Budapest, Hungary (Top40 Charts / Peet Project Official Website) Fresh from winning the grand prize in a song competition at their hometown radio station 90.9 Jazzy, the
Peet Project are now branching out to a global audience with their first album, "Pink Spirit." Signed to local label Beagle Beat Records, the
Peet Project is equal parts smooth jazz, funk, and disco, all sandwiched into a pop format and instilled with classical touches.
Led by violinist/composer/producer Peter "Peet" Ferencz, the Peet Project first gained recognition when their song, "Be Free," was added to regular rotation on 90.9 Jazzy. The track's powder keg of fusion and dance, highlighted by Ferencz' stirring violin and Marci Mits' sweltering saxophone, is both innovative and retro. The Peet Project dips into the past while focusing an eye to the future.
Besides their musical versatility and creative depth, the most unique aspect of the Peet Project is perhaps Ferencz' violin. It's certainly not an instrument commonly associated with the danceable grooves that the Peet Project prefer to indulge in. To Ferencz, it's a personal fascination, one that he has incorporated with his varied tastes. "The violin is the instrument that I can get the closest to emotionally and spiritually when playing it," Ferencz revealed. "I feel I can form a union with it on stage, perhaps more so than with any other instrument, when I strive for expressing feelings, something beyond sounds." Ferencz' emotional connection with the violin is most vividly explored on "After the Flood," a moody instrumental piece that is also the album's slowest cut, leaning toward the classical side of his artistry. "Although the violin is an object, playing it feels like singing in some way, you really 'play it from the inside,'" he explained. I play several instruments so I can confirm that technically it is one of the most difficult instruments. The real hard part, however, is to express emotions with it."
While many other jazz acts are content to wallow in the same cookie-cutter arrangements, the Peet Project are committed to staying original, something that Ferencz is aware will be a challenge. "Mainstream popular music took over the music scene here and a group like us does not have too much of a chance to get any significant attention from the wider public," he lamented. "Nevertheless, there have been positive signs in the past 2-3 years" - Robert Sutton.
