Estonian Week in Hungary: Blue mood and sparking joy

Unending highs and lows, blue mood and sparking joy waved on Thursday night at the Opus Jazz Club at the Heliotroop’s concert. The jazz-folk team was virtuoso, and not only with their instruments, but also on the way how they communicated with their audience.

The Heliotroop’s concert was included in the Estonian Week’s program, Kadri Voorand – who already had a concert earlier in Hungary with her trio – greeted the audience with Hungarian words. Their first song was „Panic”, a very powerful chaotic piece which definitely drove everyone’s attention from their glasses to the stage. And then, the „show” began.

photo: Máté Bach // Estonian Institute

These six virtuosos on the stage – by name Kadri Voorand (vocalist), Kirke Karja (piano), Meelis Vind (clarinet), Madis Meister (guitar), Mingo Rajandi (contrabass) and Eno Kollom (drums) – had a perfect chemistry between them, their instruments and also the audience. Sometimes, they played solos like rock stars at big stages, while at other times they were gently caressing our ears. Kadri’s performance was very suggestive and immersive with the assertive gestures she made with her arms.

Their songs were like soft skeins with countless opportunities: you could never know what would happen next. They used their instruments as knitting needles on the run: sometimes the contrabass, the guitar and the drum went on their own adventure, dictating different rhythms around different corners, while Kadri’s singing and the piano were coating the room with their musical threads creating an invigorating chaos. And then, at the end, the fibers perfectly melted together again.

photo: Máté Bach // Estonian Institute

They knew how to be powerful and how to be gentle at the same time, how to play the silence while being loud. We could especially experience it during Kirke Karja’s song, which – as she explained – was inspired by the ideal moment during a night spent on a ship on the sea, when she could feel peace, calmness and silence.

photo: Máté Bach // Estonian Institute

Between the songs, Mingo, Kirke or Kadri played the role of the presenter, they gave us comments about the lyrics or about the inspiration of the given song – and at times they did so using Hungarian words – with quite good and lovely pronunciation.

Heliotroop’s joyful concert was definitely burnt to the audience´s head – it was a very lovely meeting with six musicians who are full of life and energy – and they did not hesitate to share it with us.