August 8, 2007

Cool Djabe Concert on a Hot Wednesday Night

The No. 1. jazz/world music band in Hungary, Djabe gave a huge concert at the Embassy of Hungary on a record-breaking, sizzling hot Wednesday night. Despite the heat, the Grand Hall was jam packed with people, who gave a standing ovation after the two-hour long performance.

Zoltán Kovács, Ferenc Kovács, Tamás Barabás, Attila Égerházi, Szilárd Banai, András Sipos

Djabe won several recognitions and numerous awards both from Hungarian and international bodies of musical importance: the Golden Giraffe Award in 2000 for the Best Hungarian Jazz/World Music Album of the Year, the Emerton Award in 2002 for the Best Hungarian World Music Album of the Year, and the international Prince Award in 2004 for their 2003 album, titled Sheafs are Dancing, which was also nominated for the Los Angeles Surround Music Award in 2005.

Djabe performing their Washington song

The band's name, Djabe, actually means ’freedom’ in the African Ashanti language, and they do seem to enjoy that freedom during their concerts. They are currently on a world-wide tour, which started in June in Baku, Azerbaijan and went on to Latvia, Finland, Austria, Portugal, Canada and then, they arrived here in Washington, DC. Tuesday, August 7, they gave two fantastic concerts at Blues Alley consecutively, which warmed them up enough for the Embassy concert. Djabe continues his tour through Baltimore, and then on to Bulgaria, Serbia, and back to Hungary.