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Presented by CONTXT by Trane Toronto & Caliban ArtsTheatre
LUCIAN BAN & MAT MANERI
"Transylvanian Dance" & "New" (ECM)
October 17 - 6:30 PM
October 18 - 1:00 PM
Romanian-born pianist and composer Lucian Ban and Grammy-nominated violist Mat Maneri have been creating music together for nearly two decades, developing a singular musical language where jazz, European chamber music, improvisation and Transylvanian folk traditions meet.
Their music has been released on acclaimed labels including ECM, Clean Feed and Sunnyside Records, and their collaborations have included some of the most important voices in modern jazz, including John Surman, Evan Parker, Gerald Cleaver, Ralph Alessi, Badal Roy and Louis Sclavis.
Their work has received major international acclaim. The Guardian described their music as possessing “its own kind of melancholy beauty and wayward exuberance,” while the Financial Times praised their ECM release for its “intricate weave” of viola and piano, calling it “Romanian folk meets Brooklyn jazz.”
This October, Ban and Maneri return to Toronto for two performances of the same extraordinary two-set concert - bringing together the music of Bartók's Transylvania with the duo's evolving language of jazz, chamber music and improvisation.
SET ONE
TRANSYLVANIAN DANCE
THE BÉLA BARTÓK FIELD RECORDINGS
A multimedia performance
Drawing from their acclaimed ECM Records release Transylvanian Dance, Ban and Maneri reimagine Béla Bartók's century-old recordings of Transylvanian folk songs through live improvisation and multimedia projections.
Rare archival footage, Bartók's original wax-cylinder recordings, handwritten manuscripts and photographs from his field trips through Transylvania become part of the performance, creating an immersive journey into the villages, sounds and musical traditions that fascinated the great Hungarian composer.
Named one of the Best Albums of 2024 by El País, All About Jazz and PostGenre, Transylvanian Dance is more than a concert. It is a meeting of historical documentation, folk tradition, improvisation and contemporary chamber music.
“It’s not quite folk music. It’s not quite Western classical music. It’s not quite jazz. Ultimately, it is human music, and that is what makes it so beautiful.”
- PostGenre
Lucian Ban - piano
Mat Maneri - viola
Multimedia performance with video projections
SET TWO
“NOW” - JAZZ • CHAMBER MUSIC • IMPROVISATION
The second set presents a completely different side of the Ban–Maneri partnership. Their musical dialogue began with the acclaimed 2013 ECM Records album Transylvanian Concert, recorded live in an opera house in Târgu Mureș, in the heart of Transylvania. The album brought together original compositions, ballads, blues, hymns and abstract improvisations, informed by jazz and European chamber music.
But the music continued to evolve. Over the past decade, Ban and Maneri have taken their duo around the world - from Stockholm to Buenos Aires, New Orleans to São Paulo, and across Europe, North America and beyond - continually developing a body of original music and an increasingly distinctive shared language.
Anchored in their love of jazz, Maneri's deep commitment to improvisation and Ban's distinctive compositions, the music draws on a shared love of the blues, Lester Young, George Enescu, Abdullah Ibrahim and the great traditions of jazz, while reaching toward their own ideal of chamber jazz.
The Guardian described Transylvanian Concert as possessing “its own kind of melancholy beauty and wayward exuberance,” while The New York Times called it “a lovely and restive new album.” All About Jazz praised its “moments of unanticipated beauty.”
Mat Maneri - viola
Lucian Ban - piano
DETAILS:
OCTOBER 17 - 6:30 PM
OCTOBER 18 - 1:00 PM
Contxt by Trane, 254 Lansdowne Ave, Toronto
COVER:
$45 - Early Bird Purchase before October 3
$55 - Advance Admission October 3 onward
PASS FOR BOTH CONCERTS
$75 - Early Bird Pass Purchase before October 3
$90 - Advance Pass October 3 onward
EACH CONCERT INCLUDES BOTH SETS
SET 1 - TRANSYLVANIAN DANCE
The Béla Bartók Field Recordings
Multimedia performance
SET 2 - NOW
Jazz • Chamber Music • Improvisation
Lucian Ban - piano
Mat Maneri - viola