The style of Oláh Kálmán Septet can be described as contemporary jazz, insofar as it is largely dominated by 20th-century compositional music, primarily the Bartók sound world. The band's repertoire, in contrast to the free, spontaneous style of Kálmán’s former band, the Trio Midnight, consists of well-formed, multi-part compositions based on sometimes classical musical forms, in which the pulsation and improvisation of real jazz are not neglected. The collective improvisations of the band's excellent soloists, and the highly creative rhythm section, as well as the special, modern compositions together form a novel, real XXI. century chamber music.

Dear Visitors,We regret to inform you that the concert is cancelled due to unforeseen reasons. Tickets purchased online will be automatically refunded by InterTicket Kft. Tickets purchased on the spot may be refunded at the BMC Info Desk. Please check our website for further announcements. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate for your understanding.Budapest Music Center Lo Swar is the fusion of two galaxies whose trajectories might well never have crossed. Each in their own way, the musicians of Space Galvachers are children of jazz and improvised music, at the helm of their own projects or alongside artists such as Blick Bassy, ​​Ballaké Sissoko, Naïssam Jalal or even Oumou Sangaré. For his part, for twenty years, Olivier Araste has been leading the way, beating the maloya power of his group Lindigo, modern ambassador of Reunionese Creole from Bras-Panon to Tokyo, London or Maputo. This creation is steeped in the cultures of Reunion Island with the idea of ​​creating an "imaginary and modern folklore" in the service of the Creole language and inspired by the many local traditions. Lo Swar unveils highly sensory night music, twilight songs nourished by the poetry, mystery and intrinsic blues of the Reunionese fonnkèrs. Space Galvachers and Olivier Araste slide us into the gap between day and night, at a time when the uncertain light calms the spirits but also summons trance and dreams in the privacy of kaz.

Küntett was formed in 2017 as part of a large-scale project called Jazzyear, in which Béla Ágoston released twelve online records during the twelve months to represent his relationship with jazz. With Küntett he focused on the relationship between jazz and folk music with his fellow musicians, handling folk music quotes freely, sometimes embedded in free jazz and other times in swing context, with Béla's boundless playfulness. "It is an extremely exciting and dynamic material, it flows with energy and the uncarved power of peasant music. It is a unique world in the vast universe of folk-jazz, which awaits the discovery of a folk music student as well as that of a jazz fan" - wrote Bálint Bereczki on the album called Folking on jazzma.hu.

Dear Guests,Due to technical reasons, Mario Bakuna Band’s January 21, 2022 concert is now rescheduled for April 9, 2022. If you purchased a ticket earlier, our colleagues will contact you via email to validate the tickets for the new date or reimburse you for the purchase. If you did not receive an email from us, please contact our box office via info@bmc.hu or +36 1 216 7894. We appreciate your undersanding.BMC – Opus Jazz Club After a very successful season performing at international festivals and prestigious music venues in Europe, Africa and Brazil, promoting his previous album Where Rio de Janeiro Meets Bahia, Mario Bakuna's latest release is Brazilian Landscapes. Conceived by Mario Bakuna, Brazilian Landscapes features new arrangements of material by great composers such as Emilio Santiago, Marcos Valle, Claudio Bertrami, Rique Pantoja, Gilberto Gil, Djavan, João Bosco, Arismar do Espirito Santo, and the 'forrozeiros' Dominguinhos and Luiz Gonzaga. Brazilian Landscapes is a tribute to the culture and memory of Brazilian people and it's the result of years of inspiration Mario Bakuna drew upon while travelling through Brazil, experiencing its rhythmic and harmonic richness. From the arid landscape in the northeast that's brought to the chorus of songs of Forró, Baião and Xaxado, to the African influence found in Ijexá, the popularity of Samba and the sophistication of Bossa Nova, Mario and his musicians celebrate the most musically rich territory on Earth. Brazilian Landscapes by Mario Bakuna Band

Grand compositions, crunchy rhythms, improvisations, lyrical images and a hint of sardonic wildness: János Bujdosó and his trio roam the soundscapes of underground jazz and world music with a style of their own that is best characterized as “Byzantine surf jazz”. The trio presents their recent release, National Amnesia Institute at Opus Jazz Club featuring Hungarian, Middle Eastern and Latin elements incorporated into repetitive musical structures.

