saturday, 19. april 2003 at 20:30
Kulturni dom Izola

The band was founded by Mátyás Pribojszki in Békéscsaba, his hometown, in 1995. The young harmonica artist is of great reknown and an appreciated figure in the Hungarian blues scene, one of the most popular harp players of Hungary. To play the guitar in Blues Fools, he invited his old-time friend and blues mentor, László "Jack" Horváth, whom he knew from bands from earlier. With the addition of the rhytm section, featuring Márk Köles on drums and András Gyebrovszki on bass guitar in 1996, the band obtained the line up it has been working with up to the present day. The band's reputation has been quickly growing, which was to a great extent thanks to the fast professional development of Mátyás, the front man: in 1997 his performance (at the age of 23) was judged "excellent" by the jury (Keith Dunn, Steve Baker) of the World Harmonica Festival in Trossingen, Germany; he is presently a member of numerous international harmonica organizations (SPAH, NHL, IHO). In this light it is not surprising that on the album produced in 1998, titled Fools In The Blues, the harp played a predominant role. The style of this album is closest to the West-Coast Jump blues, following the modern style of Chicago blues of the 90's, containing many elements of boogie-woogie and funky. The international reception of the album was well beyond expectations. Critiques about the CD appeared by world-famous harmonica artists like Charlie Musselwhite, Gary Primich, J.J. Milteau, Greg Szlapczynski and in well-known professional blues and harmonica magazines like the Blues Access (USA), Blues News (Germany), American Harmonica Newsmagazin (USA), Blues News (Finland) and Harmonica World (United Kingdom). The reviews about the band, besides praising the music, sometimes aired surprise and astonishment about Blues Fools being a Hungarian group!

The positive reactions have been followed by invitations to festivals and clubs from all over Europe. The band has performed the tracks of Fools In The Blues while touring in the following countries: Yugoslavia, Germany (Gronau Jazz Festival), Ireland (Monaghan R&B Festival), Slovakia, France (Blues sur Seine Festival), Czech Republic, Italy, Luxemburg (Blues & Jazz Rallye), Switzerland (Sommet du Blues Festival), Hollandia and Slovenia. Though the band produced a selection of earlier studio recordings with the title "Millenium Edition" beside touring, the preparation of a completely new album took more time. It's important to point out that the members of Blues Fools are very much open to other genres as well (jazz, funky, pop), and do not exclusively play blues. For the Christmas of 1999 Mátyás made his first solo album as a harmonica artist with his friend Levente Gulyás, who is a guest keyboard player on the present volume as well. With the Christmas songs mostly played on chromatic harmonica Mátyás demonstrated the great potentials of this beautiful instrument. Márk is the drummer of one of the most popular salon band of Budapest ("The Moonshiners"), his album from 2000 goes back to the musical world of the golden jazz era in the 20's and 30's. Besides, the members of the band have participated in the production of dozen different albums of other Hungarian bands as invited guest artists. The music that resulted in the release of On The Move has been shaped during touring, jam sessions and performing in other musical formations. This album reflects the varied and accomplished artisty of the Blues Fools musicians, together with their perception and mastery of other genres. This is the reason why the band decided to invite some of its friends on keyboard, percussion and horns for the production of this album. We hope that listening to On The Move will bring you enjoyable moments and a great musical experience. Enjoy & keep bluesin'!