Mandoki Soulmates
Living In The Gap + Hungarian Pictures

The story of the Mandoki Soulmates project comes to life in 1992 from the minds of Leslie Mandoki (a Hungarian drummer who fled the communist regime and sought refuge in Germany), Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull), Jack Bruce (Cream), and Al Di Meola. To date, 10 albums have been recorded under the name Mandoki Soulmates, featuring some of the best musicians from the worldwide rock and jazz-rock scene.

After 10 years since the previous release, the double concept album “Living in The Gap + Hungarian Pictures” is out, featuring collaborations, beyond the aforementioned founders, from Chris Thompson (Manfred Mann’s Earth Band), Bobby Kimball (TOTO), David Clayton-Thomas (Blood, Sweat & Tears), Mike Stern (Steps Ahead/Blood, Sweat & Tears), Randy Brecker (Blood, Sweat & Tears), John Helliwell (Supertramp), Bill Evans (Herbie Hancock, Steps Ahead), Simon Phillips (TOTO, Hiromi Uehara, Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert), Cory Henry (Snarky Puppy), Richard Bona (Pat Metheny Group), Tony Carey (Rainbow), Nick Van Eede, Peter Maffay, Steve Bailey, Julia Mandoki, Ada Brecker, Till Brönner, Jesse Siebenberg, Szakcsi Lakatos Béla, Evin Marton, Fausto Beccalossi, Max Merseny, Gyula Papp.

The album revolves around the theme of unity, a very important and current theme. “Living In The Gap” is a mixture of emotions and musical genres, an album difficult to categorize. But despite this, what is immediately perceived upon first listening is the quality of the music we are listening to.

The album opens with the captivating riffs of the clavinet and hammond of the title-track, a rhythm and blues piece that seems to come straight out of a Stevie Wonder album. Subsequently, we can find more committed pieces like “Young Rebels” and “Old Rebels”, two pieces united by the same theme addressed from different perspectives, where the chorus of the first

“Are we young rebels with a new dream, or are we new rebels with an old dream
Are we old rebels with a new dream, or are we young rebels with an old dream
Are young rebels… fighting old devils
Are young rebels… against new devils”

is slightly changed in the second

“We are old rebels with a new dream, new rebels with an old dream
Young rebels with an old dream, it goes on and on and on
We are old rebels with a new dream, young rebels with their old dreams
Singing that same old song
Again, again, Once again”

“Turn The Wind” is an emotional piece that transports you to another world for a few minutes (it would have been great if sung by David Gilmour). Other noteworthy tracks include “Wake Up”, an engaging piece sung by Leslie Mandoki's daughter, Julia, and the beautiful ballad “Mother Europe”.

Born from a project by John Lord (Deep Purple) and Greg Lake (Emerson, Lake & Palmer), “Hungarian Pictures” is a 45-minute suite divided into seven parts, where some compositions by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók are reinterpreted in a prog-rock key. “Transylvanian Dances” is the longest piece of the entire work (19 minutes), the most experimental, but not the most boring; on the contrary, the minutes pass, carried away by these sounds and melodies at times fast and furious, at times slow and delicate, in a perfect blend of classical, jazz, and rock.

We are faced with a work of undeniable quality, but above all of great unity, a unity that connects the musicians, the music, and the listener, and despite the important themes addressed, there is a sense of positivity that makes us forget for a couple of hours the difficult period we are facing in every part of the world.