Kéknyúl plays urban dance music that draws from 70s soul and funk. Their sound is defined by two members, Mátyás Premecz and Andy Hefler. Mátyás Premecz is a well­-known organ player on the Hungarian pop scene, playing with such bands as The Qualitons or Barabás Lőrinc Eklektric, but his name is always tied to his trademark Hammond organ and that’s exactly why Kéknyúl was founded – to be able to fully exploit the possibilities of the instrument. Andrew Hefler was born in Los Angeles and moved to Hungary in 1993. He’s an outstanding figure in the Hungarian cultural scene, being a renowned actor, director and singer. Of course the band and its sound wouldn’t be complete without the brilliant playing and interaction of the other six members.

The members of the band, formed in 2020, are active musicians of the Hungarian and international jazz and indie music scene, who found each other in Budapest. Their music is instrumental jazz, which captivates fans of more powerful genres with its clearer yet dynamic themes. Their melancholic compositions are extremely diverse rhythmically, with beat-based music and contemporary musical impressions.

The music produced and performed by the Hungarian based ensemble Tariqa is simultaneously reminiscent of the proto world-music innovations of John Coltrane’s Africa Brass in the 60s and the 70s futuristic Sufi inspired jazz of the Human Arts Ensemble. Led by Saïd Tichiti originally from the Moroccan Sahara, Tariqa’s ecstatic momentum is firmly based on gnawa drumming and guembri bass lines spiced by rippling carpathian cimbalom, violins and flute. Top this all with Saharian desert blues vocals and horn parts full of urgent urban American howling and Klezmer screams, and the effect is nothing less than 21st century musical bliss. Tariqa’s new CD is a musical breakthrough Bartok, Coltrane and the late Ali Farka Toure would all likely relate to. Blessed and possessed by the powerful spirits that inhabit the Euro-Asian-African crossroads that shaped and continue to shape our destiny – Tariqa swings and rocks hard to a warm universal musical embrace. Darrell Jónsson

Helka Band, founded in 2021, is characterized by taboo-breaking, feminine energies, uncompromising honesty, musical fusions and a good dose of charm. Most of the band has a strong spiritual and professional connection to folk music, the authentic music mixes with elements brought from jazz and classical music, creating a unique world of sound. Their folk music adaptations were born in the spirit of eclecticism: in their songs, they allow themselves the creative freedom to select materials from different archival musical sources, regardless of place and time, so that valuable lyrics, lesser-known folk songs, form the core of this musical fabric. "The cornerstone of our own songs is the knowledge we have acquired about ourselves during the path of self-awareness. In our songs, topics such as sweating, accepting our bodies, or just to everybody leave us alone are covered" - they said. One of the specialties of the band lies in the instrument park. The zither is a popular folk instrument throughout the country, which has received the cohabitation that has survived in Moldova, among other places. This pair of folk instruments was accompanied by an electric bass.

Cellist Vincent Courtois formed a trio with saxophonist Daniel Erdmann and saxophonist Robin Fincker ten years ago with the goal of opening up new dimensions in front of their instruments. According to his own confession, this rather unusual line-up in jazz, in addition to placing great responsibility on all three instruments, does not narrow the musical possibilities, but on the contrary: for all three members of the trio, interoperability between the soloist-harmony-rhythm instrument roles becomes complete. The trio of equal members is thus able to sound like an orchestra, multiplying their strength and possibilities. All three members of the formation are renowned representatives of the French - and the German (Erdmann) and British (Fincker) - jazz music scene, holding numerous awards who have perfected the trio’s sound through five joint repertoires, four albums and numerous concerts in Europe and the United States. All three are artists have been released albums on BMC Records, and this time as a sign of their loyalty to the BMC, they want to provide the Opus Jazz Club’s audience a whole new experience: the musicians decided to bet on loyalty and complicity by proposing a totally improvised concert.

