URBAN STORIES is an initiative of the Cologne-based composer and sound artist, Thea Soti, where she integrates the sounds and stories of big cities into compositions for voice and saxophone. The city plays an utmost importance: the noises, sounds and stories of the city will be organically embedded into the music. Furthermore, the role of the city is also essential as the venue of the concerts: the concerts are presented in the form of pop-up performances in unfamiliar public spaces, such as in the metro station, at the hairdresser´s, under the bridge, in a book shop, in the streets, etc. Thus establishing a new format for concerts: a cross-section of sound installation, performance and concert. The project of vocalist Thea Soti and saxophonist Jonas Engel aims to create a new awareness for improvised / composed music and the sounds of the environment. The innovative, urban performances wish to take the usual perception of live music to a new level and also target a possibly new audience: ”we live the city, we are the city, we play the city” The compositions are designed not only for voice and saxophone, but also for the inflowing city noises. The lyrics are poems or poetic narratives about our modern life, inspired by the lifestyle of the big cities. All songs were born in Cologne and thus carry an important connection to the city. The compositions reflect the musical background of both musicians and mix singer-songwriter elements with jazz, classical music, poetry and improvisation. Their performance is a new-age chamber music experience in an urban setting

“A crystalline clear voice full of boundless joy, freshness, and sweet life wrapped in timeless global rhythms. Beautiful.” – Kellylee Evans, JUNO AWARD winning jazz singer Hungarian jazz singer-songwriter Sugárka composes her originals in Spanish, English, and Hungarian creatively blending multicultural musical influences: bossanova, tango, samba, flamenco, Hungarian folksongs, and also rhythms in odd meter with jazz. ‬‪Having performed in international jazz projects as an independent artist, Sugárka launched her debut album, Las puertas abiertas (The open gates) in 2013, and her second, You’re calling me, in 2017. Sugárka’s original Spanish lyrics on ’Everyone deserves a second chance’ was approved by Grammy award nominee Raul Midón and became the title song of her debut album. She has had many appearances on national television live programs, and has been working as an independent performing and recording artist since the beginning of her career. Her lyrics have been released on thirteen albums and were recorded by such masterly jazz singers as late Kevin Mahogany.‬ Sugárka has spent 2018 traveling across Europe and North-America. As a performing artist she collaborates with award-winning pianist-producer Caleb Sean McCampbell (Snarky Puppy, Michael Bublé, Beyoncé), jazz tenor saxophonist, film composer Johnny Reno (also featured in Sin City), award-winning jazz organist Jakub Zomer, as well as Stefan Karlsson, pianist of legendary Eddie Gómez. Being at home in musical cultures from across the globe and having forged a sonic language all his own, award-winning Zoltán Lantos plays a 5 string violin and a custom-built 5+16 sympathetic string violin (Tarangini). His musical openness and improvisational heights connect with Sugárka’s musical ideas and artistic approach. enyedisugarka.hu facebook.com/enyedisugarka 

A piano player from Azerbaijan meets a Hungarian percussionist at a Polish festival and they start making plans of a quartet, in which they'd include a Hungarian bass player - who resides in Paris - and a Hungarian guitarist who lives in Budapest. This story in the world of jazz wouldn't be very unusual, but this one luckily ends well, because the album presented at Opus Jazz Club is the result of this fruitful collaboration. Particularly lucky that the four remarkable, individual players musically vibrated together from the very first moment. Prior to the album recording - on the rehearsals for a concert- it was obvious that they have similar musical thoughts and on the top of the recognisable feel and taste of the compositions and improvisations the album as a whole is still very coherent. While you're listening, enjoy the journey from the hidden spots of Budapest all the way through to the Maiden Tower of Baku.

After their successful first joint Iceland tour, Icelandic jazz pianist Sunna Gunnlaugs and Hungarian violinist Luca Kézdy will give a series of concerts in Hungary this August, with Opus being the Budapest leg of their tour. The line-up reminds us to classical duos, providing free space to the different musical characters of the two musicians, complementing each other in an exciting way as they perform originals along with some standards. Trained as classical violinist, Luca Kézdy won the audience prize at the Hungarian Radio's jazz violin competition in 2006. In addition to her own project, Santa Diver, she has worked with a number of musicians, like János Nagy, András Párniczky, Chris Potter, Stefano Di Battista, Zoltán Lantos, István Grencsó, Mihály Borbély, Erik Truffaz, Alexander Balanescu, to name a few. She has performed at all major national festivals and clubs, and also appeared at several international jazz festivals. In 2016 and 2017 she was chosen Violinist of the Year by the online magazine JazzMa.hu. The Washington Post described Sunna Gunnlaug's music as possessing “such timeless virtues as lyricism and grace... elegantly bridges soul-searching passages with uncluttered swing.” Equally influenced by such American pianists as Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett, and Scandinavians like Bobo Stenson and Jon Balke, Sunna has found a way to make music to which people on both sides of the Atlantic can relate. Her own charming brand of romantic lyricism soaring over a driving American rhythm section appeals to jazzers and non-jazzers alike. In October last year Sunna and Dutch clarinetist Maarten Ornstein played a captivating duo concert in the Opus Jazz Club. sunnagunnlaugs.com

