Leslie Manduki’s free, large-scale, three-and-a-half-hour concert at St Stephen’s Cathedral in Budapest on Saturday night was a resounding success. The world-famous musician and producer’s new album, Utopia for Realists – Hungarian Pictures, was first listened to live in Hungary by several thousand audiences. Leslie Manduki’s new album is inspired by the musical heritage of Bella Bartok. Al de Mjullo, Bella Zacci Lakatos and other world stars have played and sang exceptional works of Hungarian music, and Leslie Manduki (also one of the best percussion artists in the world) plays the drums and sings. One of the most emotional moments of the evening was when Grammy-nominated Cameroonian jazz musician Richard Bona sang a folk song that began with My Little Goat Daughter, Wealth in White.
In addition to Leslie Mandocken, world stars such as guitarist Al de Meola and Mike Stern, keyboardist Tony Curry, saxophonist Bill Evans, trumpeter Randy Bricker, Till Brunner and guitarist Richard Bona performed on stage this evening. Béla Szakcsi Lakatos and Charlie also took the stage.
At the three-and-a-half-hour concert on August 21, a large-scale progressive rock group was performed in Bartok’s honor with Mandoki Soulmates.