Dear Visitors,We regret to inform you that the concert is cancelled due to unforeseen reasons. Tickets purchased online will be automatically refunded by InterTicket Kft. Tickets purchased on the spot may be refunded at the BMC Info Desk. Please check our website for further announcements. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate for your understanding.Budapest Music Center Andreas Schaerer, from Switzerland, is one of the most talked-about vocal artists on the international music scene, and with good reason. He is considerably more than just a singer - and to classify him under jazz doesn’t really do him justice either. Schaerer uses his voice in the manner of a juggler, a magician. He can not only make it sound forth in contrasting stylistic idioms and vocal registers, (switching at will from songster to crooner to scatter), he can also produce all kinds of sounds and imitate a whole range of instruments. He can do beatbox percussion, or he can stack up polyphonic vocal parts on top of each other in a way which seems unfeasible. In addition to all that, he is also a hugely impressive composer and improviser, skills which he can bring to bear on all kinds of musical projects, where his virtuosity can be the key ingredient, either providing melodic form or rhythmic impetus. And his skills don’t stop there. He has considerable on-stage charisma, and also brings a rare gift into the world of ‘serious’ music: humour, which is the stock-in-trade of his main band Hildegard Lernt Fliegen (meaning Hildegard learns to fly). Fans of the old Hildegar are faced with a very different prospect with the new album The Waves are Rising, Dear!, what will be performed at the Opus Jazz Club. As the title of the album suggests, it is a more serious work, a concept album, on which Schaerer has taken the band's characteristic sense of instrumental playfulness, combined it with his own, almost classically clear vocal timbre, produced without any trickery. And he has put both of these elements to the service of poetry and to the task of thinking about things more deeply. 

Pianist Károly Gáspár is a defining figure in the Hungarian jazz scene, having released three successful trio records, and his solo piano album will be released soon. His compositions are fresh and forward-looking, while also respecting the mainstream roots of jazz. After his Fonogram Award-winning album The Outsider, released in 2017, he released in 2019 a disc entitled Salvation, featuring a composition by Jenő Horváth in addition to his own compositions, and transcriptions of some of Charlie Haden's compositions. His third trio album, Philosophy, released in 2021 - following the line-up of the previous two records - features romantic and aesthetic music spiced with the effects of classical music. This time he will take the stage with Géza Jónás, the winner of the Pege Aladár Jazz Bass Competition, and Balázs Bágyi, the outstanding figure of the jazz drumming, the president of the Hungarian Jazz Association, to show the audience his musical ars poetica by interpreting jazz standards.

The outstanding Hungarian cimbalom player and composer, Miklós Lukács founded Cimbiosis in 2014. They have grown into one of the most original formations on the Hungarian jazz scene ever since. With a unique line-up and anever-expanding repertoire of original compositions, neither the leader nor the members are afraid of experimenting and searching for new ways of expression. They have released three albums on the Fonó Records label, the third extended to a quintet by two reed player. Their fourth CD entitled Music From the Solitude of Timeless Minutes was released in 2020 by BMC Records. This is how Gergely Fazekas musicologis described the album in the booklet: „Of course, within this style (idiom, atmosphere) can be found something from jazz too, for sure, but behind the musical ideas there is folk music, in its authentic form, in its art form after its Bartókish transfiguration, in the ornamentation there is Gypsy music, in places the volcanic energy of rock music erupts, and in the logic of the compositions, the complex harmonies, and the relentlessly serious attitude to the music is the entire classical tradition, from Bach through Debussy to Kurtág”.

The Santa Diver formation, which was founded in 2006, consists of Luca Kézdy, a jazz violinist who won the Artisjus Award in 2019, multiinstrumentalist-composer Dávid Szesztay and drummer Dávid Szegő. The three instruments and individualities represent a very special and unique world of music found in the intersection of jazz, world music, and modern creative. Their sound is determined by the unusual line-up (violin-bass-drum), Luca Kézdy's special, narrative violin playing, colorful and melodic bass vocals, and the drum full of small, exciting events. Their fourth album, Blue Horizon, was released in the spring of 2021 by the NarRator Records. Of course, the trio has performed at all major Hungarian festivals and clubs, and has also performed at several foreign jazz festivals: Chelsea Music Festival, NYC (US), European Jazz Conference, BMC (HU), Südtirol Jazzfestival (IT), Voll Damm Festival Jazz Vic (ES), Gaume Jazz Festival (BE). In December 2019, a highly successful concert was given at the Solti Hall of the Academy of Music.