Tibor Kónyai, pianist-composer from Sopron, has been playing his instrument since the age of seven. Beside more than a hundred originals he also has penned soundtracks to a couple of nature films. With Art Classic, his orchestra for winds and strings, he released so far seven albums of own compositions. He has played with numerous prominent figures of Hungarian jazz as Myrtill Micheller, Eszter Váczi, Zsuzsa Cserháti, Csaba Deseő, Gábor Juhász, István Gyárfás or Gábor Kollmann. The virtuoso pianist has appeared a few times on the stage of Opus. Now he arrives with his duo, formed recently with Estelle, a singer at present living in Berlin, and performing there in numerous jazz clubs (Ufer Cafe, Zimmer16, Haus der Sinne). Estelle's voice and perfomance are equally genuine when singing authentic folk songs or pieces from entirely different genres like jazz, pop, latin, or chanson. For the Opus concert the duo will be backed by the rhythm section comprised of Krisztián Lakatos Pecek - Zoltán Kalmár.

The musicians of the ethno-jazz / contemporary chamber music outfit Trio Squelini played with each other for years in various groups, like Tin Tin Q, Ektar Szőke Quartet and others. The trio, playing in the beginning just occasionally, made its first recording in 2014, and became a regular concert act since its release, entitled Campiello. In 2016 they released their second, Furioso, with contribution of the outstanding Hungarian celloist, Ditta Rohmann. The trumpet- and flugelhorn player David Boato, a permanent associate and regular performer of the respected Umbria Jazz, is a prominent figure on the Italian jazz scene, who has played with numerous well-known American and European musicians. The members of Trio Squelini have been playing also lot of concerts with him in different lineups for many years. These are well documented on concert recordings as well as on the album of the Szőke Quintet & David Boato, entitled Via Ilka, released in 2012 on Hunnia Records. On the stage of the Opus, like fruits of this longtime musical relationship, the most successful pieces of their common repertoire will be performed – with a lot of new inspiration. facebook.com/triosquelini  facebook.com/david.boato 

“Spotted early on as one of the most vibrant hopes of the Hungarian scene, saxophonist Viktor Tóth soon developed his own style influenced strongly by Ornette Coleman. With bass player György Orbán, a pillar of several groups of Béla Szakcsi Lakatos and the famous cimbalom player Miklós Lukács he offers a formula without battery, very open and lyrical, where his warm play makes one think on Lee Konitz.Lukács has a role which could be that of the piano, but the particular timbre of his instrument carries the trio in a muffled atmosphere and his ability to play a rhythmic melody releases the bass, which thus offers brilliant soliloquies. One might think that the cimbalom brings just a "Hungarian" patina to a rather conventional jazz construction; fortunately the always malleable Lukács avoids offering any "world" temptation to Viktor Tóth’s wide range of timbres.”Franpi Barriaux - CitzenJazz

Pianist Aki Takase, born in Japan and living in Berlin since 1987, is one of the most outstanding and formative figures in contemporary jazz. Having already become a legend of jazz music, Aki Takase’s art is always dedicated to new projects and musicians who have a similarly open understanding of music as herself. In previous projects she has made eye-catching excursions to the boundaries between jazz and new music, dance and electronic music. Among her numerous projects the study of personalities in American jazz history was always a central issue, including giants as Duke Ellington (1990, 2009), Thelonious Monk (1994), Eric Dolphy (1998), W.C. Handy (2002), Fats Waller (2004) and Ornette Coleman (2006). The visitors of the Opus Jazz Club could listen to her marvellous Duke Ellington solo program in the beginning of last year. In 2018 Aki Takase, celebrating her 70th birthday this year, is planning – for the first time in quite some time – a project that contains only pieces composed by her. Aki Takase draws on an international and young, but highly honored and world-famous generation of musicians: Echo winner German tenor saxophone player Daniel Erdmann (Velvet Revolution, das Kapital), his compatriots DJ Illvibe (SEEED, LycheeLassi, Peter Fox) and bass player Johannes Fink (Rolf Kühn Trio) and the Norwegian drummer Dag Magnus Narvesen (Splitter Orchestra) are among the elite of contemporary jazz, bringing with them very different styles and timbres. The combination of different generations, nationalities and musical backgrounds fits in perfectly with Aki Takase's overarching musical approach, which uses all fields of music history and has already earned her a firm place in the history of jazz over her more than 30 years of music activity. The quintet are in residence at BMC the week preceding the concert, working out the project to its final form and recording it for an album to be released on BMC Records.

