Béla Pokuta was a distinctive Roma singer with an unmistakable voice and a captivating way of performing old Roma lament songs called halgató. Some called him the Slovak Tom Waits. He died in 2014, and most of what he recorded remained in raw form in the archive of the Žudro civic association. Now it is to become an album. Real Music House ↗
The recordings were made over more than twenty years. The oldest capture Pokuta during ethnomusicological field research in 2001, from which the albums Phurikane giľa and Karačoňa were gradually released. More were added later, when he became part of the afterPhurikane ensemble — traditional Roma musicians and professional artists who experimented together with forms of Roma music, releasing an album of the same name in 2011. Real Music House ↗
The band then performed live, and further songs were gradually created that people heard in concert but that never made it onto an album. Their shared journey was interrupted by two deaths: Pokuta died in 2014, and seven years later, percussionist Thierry Ebam died as well. Real Music House ↗
Years later, Pokuta's fellow musicians, cellist Jozef Lupták and accordionist Boris Lenko, are returning to the material to musically finish and arrange it. The album is meant to connect two worlds — authentic field recordings and the collective music-making from the afterPhurikane period. The sound reconstruction, new recordings, and mastering are being handled by Robert Pospiš and Martin Sillay of the Real Music House label, which is producing the project. Real Music House ↗
The making of the recording is being supported by a fundraiser on the Donio platform, run by the Žudro association together with ethnomusicologist Jana Belišová. The target amount is 5,000 euros. The first milestone of 3,000 euros will cover the preparation of arrangements, artistic consultations with the musicians, and fees for them; the full amount will additionally cover the final mix and mastering, booklet preparation, graphic design, and CD production. Donio ↗
Illustrative photo: from the studio session for the upcoming album. Photo: Real Music House
Béla Pokuta's voice returns from the archive. Unreleased recordings will take the form of an album
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