Transylvanian Folk Songs is as much an act of tribute as it is a transformation. It helps that violist Mat Maneri is equally grounded in Bartók’s music, drawn as much by the composer’s respect for folk melodies as by his innovative approach to rhythm and harmony. But the alchemical heart of the album is John Surman, who improvises in a style that, while thoroughly jazz-based, nonetheless seems to capture the melodic dialect of this music. Listen to the way his soprano sax slurs and gulps in conversation with Maneri on “Violin Song,” and it’s hard not to believe that he was born to this music. Ban, for his part, doesn’t always follow Bartók’s lead and treat the piano as a civilizing influence. There are moments when his playing is percussive enough to evoke the clatter of a cimbalom (a traditional Hungarian dulcimer) . . .  click to read full review