Guernsey Press

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ST JAMES was packed out for the Budapest Cafe Orchestra.

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ST JAMES was packed out for the Budapest Cafe Orchestra.

Billed, tongue-in-cheekily, as 'the finest purveyors of Balkan music this side of a Lada scrapheap' and 'sharing as many blood cells with the folk of Hungary as the Penguin Cafe Orchestra do with the web-footed fellows of Antarctica' – they are actually based in Haringey – the band's talent far outweighed the jokiness.

Kicking off with a couple of up-tempo Romanian and Hungarian numbers, they took a while to get into their stride.

Between the songs, members were introduced – Eddie Hession was once accordion champion of Great Britain; Chris Garrick is one of Europe's most celebrated jazz violinists; Adrian Zolotuhin is a master of strummed strings; and veteran bass-man and BCO founder Kelly Cantlon once played in Jimmy James and the Vagabonds – and the audience began clapping and tapping feet.

Garrick pulled a fine trick by seemingly playing his violin strings by dragging thread over them, almost like he was flossing the instrument, and this resulted in a fine duel with Hession.

Great once, but he did this several times throughout the evening and so, I felt, diminished its initial impact (after all, even Hendrix set fire and smashed up his guitar only once per performance).

Their own compositions were electrifying and, stomping, pounding and passionate as the Hungarian czardas, Russian and Ukrainian folk songs and dances from Romania and Bulgaria were, one of the best songs they did was a cover of American musician and composer Andy Statman's The Flatbush Waltz.

Slow, evocative, beautifully played and exceptionally moving, to me this would have been the perfect soundtrack to a film about eastern immigrants taking the long journey to America in the 19th century.

Fortified by a non-Balkan pint of stout during the intermission, I returned hopeful, and the audience, as well as the band, seemed to have loosened up.

Highlight of the second half (after the hokey 'Russianisms') included Zolotuhin's extraordinary mastery of the saz, a long-necked lute-like instrument which he twanged and vibrated through a brilliant BCO composition called Travelodge.

A few more jokes were thrown in – a rendition of the Captain Pugwash theme and a fast-paced Land of Hope and Glory – until their final song and then an encore featuring another beautifully slow and moving piece, on a par with The Flatbush Waltz.

That would have been great in itself but the applause and cheers forced them back on stage for another fast-paced gypsy reel.

The crowd loved it.

Thank God for St James bringing over bands like this, but I wonder if the feelgood elements were somewhat lost in such a setting.

At one point even the band remarked about the audience being eager to get up and dance but perhaps feeling too restrained to do so.

The slow-moving songs were perfectly attuned to the large hall and they filled it beautifully, as do the orchestras and classical musicians that play there.

After the show I went to a pub renowned for its live music and towards the end of the evening the BCO turned up for a pint.

I couldn't help but quietly wish that they had brought their instruments with them.

Wonder whether St James would consider Gogol Bordello next year?

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