To catch moods and to express emotions, this is the musical universe of Rainer Böhm. Born in Ravensburg in Southern Germany in 1977 and now based in Cologne, Rainer Böhm has been involved as a bandleader and as a sideman in more than 60 CD recordings and made his mark through some excellent projects as an internationally sought-after pianist in the jazz scene. He has been awarded several times, for example with the Jazz Prize of the Nürnberger Nachrichten, the New German Jazz Prize, the prize for the best soloist in international jazz competitions in Hoeilaart/Belgium in 2002 and in Getxo/Spain in 2005, the Award of the Deutsche Schallplattenkritik in 2003 and 2007, the first prize in the international Piano Solo Contest in Freiburg in 2007 and the Landesjazzpreis Baden-Württemberg in 2010). In addition to his work as a pianist, Rainer Böhm teaches as a professor of jazz piano and ensemble direction at conservatories Nürnberg and Mannheim, where he is one of their youngest professors. His music can be  stylistically assigned to modern jazz, but it is also shaped by the influences of various others musical styles of the modern age (for instance classical music, such as Frensh composer Olivier Messiaen). The concept of crossing frontiers of genres is at the core of Böhm's musical identity: He is one of those genre-defiers for whom classical music and jazz are not in opposition to each other, but perfectly complementary polarities. With saxophonist Wanja Slavin, drummer Peter Gal and bassist Josh Ginsburg, he found three fellow musicians who share his vision and interpret his music particularly expressive. However, they don't just act as companions. Each band member actively uses soloistic spaces and fits perfectly into the individual group sound created by energy, transparency, interaction and dynamism. Their current program is also characterized by expressiveness and strong melody lines and is always situated around a central task: how to convey emotions through music.

Nasip Kısmet is the brainchild of Arif Erdem Ocak, the Turkish-born musician who resides in Budapest, Hungary since 2010, best-known as a founding member and co-songwriter of the famed Ankara band Seksendört who topped charts mid to-late 2000s with consecutive hits. After moving to Budapest to pursue a solo music career, he focused on the deep repertoire of old and contemporary Turkish folk music, interpreting it through his unique vocal style as well as his trademark hammer-on and pull-of, percussive guitar technique. Live renditions of this material earned Arif a loyal following and quickly made him a staple in the Hungarian live music scene. His special interest in ancient Anatolian mysticism and philosophy led the versatile musician to explore the poetry and songs of the era with a multi-instrumental approach. Nasip Kısmet, the ethnic-jazz outfit he formed in 2020 featuring fellow high-caliber musicians - Cem Aksel (TR) on Drums, Dániel Mester (HU) on Saxophone and Clarinet, and Márton Eged (HU) on Bass Guitar – was the perfect answer and the outfit recorded a three-song, self-titled EP that comprises rather sophisticated versions of some classics of the genre. After Cem Aksel moved back home to Istanbul, Dávid Szegő and Tomi Smuk joined the band on drums and percussion respectively, and the live line-up was completed by Derya Ocak’s (Arif’s sister) addition on backing vocals. The band’s currently rehearsing for the recording of their full-length, planned for release later this year.

Modern Art Orchestra’s Legendary Albums series presents the most important and unique albums of jazz literature, performed by MAO. By learning and playing these compositions and arrangements, the musicians are paying tribute to the jazz legends and are undergoing an intense process of musical improvement. The band absorbs the material of the original recordings, sticking to the arrangements, forms and compositional features. As improvisation is the blood of jazz, solos are invented by the players at the moment. Due to the respect shown towards the original conceptions of the legendary composers and the level of craftsmanship known from Modern Art Orchestra, the Legendary Albums series both brings you the essence of jazz tradition and guarantees a fresh musical experience. The Blues And The Abstract Truth is a significant recording of its time. Saxophonist-band leader Oliver Nelson’s hard bop masterpiece was published in 1961 by Impulse! Records and carries one of the trademark compositions of hard bop, Stolen Moments. This is not the only reason, however, why this album became a legendary jazz record. The Blues and tthe Abstract Truth is the first album on which Stolen Moments was published under the name of the composer, but it was recorded and put on a 1960 Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis album before. It is the Oliver Nelson album though, which contributed to Stolen Moments becoming a jazz standard. The cast on the album are all significant personalities of jazz history. Freddie Hubbard changed trumpet playing forever and influenced the evolution of thinking about solo playing in jazz. Some of his best solos are found on this very album. Eric Dolphy had one of the most unique voices among instrumental musicians. He is often said to have played mostly free jazz, however, his musical world is rather rooted in be bop and hard bop. He contributed greatly to integrate the flute and the bass clarinet into jazz. Bill Evans pianist, Paul Chambers contrabassist and Roy Haynes drummer form the rhythm section. By the time of the recording of The Blues and the Abstract Truth, Evans had already played the legendary Kind of Blue sessions, and Chambers and  Haynes even published a record together 2 years earlier. What makes this rhythm section special is that it consists only of such musicians who personally had a significant role in the evolution of jazz music also. The Blues and the Abstract Truth is a hard bop masterpiece, whether we are looking at the compositions, arrangements or individual skills and craftsmanship. It is an exciting and fitting challenge for the chamber formation of Modern Art Orchestra.

