"I love living so much"
— concert-report-film-music —
Ferenczi György és az 1-ső Pesti Rackák
At the 17th BuSho Festival, August 31, 2021.
Italian Cultural Institute, Verdi Hall
Since 1985, György Ferenczi's uninterrupted career has been marked by the fusion of country, blues, funky, rock'n'roll and Hungarian folk music. Played on nearly 300 records, of which more than 20 are his own, mostly with Herfli Davidson between 1991 to 2003, and from 2005 with his band Rackajam / 1-ső Pesti Rackák. The world-famous accordionist (not to mention singer, violinist, and sometimes even bassist) has a real knack in intertwining all kinds of musical genres, from James Brown through Katalin Karády to Jimi Hendrix, but Hungarian poet Sándor Petőfi might just be the most important of all his influences. “A Hungarian musician should normally have to begin their journey from folk music, but in the homeland of the Kodály method, it often turns out differently. I grew up playing music by Jimi Hendrix, AC/DC and the Hobo Blues Band. Two things define my music today: folk music and Hendrix. My favorite author is Mór Jókai, my favorite poet is Sándor Petőfi. Anyone who considers rock and roll a way of life cannot walk past Petőfi without being caught up in the energy and joy of life that radiates from it.” Now, during the rebirth following the pandemic, we recorded where the band actually stands in 2021. Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome György Ferenczi and the 1-ső Pesti Rackák from Budapest, Hungary!
Band members:
György Ferenczi – harmonica, violin, vocals
Ádám Apáti – bass guitar, wurlitzer piano, vocals
Gábor Bizják – hunting horn, wurlitzer piano, vocal
Ferenczi Bora – violin, vocals
Miklós Jankó – cajon, singing
Zsolt Pintér – mandolin, violin, vocals
““In 2007, the boys performed for the first time at the 3rd BuSho Festival, even in Almássy Square and a lot more times since then, and these were always recorded. Then, 2 years ago, when I was screening in China for several short film festivals, seeing the local programs, I asked the Hungarian Institute in Beijing why one of the best Hungarian bands out there isn't coming to showcase Hungarian culture? And since the director of the institute was receptive to the idea and understood the intent, we started organizing it right away. This was back in early November 2019 and in December we received an unexpected guest, a certain Covid-19, which has since derailed everything. This year, our second planned 2-week multi-city tour got cancelled too, but we could no longer be stopped, so we filmed interviews for the concert recorded at the opening of this year’s 17th BuSho Festival, collected plenty of archive footage and photos, and thus this concert film-like thing was born. I would like to thank you for the opportunity, it is truly an honor for me to work with such brilliant musicians and I hope that you can manage to pass on the feeling that makes be so happy to be alive, to everyone, even on the other side of the Planet… Xiexi, my best: Tami.”
The concert film was made with the support of the NKA.
Gombolyag production, 2021.