Since finishing his studies at the jazz faculty of the Bartók Béla Conservatory, Hungarian jazz guitarist and composer Attila László is member as well as leader of numerous outstanding Hungarian jazz outfits. He formed his first jazz group, Kaszakő, in 1975, followed up to now by groups as Things (with saxophonist Tony Lakatos), Attila László Band., Attila László Quintet, or the present formation, the Attila László – Kálmán Oláh Quartet. The list of his awards and prizes is countless. Since 1987 he teaches at the Jazz Department of the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy and currently is also the leader of its big band. In the course of his career he has worked with renowned jazz musicians like Randy Brecker, Anthony Jackson, James Moody, Tommy Campbell, David Friedman, Gary Willis, Hiram Bullock, Billy Cobham, Miroslav Vitous, Peter Erskine, Bob Mintzer, Ilaiya Raaja, Jimmy Haslip, Russell Ferrante or Patti Austin. Kálmán Oláh, recognized with the Liszt Prize and Szabó Gábor Lifetime Achievement Award, has for years been passionately looking for new forms of music expression. Not only as a performer, but also as a composer, he is a leading artist of jazz, who has received among others the major prize of the Thelonious Monk Jazz Composers Competition in 2006, for his composition Always. In his trio the pianist is backed by two of his long-time fellow musicians, Elemér Balázs and József Barcza Horváth. The sophisticated play and amazing consistency of the threesome are the guarantee for modern, exciting compositions and inspiring improvisations. For this special concert, saxophonist Kálmán Oláh Jr. joins them rounding up the group to a quartet. The members of the Attila László – Kálmán Oláh Quartet are all well-known musicians of the Hungarian jazz scene who have played together in countless formations. Attila László and Béla Lattmann have already a nearly four decades history of common work, but Kálmán Oláh and Elemér Balázs are also play together since decades in their legendary Trio Midnight, to name just two examples. The present quartet’s concerts reveal how strongly inspiring can be each member’s playing for the others. The audience can feel on their skin the exciting and sparkling musical interaction – the essence of this composed and modern creative music. As a soloist, each of them add their original flavours of sound, creating together a swirling and vibrant music. In the program of their present concert they perform original compositions by Attila László and Kálmán Oláh. laszloattila.com kalmanolah.com 

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When Dresch starts a solo, you get the feel that you are reading his mind. That little bird of a melody trembles first when it opens its wings, ventures upwards, and also ponders the depth below. It crosses forests and pastures before the journey ends. Dresch is a perfectionist, no doubt about that, but he never wanted to display fireworks, he is too straightforward not to speak his mind. Instead of positioning himself out front all alone, he was always interested in teaming up with players who think along similar terms as he does, while doing some of those things in a different way. There is more contrast than similarity between him and sax player extraordinaire Chris Potter from the US, who is also picked up the bass clarinet on a number of tunes here. Potter and Dresch build up a rapport as they play so strongly that it is hard to believe this is their first date.” wrote Kornél Zipernovszky about Zea, the album of the Dresch Quartet with Chris Potter, released in the fall of 2016 on BMC Records.

When Dresch starts a solo, you get the feel that you are reading his mind. That little bird of a melody trembles first when it opens its wings, ventures upwards, and also ponders the depth below. It crosses forests and pastures before the journey ends. Dresch is a perfectionist, no doubt about that, but he never wanted to display fireworks, he is too straightforward not to speak his mind. Instead of positioning himself out front all alone, he was always interested in teaming up with players who think along similar terms as he does, while doing some of those things in a different way. There is more contrast than similarity between him and sax player extraordinaire Chris Potter from the US, who is also picked up the bass clarinet on a number of tunes here. Potter and Dresch build up a rapport as they play so strongly that it is hard to believe this is their first date.” - wrote Kornél Zipernovszky about Zea, the album of the Dresch Quartet with Chris Potter, released in the fall of 2016 on BMC Records.

“The Quartet of Zsolt Bende presents a contemporary version of what is still best described as straight ahead jazz. This album imparts a cogent revision of the idiom - unpretentious musical stories delivered with drive and potency, immediately capturing the imagination of the listener. The original compositions are inspired by hard-earned life experiences of travel and change, but somehow they also manage to communicate an unspoken truth - that none of those things would mean much without persistence. The balanced composure of the bandleader's guitar playing sets the tone for the session. His cool-headed yet powerful ardour suffuses through the quartet, a group re-formed in 2016 after a long period of practice and introspection for Bende. The state-of the art technology of the studio captures every nuance. Bende was raised in Tirgu Mures/Romania, fell in love with jazz in Budapest, and soon found himself in Boston at Berklee, graduating with a distinction. Since then he has steadily worked the European jazz circuit, touring and teaching most extensively in the UK. His presence is now having a fitting impact on the Hungarian jazz scene. In the full-blooded pianist József Balázs, versatile bassist György Orbán, and tasteful drummer Elemér Balázs, Bende has found the perfect interflow of empathy and contrast in which to weave his fluent melodies with an easy charm that makes you feel you are listening to a new story told by an old friend.” Kornél Zipernovszky’s booklet text to Cycle of Change, the album of Zsolt Bende Quartet to be released in August

Tamás Mózes graduated from the Budapest Academy of Music, continuing her studies in jazz vocals and improvisation first in Paris and later in Belgium. In 2011 she won the scholarship of the French State while in 2015 the jazz scholarship “Dezső Lakatos Ablakos” of the Hungarian State. Her current master is the London-based singer-pianist, Pete Churchill. At her present solo concert in the Opus Jazz Club she performs original compositions from her last album, Moozing, and also presents pieces from her brand new material, Cross-Folk, combining folk music from different countries with jazz. “We step into a soft and intense aura ... Tamara can capture the audience and take them to her wonderworld. This is pure jazz with a feeling, both modern and classic, with many references and persuasive technique all the while.” Claire Jalmain, Crest, France, 2017 facebook.com/tamaramozes.music 

Butterfly Effect, formed in 2010, combines the elements of jazz, folk and classical music in a unique style. Bori Magyar is one of the most outstanding keeper of the Hungarian folk music treasures, Dániel Kardos' qualities are well-known both in jazz and Jewish sacred music, László Keönch is an excellent percussionist, drummer and singer, while János Vázsonyi plays his saxophone on the border of improvisational and classical music. Their first album was released on the Narrator label, the second will be recorded in the summer of 2018 and will have its premiere on the stage of the Opus Jazz Club.