Drums, guitar, vibes and bass are enough for HI5 to casually tear down limited music genre, being playful and creative at the same time. A "jazz-band" that spends much time rehearsing and working on elaborate arrangements, just so they can surprise the audience at a live concert with the greatest of ease, playing freely and not demonstrating the hard work behind it: This is music you won’t hear every day. Listening to HI5 is both adventure and pleasure. Their latest release Southern Inspection Tour, which was recorded live on their China-Tour, would by no means be described as ordinary or trivial. The band itself uses the terms "minimal jazz chamber music" and hence opens a wide spectrum of playful and intellectual possibilities. While jazz provides means and ways to leave the music to its freedom, it furthermore allows the artists to elaborate free-spirited material. If necessary, they know how to let the music be or even meander and thus manage to build an exceptional as well as conceptional bridge from jazz to chamber music. The latter gives a lead to complexity, compositional ingenuity, and intricacy. The music is not exactly minimal. However, it insists, perseveres and allows repetition at some points. At the same time, HI5’s music is not sprawling but logical and consequent in its development and design – it’s full of successful achievements in both music and brainpower.

The Ephemere formation was formed in 2020, with a core of two singers, Isabella Caussanel and Lilla Orbay. Their world is built as a fusion of jazz, chansons and a little folk music, most evoking the atmosphere of a tobacco smoke bar from the ’30s. The repertoire is very colorful, with its own songs, jazz standards, French songs, pop songs and folk influences, as well as a special sound world. The name Ephemere suggests that the formation is often supplemented with guest musicians, however, a fixed orchestral line-up has also been formed for the concerts. It also contrasts with the improvisational, jazzy playing mode and the composed musical material, which makes the formation really special.

Saxophonist-composer Kristóf Bacsó occasionally extends his musical field of vision with guest musicians, as was the case when he last recorded a record with guitarist Lionel Loueke from Benin at BMC Records entitled Pannon Blue, creating a fusion of Hungarian-focused contemporary jazz and improvisational music fueled by West African influences. And so it is now when the Bacsó Kristóf Triad gives a concert together with Kristóf's old friend, the Italian bassist Daniele Camarda. Daniele himself strengthens the camp of border tensioners, as he doesn’t use the bass guitar in the usual way, but by expanding its capabilities, he plays it on seven strings, allowing it to sound like a solo guitar. The use of electronics, which already played a prominent role in Bacsó's previous album, Pannon Blue, opens the door to further dimensions. At this concert we can hear the latest compositions of Kristóf Bacsó, which include the experiences of the last two years and which have the influence of piano literature, including Erik Satie.Kristóf Bacsó has released four albums in recent years, on which his compositions have been performed in an enjoyable orchestration by his trio, quartet, quintet or the Modern Art Orchestra, of which he is one of the founders and key members. Of these formations, however, he considers his band TRIAD as his own child, in which one of his partners on the keyboards is Artisjus Award-winning Áron Tálas, who, in addition to the piano, also touches the Fender Rhodes piano and other electronic tones with great originality. The third member of the band is drummer Márton Juhász, who has now become an active participant not only in the circulation of Hungarian, but also European jazz scene. TRIAD’s music mixes elements of jazz and contemporary music with a sense of Eastern European music. The formation was created with the intention that in addition to the carefully worked out parts, the joint improvisations could play an important role.

