How Leslie Mándoki Escaped Communism and Formed a Simpatico Supergroup of Band Leaders

Leslie Mándoki escaped a repressive life behind the Iron Curtain in Hungary in the mid-1970s with the dream of working with some of the day’s great rock and jazz musicians. Fueled by his determination, talent, and vision, the singer/drummer/producer eventually succeeded at what he wanted to do. His collaborative group Mandoki Soulmates have been active for over three decades, and their latest album A Memory of Our Future is their first official release in North America. There is also a thick, full-color band biography out (with English and German sections) called Mandoki Soulmates: The First 30 Years on Stage and in the Studio that showcases their career and all of the famous names he has played with, including Greg Lake, Jon Lord, Bill Evans, Peter Frampton, and many others.

Ego Check

The new album A Memory of Our Future continues the group’s blending of British prog rock and American jazz, along with international musical flavors. The lyrics take on the current state of our world, including the influence of technology on our lives and the need for people to unite for change. There are many heavy hitters who contributed to the album, which was recorded, appropriately enough, using analog production. Those iconic names this time out include guitarist Al Di Meola, drummer Simon Phillips, trumpeter Randy Brecker, singer/multi-instrumentalist Tony Carey, singer/flautist Ian Anderson, and more. One wonders what it is like trying to corral such great talent with strong individual visions.

“They’ve got to have their own minds, because this is a band of band leaders,” Mándoki tells American Songwriter. “And because of that everybody knows too well and too deep that egomaniacs destroy music. So everybody’s serving the mutual purpose to create something very special. I’ve never experienced that anyone would not leave his ego out of the studio or out of this stage [with this group]. Everybody’s a leader on their own, and leaders know that egos can destroy, so everybody’s serving the mutual vision of the values of British prog rock with American jazz rock.”

Fleeing for Fusion

This musical fusion was on Mándoki’s mind when he fled Hungary and came to Germany. “I was 22 when I came to Germany,” he recalls. “I was sent to a refugee camp. I wanted to come to America, and the CIA guy was asking, ‘I understand that you left a Communist country occupied by Russians, and you almost got killed on a border and escaped through a tunnel. But what the hell are you going to do here in the free world?’ And I said, ‘I would like to start a band with Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, Jack Bruce of Cream, and Al Di Meola.’ He was laughing at me: ‘May I point out that you’re in a refugee camp in Germany?’ This was 1975 and [those musicians] were just pretty much at the peak of their careers. This CIA officer guy was a music lover, and he knew exactly who they were, very precisely. And he said, ‘What the hell are you going to do with British prog rock and American jazz?’ I said, ‘I just came to the West to merge those both. I would like to take the poetical, lyrical beauty of the British prog rock, and the complex composition and sophisticated production skills, merged with the virtuosity of the Americans.’”

That sounded far-fetched at the time, but Mándoki has since played with all three musicians he invoked in his declaration to that CIA official. His group has been active in Europe and even got to perform their “Wings of Freedom” concert at the Beacon Theatre in New York City during Grammy Week in January 2018. It was a benefit concert for the MusiCares Foundation. Playing their first pubic show in America (as they had only done private ones before) was a dream come true for Mándoki, and now they are contemplating their first tour of the States.

“We would like to play in the U.S. because now it’s the first release [here],” Mándoki confirms. “We have had wonderful reviews, and I’m very pleased. We would like to spread around the news that the reinvention of prog rock with a jazz flavor is coming back again.”

Reviving the Analog Spirit

Mandoki Soulmates are also bucking the trend of hotly mastered digital albums with a release that was recorded analog. “The quiet places are quiet and the loud places are loud,” Mándoki notes. “This [album] is analog mixed and analog mastered, and it’s not compressed to death. I’m trying to explain to young kids—because of these ear buds and because of the MP3s—everything is so compressed. And this is wrong because music needs that [warmth]. Everything is squeezed to max. That’s why we were just doing analog because it comes down to songwriting. You write analog. It’s important that it’s not compressed to death.”

His collective are also pushing back against the tide of shortened attention spans, particularly in our digitally demanding age. As Mándoki has said: “Even in times of Twitter, social media, and short news on the smartphone, when mental laziness often blocks the perception, music for us is still like a love letter to our audience—handwritten with ink on paper.”

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