Talking about the music of Edina Mókus Szirtes, world music is often mentioned. Most of all, however, she is a creative artist who has been trying from the beginning to expand limits. She is rather a classical musician, however with a couple of musical features indeed that add to her songs some folk or ethno touch. The source for them is her enthusiasm for the music of the peoples of the surroundings or even from thousands of miles: Transylvanian, Gypsy, Celtic or even Afro-American music. The result may be eclectic, as Mókus (=Squirrel) can’t withstand any good music. Edina, beyond her music, would like to leave something else as well: thoughts. That we are not alone, that there are still dreamers, to take power from themselves (because it is always hidden there), to stand up if we feel fallen, and that just a drop of love can spell a miracle out of the total chaos. Harmony, affiliation, music. Sometimes she is caressing, soft-hearted, sometimes piercing, snappy, cheeky, screaming, but honest, heart-stricken and heartbreaking.

Junior Prima Award-winning jazz composer and pianist, Dezső Oláh, born in 1986, is one of Hungary's most talented and promising young musicians. Reflections of Béla Bartók’s Six Romanian Dances, his adaptation of Bartók's well-known piano work, was released in 2016 and was presented with great success in Opus in March last year. The present concert is the premiere of his latest pieces. In the first part of the evening the trio performs Oláh's Intermezzo I-VII., a cycle composed on each day of a week, while in the second, they will be joined by the Budapest Wind Quintet, a group presenting usually classical and contemporary music. First they introduce La Folia for Woodwinds and Jazz Trio, Oláh's new contemporary piece of music based on the harmony of baroque music, simultaneously stylizing and expanding its possibilities. The closing piece, Contemporum, inspired by the rhythm of dances from the Eastern-Hungarian Szatmár region, is a strange mixture of contemporary and folk music with the constant presence of improvisation.

Finnish saxophonist and composer Pekka Pylkkänen has worked with many orchestras and groups during his career, and as a sideman has also shared the stage with greats such as Vince Mendoza, Maria Schneider, Joe Henderson, McCoy Tyner, Bob Mintzer, Dave Liebman, Michael Abene, Odean Pope, and many others. During his earlier career he worked several years full-time with the ‘National Jazz Orchestra of Finland’ – UMO Jazz Orchestra, often featured as a soloist. As a leader he has performed in more than 50 countries and has appeared as a leader/soloist in over 1000 concerts during the last 10 years, most of them outside Finland. His appearances range from clubs to concert halls and major festivals, such as Hong Kong Jazz Festival, Beijing Jazz Festival, Trondheim Jazz Festival, National Arts Festival (South Africa), Lima Jazz, Providencia Festival de Jazz (Santiago, Chile), Yokohama Jazz Promenade, Yarasum Jazz Festival, Beijing Concert Hall, The Spring Hall (Seoul/Korea), Daegu Cultural Center/Korea, La Pavillion Blanco (Cordoba, Argentina), Beijing Music Festival, Copenhagen Jazz Festival, etc. In addition to his long career as a performing artist, Pekka has led a significant career as an educator, too. Pekka Pylkkänen has released 3 albums under his name so far and is now working on his next one to be issued this year. On his present tour he is playing in various European cities with local musicians. In Budapest he is teaming up with his long-time budy and fellow musician, the outstanding Hungarian drummer, Péter Szendőfi. With pianist Áron Romhányi and double bass player Tibor Fonay rounded up to a quartet they will perform mostly his own compositions, partially from his last album Listen! and some from the forthcoming as well.  pekkasmusic.com soundcloud.com/pekka-pylkkanen 

“Stevan Kovacs Tickmayer moves easily between improvised and notated music and here plays piano, prepared piano, harmonium and keyboards, with the Trió Kontraszt – an apt name – filled out by Grencsó and Miklós. Tickmayer’s keyboard ambidexterity is on display throughout as he moves from one instrument to another with equal suppleness. The forward motion that marks “Memorial”, for instance, may be sombre but it also serves as a showcase. Clean reed blowing and percussion rattles are seconded by harpsichord-like resonations from prepared piano, which return in a more irregular fashion to restate the theme nearly buried by a mid-section in which Tickmayer’s flashy organ attack is more reminiscent of Keith Emerson than any Jazz or so-called classical antecedents. On the other hand, the foot-tapper that is “De Ira” relates to classic swing with bent piano notes matched with rugged drum back beats and a reed tone from Grencsó that that would be funky enough to get him American roadhouse work. Demonstrating that all three are musical quick-change artists, the piece concludes with Grencsó scrubbing his tone clean as Tickmayer’s keyboard smacks soften so that he’s propelling a pliable chord structure during the penultimate moments, leading to a finale that’s as quiet and pastoral as the introductory sequence was loud and funky.” Ken Waxman, about the trio's last album, From Dyonisian Sound Sparks to the Silence of Passing, released on BMC Records Listen on Spotify

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Áron Tálas, who is playing the piano music and the drums with the same outstanding musicality, isn't a type who would be resting on his - well deserved - laurels. He is a basic member of the Mihály Borbély Quartet for years, this year he has released on BMC Records the new album of his own piano (piano) trio, the same he time is working with guitarist Márton Fenyvesi, and bass guitarist Tibor Fonay with the electronic-ambient-world trio of Flight Modus, also preparing an album, and just for fun, gives a few concerts with his Rhodes Trio. A few weeks ago, however, he appeared with a new trio on the stage of some of the clubs in Budapest. At this time, Áron is there primarily as a drummer, but plays the moog as well. He is accompanied in the trio by the Hungarian master of EWI, Zoltán Zana and the excellent young guitar player, István Tóth jr. The improvisational, groovy music of the trio is to be compared perhaps to that of Flight Modus, drawing inspiration from jazz harmonies, hip-hop, and various electronic genres.