The band plays an extraordinary medley of gypsy and swing music. It is a project where nostalgia blends with new stories, as the boys perform fresh, original songs, in a style that takes us back to the era of ballrooms, cigars, Charleston and lacquered shoes. The band is made up of college educated musicians who also perform pop music accompanying the famous Slovenian artist Magnifico. Their first record, entitled Hot Club Piran, was chosen as "Album of 2015" at the online music portal of the Slovenian coastal area, Muzikobala. In 2016 their quality was recognized in the USA as well, where they published a record with the renowned Lowtemp label. Second (Kamerato Muzikante-2018) and third album (Molto Aligatore) are flirting with Classical, Etno and Movie Music. In october 2021 they recorded a live concert with Big Band Rtv Slovenia where Teo was the main soloist. It is a great honor for a instrumentalist and a composer that his original music was arranged by Maestro Lojze Krajnčan. In the programe were Momento Cogano songs from all three albums. The album is called Gitara parlante.  "In an inflationary number of groups worldwide that are copying, replicating or using the repertoire of The Quintet of the Hot Club of France Teo Collori presents his own music just reminding us of that sound. The presence of clarinet associates with the Django's (Reinhardt) quartet without Grappelli, and in his case, I find a successful contribution to the sound of an ensemble with strings. The partner collaboration of Collori and violinist Krečič is original and enviable in both performance and arrangement. Collori creates music that invites audience to feel and experience, not just listen. His approach to his guitar gives me pleasure and inspires respect." (Svetolik Jakovljević, jazz publicist) 

Mélodie Gimard is a young French pianist, composer, and arranger based in Barcelona. Despite her youth, she combines her piano career with the musical direction of shows at various national and international festivals. She is also a member and founder of Pescaitos Flamenco Quartet, Trio Zuloaga, and the new female project EVA. Numen (One World Records, 2020) is her first album, an interdisciplinary project that represents the freedom of expression of a young artist with regards to the influence of flamenco. Everything that inspires the Mélodie Gimard falls into this category: everything can become numen. Through this show, the artist translates the different numens that have inspired her into music (places, words, people…), telling her own story through the hybridisation of the classic and most current music, always taking into account the flamenco tradition and its language seen from a new angle in a spontaneous and transgressive way. In her compositions, we find influences from both the most jondo flamenco and current artists. El Chozas de Jerez, Manolo Caracol, Moraito, Bebo Valdés, Ibrahim Maalouf or Tigran Hamasyan are part of the heterogeneous creative numen of Mélodie Gimard. 

Experimental electronic and contemporary music, free jazz, free improvisations and ethno-jazz have all their place in the signature sound of the Grencsó Open Collective, a quartet working together for years already. Sleaziness and tension, enormous energies and mystical restraint, short etchings alternating with large-scale pieces, simplicity and virtuosity of folk songs form a whole in their dynamic and rhythmic performance. This time, in the company of the violist Szilárd Mezei, they are looking for the freedom that can be found in the sounds, about which István Grencsó stated: "Our relationship with Szilárd dates back to the beginning of the 2000s, when we were able to play in the MAKUZ band under the direction of pianist and composer György Szabados. He joined the band in 2015, and we made a double CD entitled DERENGÉS containing compositions by György Szabados, published by Hunnia Records. Since then, we have been working with shorter breaks (duo recordings, the Adyton Together in Nagymaros, or the Adyton Christmas traditionally took place at Opus). During the evening, collective chamber improvisations will be performed in various formations".

Szilvia Bognár - who is celebrating her birthday with this concert - is one of the most sought-after singers in Hungarian folk and world music, a soloist of numerous productions. With her own formations, she has so far produced six solo albums, ranging from Renaissance songs to children’s songs to progressive world music. In the repertoire of Szilvia Sextet Bognár, Hungarian, Gypsy, Bulgarian and Greek songs are performed with an unconventional line-up and orchestration, as the program meets three worlds - folk music, jazz and Indian classical music. Preserving the fundamentally acoustic world of sound and the naturalness of the traditional way of performing, the different musical styles and traditional melodies paddle safely through the Babylonian variety. In addition to her favorite songs on this special occasion, the band will be performing with some new songs and, to some extent, the songs of the singer's previous world music formations will be sung. What's more, by making the lines of Kányádi, Weöres and Ágnes Nemes Nagy, the children in the audience, no matter how old, can lure the child inherent in them...

