REMASTERED ALBUM
The Devil's Lentil Soup
Recorded by Tatcho Drom
Produced by Magic Violin
The Devil’s Lentil Soup combines ancient music with contemporary arrangements and compositions, magical dreams with modern reality. Its music captures the earthy energy of folk and inflects it with the voices of classical, contemporary and jazz.
"Gruen is always out front, leading with razor-sharp violin patterns while the other musicians flow around her. Thankfully, there are no efforts here to Westernise the music – no electronic beats or folk-rock fusion. Instead, Tatcho Drom get on with playing the nine traditional, and two original, compositions with great flare. Gundula is a student of the likes of Taraf de Haïdouks and employs some of their string-bending tricks to great effect. Recorded so as to emphasise and heighten the dynamic, warm quality of the music, The Devil’s Lentil Soup is a rich and tasty musical dish."
— Garth Cartwright
"Gruen showcases her classical perfection here, even as her vocals dramatise the heightened emotions of her characters. The whole band slips almost slyly from the sensual to the funereal, ultimately slinking into the darkness...
Lyrically, musically, impishly, the devil is ever present. He actually appears in original closer, Bengeskri Kani, all threatening scrapings, before securing his windy downfall by eating rather too much of the lentil soup prepared in an earlier song. The personal tragedy for the protagonist, thrillingly trilled on his way, is a triumphant conclusion."
— Chris Nickson
Tracklist
TATCHO DROM
Gundula Gruen: violin, vocals
Tom Wagner: percussion
Jeremy Halliwell: guitar
Daniel Otto Kellett: cello
Alessia Cravera: accordion, vocals
Martino Scovachricci: alto sax
GUESTS
Maurizio Pala: accordion (tracks 1, 2, 9)
Rebecca Knight: cello (tracks 1, 4, 9)
Nicola Burnett-Smith: vocals (track 10)
ONCE UPON A TIME...
The Devil's Lentil Soup
While composing the final piece, "The Devil’s Fart," and arranging Posadila Baba — a traditional song about a grandmother growing an impossible amount of lentils to feed her entire village — this folklore-inspired tale suddenly emerged.
It quickly became the "red thread" that guided Gundula throughout the production of the rest of the album.
While the remaining tracks are traditional songs that do not directly narrate this specific plot, the distinct energy of each piece fell perfectly into place, each capturing a different dimension of this whimsical, mystic folk tale.
Enjoy this picturesque story and get submerged into a new world of devilish inspiration.
The End
One bright, fine spring morning, the Devil decided to climb up to Earth for a breath of fresh air. As he strolled across the lush green meadows, he bumped into Grandma Baba. Summoning every ounce of his sinister charm, the Devil began to flirt with her, secretly plotting to sneak her soul away to hell.
However, Grandma Baba was a clever woman who saw straight through his slick routine. Instead of running, she offered him a deal: if he could make her lentils grow seven times larger and thirteen times more abundant, she would deliver him the first maiden he encountered on the night of the coming full moon.
The Devil eagerly agreed, and the bargain was struck. The magic lentils were planted, and they immediately began to sprout. Meanwhile, unaware of the underworld deal, the rest of the village went about getting ready for the spring season.
On the night of the full moon, a beautiful young girl from the village found herself unable to sleep and went for a midnight walk through the fields. There, to her absolute horror, she encountered the Devil. He lunged forward, trapping her in a wild, whirling chase that felt like a frantic dance. But as the frenzied movement slowed, the Devil stopped in his tracks. He released her, completely spellbound—he had fallen deeply, genuinely in love with the girl.
As the seasons shifted, the magic lentils grew impossibly big, fast, and juicy under a sky filled with wild summer storms.
Finally, autumn arrived, and Grandma Baba went out to harvest her crop. The lentils were so massive and plentiful that the entire village had to pitch in to haul them. To celebrate the monumental harvest, they cooked up a colossal pot of lentil soup. A wild village party erupted, with everyone swirling and dancing around the giant cauldron—including the Devil and his new love.
But the night took an unexpected turn!
The Devil, utterly delighted by the feast, ate bowl after bowl of the magical soup. Unfortunately, his underworld digestion was entirely unaccustomed to fiber. The resulting flatulence was so violently unbearable that the very earth cracked open, and the Devil was instantly catapulted by his own explosive farts right back down to hell.
