Djabe

Esoteric Recordings is pleased to announce the release of the new studio album by Hungarian band DJABE, “THE MAGIC STAG”.

Esoteric Antenna is delighted to announce the release of a new 2 CD and DVD live album by Djabe & Steve Hackett; "Life is a Journey: The Budapest Live Tapes". This wonderful concert recording was mainly recorded in Budapest in October 2017, one of a series of live concerts that followed the release of the acclaimed collaboration between Djabe (one of Hungary's most acclaimed Jazz groups) and former Genesis guitarist and acclaimed solo artist Steve Hackett; "Life is a Journey: The Sardinia Tapes", an album which was the result of improvised sessions that took place in a church on the island of Sardinia.

Djabe released Forward in 2014, an album made with the inclusion of the Hungarian Symphony Orchestra Miskolc. Both the audience and critics hailed this release as the paramount Djabe experience. The most outstanding about Forward are the compositions, born to feature Djabe and the symphonics as equal partners: two musical worlds complementing and completing each other. Many claim Forward is the best ever album released by the band. Compositions made by Tamás Barabás and Attila Égerházi, symphonic sections were written by Tamás Barabás and orchestrated by Zoltán Kovács.

Djabe held a surprising premiere concert on March 20, 2019. They played their 1998 Witchi Tai To album, because a remixed and remastered, double vinyl version was released, earlier in 2018, for the album’s 20th anniversary. The record was cut at half-speed at the Abbey Road Studios in London from brand new analogue master tapes. The lacquer master discs were cut by the world-famous Miles Showell. The 45 RPM vinyl record was unveiled, with great success, at the 2018 Budapest Hi-Fi Show. Witchi Tai To is one of the band’s most successful albums to date. Simultaneously with its appearance, Djabe exploded into Hungarian music life. In addition to success among the audience, the original double CD and single LP also received the Golden Giraffe Award from the Association of Hungarian Record Publishers as World Music album of the year. The second disc of the dual CD contained multimedia content for computer playback, created by the interactive division of Abbey Road Studios. This happened to be a world novelty then.

The album is the result of an improvised session that took place in a church on the island of Sardinia between the musicians from one of Hungary's most acclaimed Jazz groups, Djabe and acclaimed guitarist Steve Hackett. The collaborations between the band and the former Genesis guitarist and acclaimed solo artist began in 2007. Steve Hackett has appeared on the concert stage with Djabe performing both Genesis and Hackett solo material and Djabe compositions. This album is their first collaborative studio album. Djabe guitarist Attila Egerhazi explains: "When I came to my musician pals with the idea of this recording session I had no certain plans with the tapes. However, this was the exact way I always wanted to create my kind of a music, like we did with my band in the 80s.