Tribute concert to trombone giants J.J. Johnson, Kai Windig, Frank Rosolino & Carl Fontana featuring two great Hungarian trombonists, Attila Korb and Béla Szalóky

Consisting of musicians from Central Slovakia, Ľubo Šamo Project was founded in 2013 by the renowned Slovak jazz violinist Ľubo Šamo. The project became quickly established on the jazz scene both of Slovakia and the neighbouring countries. Their music, combining elements of jazz, rock, ethno with contemporary rhythms of popular music, has been applied not only in jazz clubs, but also at festival stages like Jazz Prešov or Fusion Prievidza. In 2015,Ľubo Šamo Project performed on Bratislava Jazz Days, the biggest annual jazz event in Slovakia. In 2016 Hevhetia released their debut album, Good Trip, which was nominated in the category of The Best Slovak Jazz Album of the Year for the “Slovak Grammy”, the Esprit Award. listen to Good Trip on Spotify

Polish singer, lyricist and songwriter Kari Sál is a student of the Grażyna and Kiejstut Bacewicz Academy of Music in Łódź. Raised in the Bieszczady, the mountain range part of the Outer Eastern Carpathians in the south-east of Poland, Kari draws inspiration to her compositions and lyrics from the atmosphere of her home. Reflections to its nature, beauty, and richness of colours form essential part in her music and lyrics. One of her greatest achievements was the realization of a composition commissioned by Łódź Philharmonic. The premiere performance of Betesda, the title song of her debut album, took place at the 16th Touring Festival of Arthur Rubinstein Philharmonic - The Colours of Poland in Brzeziny, Central Poland. The music on Betesda, Kari Sál’s Hevhetia debut, was born under influence of paintings and her recent journey to Iceland, where in the small village of Kirkjubæjarklaustur she wrote most of the album’s pieces. The music of Betesda reveals two simultaneous layers, one by its fine and elegant chamber jazz with elements of classical and world music brought to life by an excellent team-work of a balanced melodic and rhythmic section, and a second through its inward spirituality, transmitted by the textual testimony of the personal poetics of Kari Sál or even by the apocryphal gospels of James and John from the mid of the 2nd century, inspiring the title compositions Betesda I-II.  listen to Betesda on Spotify

Winner of the Audience Award at the 1st International Zbigniew Seifert Violin Competition, along many other prices, violinist Stanisław Słowiński is one of the most creative musicians on the young Polish music scene, “a representative of the Polish Jazz Violin School, which enjoys an incredible renaissance in the last decade, and places Poland in the leading position as far as violin artistry is concerned in the jazz field. He joins the ranks of many of his colleagues, who proudly continue the traditional role of the violin as one of the most expressive instruments available to mankind” as Polish journalist Adam Baruch put it. He performs over hundred gigs per year as a leader of his solo projects, as well as side man or session musician. He has toured on almost every continent hitting the stages of clubs and festivals all around the world, visiting such countries as Poland, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Serbia, Iceland, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Georgia, China, South Korea, Chile, Cape Verde and many others. Despite his young age he has worked with a number of internationally renowned musicians, such as Ben Frost, Daniel Bjarnason, Elliot Goldenthal, Diego Navarro, Ludwig Wicki, Joe Hisaishi, Hadrien Feraud, Marcin Wasilewski, Mariusz Patyra, Robert Kabara, Joanna Słowińska, Paweł Kaczmarczyk, Grzech Piotrowski, Piotr Orzechowski, Joachim Mencel, to name but a few. The debut album of Stanisław Słowiński Quintet Landscapes Too Easy To Explain, the group lead by the violinist, was released in 2016 on Hevhetia. “The music is an excellent example of modern Polish Jazz, which although melody based and well within the mainstream convention, manages to maintain a very high level of compositions and performances. It is soaked with typical Polish melancholy and Slavic melodic motifs, and of course focuses on the violin as the leading instrument, and as a result one can hardly find a more spiritually ‘Polish Jazz’ album than this one. The pairing of the violin and the trumpet as the two lead instruments proves to be extremely effective and harmonically attuned, in spite of its rarity.” wrote Adam Baruch on polish-jazz.blogspot.com about the album. During the 30,000 km long album premiere tour, the band visited many European countries, followed by their participation in Jazzpopolsku – the longest Asian concert tour ever, promoting Polish jazz. The follow-up, Stanisław Słowiński Sextet's Visions | Between Love and Death, inspired by various improvisational approaches and contemporary chamber, film and experimental music, hit the market a year later, in 2017, earning again serious critical acclaim both to Słowiński and his group.  On the quintet’s concert in Opus Jazz Club they will play pieces from both albums, along with some new compositions to be released next year on Słowiński’s upcoming album.  stanislawslowinski.pl listen to Visions | Between Love and Death on Spotify

