Mantaban
is a project of Ji Hodina and his musical friends whom he has invited to a short- or long-term cooperation.
Mantaban is an open workshop for anyone who brings along a new impulse and something from his own individuality. So it might surprise you with a sound which differs from a common folk songs production. Oral tradition means passing of information from mouth to ear and so Manataban is not only looking for the acoustic authenticity but also for understanding texts and renewing the interest in listening to them.
That is the reason why we dont play only the historical instruments and dont try to reconstruct the period version of songs. Rather than doing this we endeavour to create actual sound in which listeners could hear their ancestors.
Ji Hodina
is an active musician with a broad range of music production going from old-time music to the folk song arrangement. He graduated from the Prague Conservatory and Conservatoire de Paris from the program Conducting Gregorian Chant. He is a co-founder of the ensemble Schola Gregoriana Pragensis where he performed for 15 years. At the same time he worked as the conductor of the womens choral ensemble Schola Benedicta. He is one of the founders of eskomoravsk hudebn spolenost (today known as echomor), afterwards he founded his own band Marcipn which interpreted Czech and Moravian folk songs. After ten years of working together the members of the band Marcipn went to perform into other music groups.
Thanks to all this Mantaban could come to existence.
Former and current co-players
eskomoravsk hudebn spolenost
(alphabetical order)- Ji Benek - violin, singing
- Frantiek ern - guitar, singing
- Jan Hrub - violin
- Ji Michlek - accordion, singing
- Jaroslav Olin Nejezchleba - violoncello, singing
- Radek Poboil - trumpet
Marcipn
(alphabetical order)- Sean Barry - Celtic harp
- Hana Blochov - Gotic harp
- Milada Karezov - guitar
- imon Kotek - percussion
- David Landtof - percussion, drums
- Jan Linhart - percussion
- Tade Mesany - doublebass
- Martina Pibylov - piano, singing
- tpn koch - soprano saxophone, singing, Irish flute
- Ondej koch - guitar, singing
- Vclav Vesel - accordion, guitar
Mantaban
(alphabetical order)- Martin Kaplan - violin
- ofie Kaparov - flute, singing
- Helena Markov - soprano saxophone, Irish flute
- Tade Mesany - doublebass
- Jan Mikuek - cymbalo, singing
- Marek pelina - cross flute
- Matj Vostrek - violin, singing
- Hana Vynsk - violin, singing
- Vladimr Vytiska - doublebass
- Josef k - violin, singing
YOUR FREQUENT QUESTIONS ABOUT US:
- What is mantaban?
The term mantaban comes from Arabic and designed originally the boxes used for fine pastries and the name of the boxes passed later on the pastry. The Arab world had deep trade links with Christian Occident in all probability through the Byzantine civilization and the Arabic word mantaban became Latin marcipanis. From folk etymology comes also medieval, we can say literal, translation of the word marzipan which means the bread of Saint Marc. But there is no question of some bread or a man named Marcus, and surely not of Mark the Evangelist. Allegedly it was the name of a Byzantine coin. From the Latin term marcipanis comes the Italian marzapane and German Marzipan which gave birth to our beautiful and picturesque marcipn or marzipan in English. - And what about Mantaban in musical world?
- So is it again a multi-member band?
- Isnt it annoying to play only in two or three instruments?
- Why do you stick to performing folk songs? Some of your colleagues went playing into pop groups. Dont you regret this?
- Is it not boring for you to sing simple folk texts?