of pleasure.
Glyn Pursglove
Adam Summerhayes, Emil Chakalov (violin);
London Concertante 