Improvision Quartet is a collective composed of leading musicians of the Polish jazz scene, each of whom has different experiences and own developed brand, three of them known by visitors of Opus already. Clarinetist Szymon Klima and double-bass player Adam Kowalewski performed on the 2nd Hevhetia festival two years ago (in trio with Piotr Wyleżoł) the successful work Lutosławski Retuned, while pianist Dominik Wania played here in November 2014 at the 2nd Polska Jazz Festival with Maciej Obara, and will return this year in November again for two shows. Improvison Quartet, comprised of them three and drummer Przemysław Jarosz, delivers a musical mixture combining Polish folk songs with elements of jazz and contemporary music. Their album Free-Folk-Jazz, released on Hevhetia in 2017, is a collection of transcriptions of Polish folk themes from the collections of Oskar Kolberg. “The album offers an unprecedented high quality recording sound, definitely one of the best I came across this year (2017). The music (...) consists of free form improvisations based on Polish folklore songs, some of those being well known and others completely obscure. The quartet offers a remarkable ensemble work, which presents a coherent and clear artistic vision, consistently developed throughout the album, deeply rooted in free jazz/improvised music tradition, but also astonishingly minimalistic, focused and full of breathing space. There is a beautiful atmosphere of relaxation and complete lack of pressure to state anything beyond the necessary. In some respects this album is the continuation of the Lutosławski Retuned album recorded three years earlier, but the statements are much bolder and refined this time. The individual contributions by these virtuosi musicians are all absolutely brilliant from start to finish. The minimalistic approach allows for many solo/duo/trio and eventually also quartet statements, which expose each of the participants in complete ‘nakedness’. Not surprisingly they all manage to come victorious from the challenging circumstances, which present to the listener some of the best moments these musicians ever put on record. Wania’s contributions are definitely stellar and for me personally probably they are his best playing ever so far. His wondrous ability to say so much with just a few touches of the keyboard is simply miraculous. But Klima, Kowalewski and especially Jarosz also contribute amazing moments, with the latter producing some of the most amazing percussive effects I had the pleasure to hear. This is definitely one of the finest hours of Polish Jazz in 2017 (...), an amazing album from start to finish, which redefines the contemporary free jazz idiom (...) Absolutely brilliant!”  Adam Baruch, Polish-Jazz.blogspot.com about the debut album of the quartet facebook.com/improvisionquartet 

The Austrian quartet Klio, formed just a few years ago, define themselves as a group dedicated to simplicity. For them, simplicity means to surrender everything unnecessary, to leave room for the musicians and listeners to become fully immersed in the experience. The full shape of their compositions, should it be written by any of them, only truly unfold through improvisation, stretching the framework of each composition to acknowledge and appreciate the presence of all participants – both of the performers and the listeners. The challenge for the musicians lies in engaging with the unplanned and unforseeable. Bravery is required to make decisions, to lead, and to allow oneself to be led. Or to simply enjoy silence. Except pianist Verena Zeiner, performing the first time at the Opus Jazz Club, each of the three other members of the quartet appeared here already at one or more concerts of the j(A)zz! series: saxophone player Philipp Harnisch with Month of Sundays, double bass player Judith Ferstl with ChuffDrone and Klangzeug Orchester and drummer Mathias Koch with Shake Stew. The eponymous debut album of Klio was recorded live in September 2016 and released in 2017 on Freifeld Tontraeger. verenazeiner.at/projects/klio 

Drummer and composer Balázs Bágyi is one of the most respected musicians on the Hungarian jazz scene, working internationally, leading his own bands over the last two decades. Being a member of different bands he creates music almost in all genres, his unique melodic style of playing the drums gives a complex music experience. He has toured the USA several times, and he is the only Hungarian jazz musician who regularly plays in China. His previous quartet, existed from 2004 - 2011, was a very important band on the Hungarian ethno-jazz and world music scene. The music of his new quartet contains less of the folk background but sounds like today’s pure acoustic jazz based on post-bop elements. His partners are the best players of the young generation from Budapest, as saxophonist Soso Lakatos, who studied and got his diploma in Amsterdam, the classically trained Junior Prima awarded pianist Dezső Oláh, and Péter Oláh, one of the greatest bass players in Central Europe. During the recent years the band played at many European jazz festivals (Bansko Jazz festival, Nisville, Mosaic Jazz Fest Sibiu, Sarajevo Winter, Petrovac Jazz Festival, Skopje Summer Festival, Jazz Juniors Krakow), and performed at some famous jazz clubs as well (Agharta Jazz Club Prague, B-Flat Berlin). In 2016 their album Homage to Shakespeare featuring vocalist Kriszta Pocsai won Gramofon Award given by an international jury, then they were chosen for The group of the year by JazzMa.hu online magazine’s readers’ poll. The quartet plays original music composed by the bandleader who was chosen for The composer of the year on the same poll in 2016. balazsbagyi.com 

