Well known for her work with Makám, the Ökrös ensemble and Besh o droM, Ági Szalóki is a Hungarian traditional singer with a seductive still, quiet, reedy voice with perfectly turned grace-noting and vibrato that, like Márta Sebestyén’s, is equally at home or solo or making its own calm space among accompaniment.

She sings Hungarian traditional and Romany songs; the twist is that her accompaniment is not traditional instruments but a top team from another form of music in which Hungary excels, jazz. What they deliver isn’t brash and brassy, it’s a smoky, reflective environment of liquid piano, guitar and bass with interjecting lines on tenor sax. The combination works perfectly; there’s absolutely no pressure nor discomfort on either side, and the songs emerge shining.

Line up
Szalóki Ági - vocals
Lamm Dávid - guitar
Kovács Zoltán - double bass
Dés András - percussion