The Tercett is the longest-running band of the ‘Jazz Musician of the Year’ awarded jazz saxophonist and composer Viktor Tóth. The strong rhythm section comprised of bassist György Orbán and drummer Dávid Hodek join as equal partners for his compositions and play. It is not an overstatement that they play their steadily renewing program on a level and with a self-confidence, comparable to the great saxophone trios of jazz history. This time, the Tercett gives a very special concert with the guest appearance of two great singers. As the leader puts it: “In music, I often use my momentary, suggestion-like feelings. The idea of a concert with ​​this special lineup was also just a sudden thought. I was just going home after a concert, thinking about some of my beloved people and musicians. And suddenly, some unrecognized power, in a blink of an eye, put them together to a picture – to a group, whom inside I've heard already to play together. I’ve been playing with Krisztina Pocsai in her quartet for twenty years and I loved her music. I have always considered her as my favourite Hungarian jazz singer because she ‘speaks’ jazz on a native level. She lives it. She has even an individual ‘dialect’, free and bright. Kriszti is one of the few jazz musicians who attend concerts, listen to colleagues. She was honouring me often by her the presence on my concerts. In fact, at a recent request, shw would have liked Tercett as partner to a concert of her, because she admitted that she liked the Tercett’s freedom. It didn’t come together then, but it was incredibly inspiring for me – a singer longing for freedom. Because I do as well. Because the only thing that’s interesting me is the music of the present moment. Then the invisible force pushed my long-time friend, Sára Horváth to the picture ... ‘If you invite a singer, why not just two?’ said the voice. Yes, if to have a ‘family concert’ with the musicians I like best, then Sára should be there, too. I think that Sára Nina Horváth is a very special highlight of the Hungarian music universe. She comes from folk music and is interested in the depth of jazz. She collects her musical bouquet from the finest, purest flowers on the field. And she improvises with them. Deeply and free.I’m much looking forward to the concert with these excellent artists. I can’t wait to hear the music we will create, never been before and never won’t.” Viktor Tóth tothviktor.hu 

  AVA Trio Founded in 2015 in Groningen, the Netherlands, AVA Trio consists of Giuseppe Doronzo from Italy on baritone saxophone and ethnic wind instruments; Esat Ekincioglu from Turkey on double bass; and Pino Basile on frame drums and cupaphone. Doronzo, Ekincioglu, and Basile are erudite and virtuosic guides, navigating through rich and diverse sonic surroundings of the Mediterranean. Their destinations need no justification; their music is timeless. AVA Trio’s successful debut release Music from an Imaginary Land in 2017 has placed the band on "Best Debut Album" picks for National Public Radio (NPR), All About Jazz and El Intruso International Jazz Critic Pool. With the release of their second album Digging the Sand on November 29th, the group continues to mine the imagination and avoid the cliché-riddled and well-worn paths. "Like the Mediterranean region itself, Digging the Sand is an array of ethnic sounds, full of dichotomies; melancholy and intensity, exotic yet grounded in fundamentals of Western and non-Western music. It is immersed in dreams, mystery, and melancholy but with moments of intensity that suggest whirling dervishes." Karl Ackerman - AllAboutJazz 4/5* “Between dream and melancholy, mystery and light, with varying intensity, the members of the trio install an eminently personal aesthetic... With all of its finesse and melodic ideas, this album awakens the senses and is a real listening pleasure.” Yves Dorison - Culture Jazz Magazine (FR)

"Daniel's works show great control and versatility on all levels. Being equally at ease with the jazz and symphonic idiom, both his compositions and arrangements show complete awareness of what is relevant in today's orchestral music. His affinity with drama and his gift to encompass this in music make him a natural film composer." - Jurre Haanstra, composer  Daniel Mester travelled around the world to find his own musical universe, which accommodates the melodies of Anatolia, Indonesian scales and imaginary Hungarian folk songs. The wind musician began his musical studies as a classical clarinetist, later started to learn jazz saxophone playing. He graduated at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in Amsterdam, where he not only had the opportunity to perform in many parts of the world (South Korea, Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil, Morocco), but he also had the opportunity to learn about musical heritage outside of Western musical traditions. He composed a couple of filmscores, and currently studying Turkish classical and folk music is another inspiration for him, the impact of which is echoed in his own compositions. His long-cherished dream of founding his own trio came true with the calming down, looking back and looking forward caused by the pandemic stuation. He invited two talented musicians of the young Hungarian jazz generation, guitarist Péter Cseh and drummer Ambrus Richter to join this musical adventure game. www.mesterdaniel.com

István Gyárfás founded his first guitar-bass-drums trio more than 30 years ago, which has been active ever since. The band's playing is characterized by the pulse of swinging, rich in colors and tempo changes, with virtuosic solos with bebop elements. The combo is happy to perform songs by the legendary big bands of the swing era, but their repertoire also includes many jazz standards that are rarely heard today, as well as several of their own compositions. This time they pay tribute to the greatness of the world-famous guitarist Gábor Szabó, who died forty years ago on February 28, 1982, recalling one or two of his iconic songs, his jazz standards. In 2013, István Gyárfás was chosen as the jazz guitarist of the year by the readers of jazzma.hu, the most prestigious Hungarian jazz magazine, and in 2014 and 2015 he won the vote of critics there. In 2016, he was voted Guitarist of the Year by both critics and readers and jazz musicians alike. In 2015, he was awarded the most prestigious professional oeuvre award, the Gábor Szabó Award, for his artist career.

