Lucian Ban & Mat Maneri “Transylvanian Dance” & “New” (ECM)

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.