Jazz
Jazz Fusion
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Then & Now (2019) by Hungarian jazz-fusion powerhouse Djabe is an expansive, career-spanning live-in-the-studio and concert showcase that highlights the band's rich evolution, virtuosic musicianship, and audiophile-grade production values. Engineered and mixed with remarkable spatial transparency by bassist Tamás Barabás, the album’s acoustic signature is defined by its pristine high-frequency air, vast stereo imaging, and an effortless blending of world music, progressive rock, and smooth jazz fusion.
The dual-guitar dynamics form a lush, multi-layered tapestry across the soundstage. Attila Égerházi’s clean electric and warm acoustic guitar work provides the rhythmic engine, delivering crisp, Latin-tinged chording and ambient textures that pan wide across the stereo field. Interlocking with his rhythms are soaring lead lines that shift from smooth, singing electric sustain to delicate, nylon-string acoustic fingerpicking, captured with striking micro-dynamic detail and tactile string action.
The upper-mid frequencies and melodic beds sparkle with vibrant instrumental colors. Fluid trumpet, flugelhorn, and saxophone leads soar down the center channel with effortless warmth, while shimmering synthesizer pads, electric piano flourishes, and subtle organ fills weave seamlessly around the soloists without cluttering the mid-range space.
Tamás Barabás’s bass performance remains a crown jewel of Djabe’s sonic signature. Pushed with razor-sharp clarity and deep, rounded authority, his basslines seamlessly transition between hyper-articulate, lightning-fast fingerstyle runs, warm fretless swells, and punchy, elastic thumb-slap grooves that ground the low end with subterranean weight.
The rhythm section is further enriched by an intricate, multi-percussive matrix. Péter Kaszás’s drum kit delivers crisp transient speed—featuring a snappy, wood-shell snare crack, punchy kick-drum impact, and sparkling cymbal decay—while expansive world percussion accents (congas, djembe, shakers, and bell trees) float through the wide stereo panorama with crystal-clear air and lifelike presence. The result is a luminous, highly dynamic, and beautifully balanced recording that stands as a masterclass in modern European fusion production