Meanings
plural tarogatos · alternative tárogató
- entertainmenta reed instrument originating from Hungary
With his huge, coarse tone and urgent phrasing Brotzmann sounds like he could dominate any group using anything he plays, which includes saxophones, clarinets, and the tarogato, an eastern European reed instrument.
2003 December 19, Bill Meyer, “Brotzmann/Drake Duo”, in Chicago Reader1 more example
Saturday night, with percussionist Gregg Bendian and bassist William Parker, he played a nearly model free-jazz gig: starting at absolute Mount Kilimanjaro intensity, two sets dipped and rose with the jagged topography of peaks and valleys, Brotzmann switching between tenor (his main ax), E-flat clarinet, alto sax, and tarogato (a wooden instrument about the size and shape of a soprano sax with a nasal, double-reedish sound).
1994 May 6, John Corbett, “Head Music”, in Chicago Reader
Origin
- Hungariantárogató
- Englishtarogato
Borrowed from Hungarian tárogató.
More words from Hungarian
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
tarogato. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tarogato
“tarogato.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tarogato. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tarogato,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tarogato.
Source: tarogato on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.