A Santa Diver formációt 2006-ban alapította Kézdy Luca jazzhegedűs és Szesztay Dávid multiinstrumentalista, zeneszerző. A trió harmadik tagja Szegő Dávid, aki 2015-ben csatlakozott a zenekarhoz. A három hangszer és egyéniség egy egészen sajátos és unikális zenei világot képvisel, amit a jazz, world music, és a szabad zene metszetében talált meg. Hangzásukat meghatározza a rendhagyó felállás (hegedű-basszusgitár-dob), Kézdy Luca különleges, narratív hegedűjátéka, színes és dallamos basszus szólamok, és az apró, izgalmas történésekkel teli, mégis energikus dobolás. Deep Diving című harmadik lemezük 2017 decemberében jelent meg a NarRator Records gondozásában. „A hullámtarajok és a sima vízfelszínek ritmikus váltakozása a zenében egymást követő szilajul burjánzó és finoman bontakozó részekre rímel (…) kivehetőek a kortárs progresszív rock, az electronica vagy a modern creative szókapcsolattal illetett jazz ihlető elemei, ezek sokszorosan átszűrve buknak felszínre. (…) Luca egy korábbi interjúban említi, mennyire nehéz elérni, hogy ne legyenek fölösleges hangok a zenéjében. Pedig nem igazán vannak, noha az is világosan megmutatkozik, mennyire virtuóz, technikás játékos. Modern, mai zene, mégis kortalan.”  Bércesi Barbara, Gramofon 2018 tavasz

Formed in 2001, Hungary based four-piece Nigun boast an international fan base, having forged a unique signature sound that originates in Eastern European Jewish music and spontaneous jazz improvisation. They have performed more than 300 gigs around the world including New York Guggenheim Museum, Brussels Bravo Art Festival, Athens Technopolis Jazz Festival, Klezmor Festival Vienna. The band often works together with guest musicians such as John Zorn, Don Byron, Frank London, Matt Darriau, Steven Bernstein or Miklós Lukács. “For me this wonderful story principally means the manifestation of team unity, which ultimately results in extraordinary music in an extraordinary medium. Not incidentally I reckon Nigun’s album is the best of this year’s Hungarian concert albums for the time being.” Sandor Olasz, Riff 2016. “Nigun had started their musical program with crossing East European Jewish music and jazz. Nowadays they speak more in the language of contemporary jazz, based on a complex composition thinking of the band leader. This effort is verified with awesome solos.” Gabor Turi, Magyar Nemzet 2014. “One will love the new album of Nigun whom are interested in how the old melodies take a new lease on life. Not word-for-word but redefined with an extraordinary, very unique and creative vocabulary.” Balint Bereczki, Jazzma.hu 2013.

“Refined touch, an outstanding sense of form, an excellent sense of melody and harmony – these are the words that come to mind as I listen to Péter Rozsnyói’s new solo CD. Speaking from the experience of hearing Péter’s performance of classical music, I can say he plays the works of Bach with the same naturalness and insight as his own, often improvised, pieces, and jazz standards. This is also the case in his extraordinarily expressive and emotionally rich playing on this CD, which has once more reinforced in me the belief that an improvisation is good if it sounds as if it had been composed; and a composed piece sounds good if it seems to be the fruit of the present moment.” Kálmán Oláh, pianist “At a certain level of maturity most creative artists realise that the journey is the destination. Not all of them, however, are able to get to the level of abstraction of 38-year-old Péter Rozsnyói. He was able to put how he felt about this into words when the recording was finished: every beginning is an end, anything that opens something, also closes something. You can only pray to be able to understand and internalise what cannot change, and to change what needs to be changed. After two trio albums this is the very first solo piano recording that Rozsnyói has released. It is a daringly honest confession of his life to date (...) Rozsnyói has reached an outstanding milestone in his career with this recording. He was very much aware of the significance of the moment, when he realised his heart-rate was really up as he stepped onto the podium of the Opus Jazz Club to face both the audience and the recording red light. He had not felt stage fright for decades.The piece he played first became the last on the CD (after all, each beginning is an end), otherwise the digital image of the concert follows the order of the improvised pieces, which he, nevertheless, had been contemplating for weeks in preparation. The synergy of composition and improvisation has become so strong that the listener can hardly tell them apart. And this provides yet another reason to listen to the whole recording as one piece without interruption, for it is then its depths truly reveal themselves to the listener.” (excerpts from the CD's booklet text by Kornél Zipernovszky) Serenity Prayer, a live recording of Péter Rozsnyói’s solo performance at the Opus on June 21 last year will be released by BMC Records on the very day of the present concert where the CD will be available for a special price, too.

“Młynarski & Masecki Jazz-Band is a miracle!” Bartek Chaciński, Polityka, 2017 The Młynarski & Masecki Jazz Band was founded by one of the most outstanding Polish pianists, Marcin Masecki – known both to visitors of Opus Jazz Club and BMC Records fans for his album Ragtime, released only three months ago – and singer, percussionist, member of the Warsaw Combo Taneczne (Warsaw Dance Combo), Jan Emil Młynarski, drawing their inspiration from the tradition of Polish jazz orchestras of the interwar period. Their free jazz interpretations give this music absolutely fresh flavor, making it current and multilayered, inviting both to dance and to feel its thrills.  The musicians of the Młynarski & Masecki Jazz Band know how to draw simultaneously from tradition of orchestras of the thirties and play with convention by means of free jazz and crazy improvisations. These young artists are gifted with a sense of humor and treat hits from thirties with a blink of an eye. Marcin Masecki says: „For us jazz is pop music, music for people. We come back to the ethos of jazz.”  The Jazz Band’s repertoire consists mostly of unknown swing songs and unique tangos. The whole concept is built around the Adam Aston, the most recognizable Polish singer of that time and Henryk Wars, the most important Polish pianist of Jewish origin, arranger and composer from twenties and thirties. Their 2017 album Noc w Wielkim Mieście (Night in The City), released on the Lado ABC label, was awarded as Album of The Year 2017 by Gazeta Wyborcza, one of the most important and influential daily newspaper in Poland. In Poland, during the interwar period, improvised music and jazz became a medium of multi-layered messages, providing numerous memorable works of art. Polish Jazz 1918 - 2018, a project lead by Club Firlej from Wrocław, invited consequently avant-garde young artists to interpret tradition in a visionary way thanks to their creativity and imagination. The project has been realized in the frame of the Cultural Bridges grant scheme of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland, as part of its 2017–2021 long-term program NIEPODLEGŁA (Independent).

“On Simple Songs, Muthspiel and Swallow admirably demonstrate the beauty and perfection that the art of the duet can offer.” DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE “It's a true miracle of lyricism.”LONDON JAZZ NEWS “A few years ago I undertook a project that I never hoped, let alone expected to ever take on stage. It all started as a kind of self-therapy: Following a sudden and, in more ways than one potentially ruinous hearing loss, and after months of intonation impairment of my inner ear and horrendous tinnitus symptoms, I had to teach myself to hear again; to hear in a musical sense – pitch, intervals, harmony, tonal quality, and so on. Following months of self-prescribed silence – the only state I could bare and which I sought mostly in frequent and extended mountain tours – I began to cautiously approach musical progressions again and develop trust in my hearing by resuming, hesitantly at first, my instrument practice and composition work. The result – without a goal or the pressures of production – was a handful of mostly harmonious songs: clear forms with simple changes and melodies, each strictly woven from just a small building block. In other words: SIMPLE SONGS.I sent a few of these songs to Steve Swallow, with whom I had already had the great pleasure of playing in my quartet (with Matthieu Michel and Franck Tortiller). His reaction was my rescue, giving me hope and boosting my motivation: He encouraged me to extend the songs into an entire cycle and to record them in duo formation for a CD.In the light of the events that led up to this project, standing on stage with Steve as my duo partner, inspirational master and wise friend is nothing short of an extraordinary gift.” Christian Muthspiel Listen Simple Songs on spotify   christianmuthspiel.com Ticket info later!

Ikui Doki, the trio of a quite unusual lineup came to being by the meeting of the female cross-over duet, Dragon, with saxophonist-clarinetist Hugues Mayot. Passionate for a creative interaction between composing and improvisation, the three musicians built up a repertoire of collective compositions for harp, bassoon and saxophone/clarinet. Rooted in the French music from the beginning of the 20th century, their pieces freely use themes and elements of works by the likes of Debussy, Ravel, Satie or Faurés, combined with the jazz idiom. The richness of this musical material offers a wide playground for invention, experimentation with tradition and brilliant instrumental technique in order to create new music with a strong French identity. ikuidoki.fr facebook.com/ikuidoki jazzmigration.com/laureat/sophie-bernado-ikui-doki The concert is being performed as part of the Jazz Migration series established by AJC to support the professional development of new jazz groups.

The music of Novembre is inspired both by jazz history and contemporary composing techniques, and even by means of film-editing in David Lynch movies or by the collage art of Pablo Picasso. Diffracted melodies, compositional fragments are used as general material to form their musical scenario while their listeners’ brains work in a rush to identify reminiscences of themes thought to be long forgotten and lost in the past. Zapping, collages, mirror games and time ellipses are the tools that feed Novembre’s lyricism and poetry. jazzmigration.com/laureat/antonin-tri-hoang-novembre  The concert is being performed as part of the Jazz Migration series established by AJC to support the professional development of new jazz groups.

The young Hungarian singer with Italian roots, Rozina Pátkai, won a number of international awards and prizes in jazz and Fringe festivals around the world. She has performed at the Opus Jazz Club on several occasions with her quintet, playing classical bossa nova pieces and some originals. At the end of 2016, her second album, Paraíso na Terra, containing exclusively her own compositions, was released. The songs were also inspired by Latin melodies, but they are leading their listeners to an entirely individual musical world already. Rozina Pátkai will arrive at Opus this time with her trio. In addition to well-known bossa novas in her program, her originals, though having their roots in authentic Brazilian melodies, break out from the closed forms of their source. The songs are in Portuguese, Spanish and English, writen on poems by Zsófia Bán, Ádám Szabó, Garcia Lorca and Jane Tyson Clement. rozinapatkai.com facebook.com/rozinapatkai Paraiso na Terra on spotify 

Béla Szakcsi Lakatos, the internationally recognized, emblematic figure of Gypsy Jazz, one of the few Kossuth-prize-awarded musicians of Hungarian jazz, is a regular guest of the Opus Jazz Club. In his seventies, he works with same energy both in composing and performing as he did it throughout his decades-long career. Started two years ago, FAZIOLI Nights, Opus Jazz Club’s series of solo piano concerts, featured outstanding Hungarian and international pianists at the keys of the club’s pride, the FAZIOLI F212 model. From the beginning it was clear that one of the most important performers of the series would be Béla Szakcsi Lakatos, the doyen of Hungarian pianists. Finally the time has come for the long-awaited event when Szakcsi plays solo at the club. One of the most prominent figures of real-time composing, the improvisation, with an unmistakably unique style, the maestro undoubtedly will play one of the most prestigious concerts of Opus’ autumn season!