Jean-Marie Machado's music does not suffer from borders and hybridizes to make cultures and languages intertwine. In this album, the pianist brings together, under the pretty name of Majakka (the Finnish word for lighthouse), various pieces that have brought a particular color to his musical journey, inspired by his cultural heritage, his encounters and his prolific career as a composer. Pieces of life and music which are guiding him like the light of a lighthouse... "For the first time I felt like looking back and listening to some of my old records again," says Machado. "I saw a color come out and it was becoming mine, a light that imposed itself. I felt the need to accept something that had happened in spite of myself".

Zoltán Lantos, the violinist of the Artisjus Performing Arts Prize, will celebrate his round birthday at this concert, and singer Kriszta Pocsai will also join this special occasion as a guest artist. The band of Zoltán Lantos, OpenSource has reached a new chapter in its history with the latest alvum called Sonaris, released in 2018. “Lantos's compositions provide a very special merger of jazz rock, modern mainstream and Indian music. Listening to the disc, some inexplicable power passed through my body, my heart and soul, through which I saw images and colours and I felt scents.” wrote Károly Gáspár his quite personal feelings about the album on jazzma.hu. “Zoltán Lantos is an excellent composer, and even a better arranger, his music is almost palpable. (…) The five musicians of OpenSource play flawlessly and easily, the music is like the sounds of nature, when one harks the dawn in a forest. (…) Zoltán Lantos spent more than eight years in India in the eighties and nineties, but his orientalism is far from being assertive, it even can’t be noticed immediately: Indian music melts organically and inherently into his musical mother-tongue.” Máté Csabai, Fidelio

Paul Lay and his trio revisit and rewrite 100 years of American popular songs from Gospel songs to Nina Simone. "Deep Rivers is not random. This program is the culmination of a long maturation process that begins in the summer of 2017, shortly after a stunning concert by Paul Lay's trio at the Respire Jazz Festival. While preparing the events linked to the centenary of the arrival of jazz in Europe in 1918 and especially the hundredth anniversary of the first jazz concert on February 12, 1918 in Nantes, I was looking for musicians to entrust with specific projects. My idea was to play popular music from the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. Paul Lay immediately accepted the terms of this challenge and set about looking for emblematic compositions that he could offer to the voice of Isabel Sörling and the walking of Simon Tailleu". (Matthieu Jouan)

American trumpeter and singer Jaimie Branch is a standard-bearer of what is probably the most progressive jazz label and collective in the New World, International Anthem. This “white suburban lady” in a tracksuit and baseball cap and her African American band bring a socially and politically sensitive attitude back into jazz – something you could even call punk. “It’s a true joy to listen to Jaimie Branch’s Fly or Die. Jaimie’s masterful trumpet playing sits at the helm of this gorgeous record, richly supported by a stellar cast of musicians, and upheld by strong and provocative composition,” one reviewer wrote. Another suggested the band keeps opening new doors on an unknown world where you encounter something ancient, sweet and light-hearted.

After a very successful season performing at international festivals and prestigious music venues in Europe, Africa and Brazil, promoting his previous album Where Rio de Janeiro Meets Bahia, Mario Bakuna's latest release is Brazilian Landscapes. Conceived by Mario Bakuna, Brazilian Landscapes features new arrangements of material by great composers such as Emilio Santiago, Marcos Valle, Claudio Bertrami, Rique Pantoja, Gilberto Gil, Djavan, João Bosco, Arismar do Espirito Santo, and the 'forrozeiros' Dominguinhos and Luiz Gonzaga. Brazilian Landscapes is a tribute to the culture and memory of Brazilian people and it's the result of years of inspiration Mario Bakuna drew upon while travelling through Brazil, experiencing its rhythmic and harmonic richness. From the arid landscape in the northeast that's brought to the chorus of songs of Forró, Baião and Xaxado, to the African influence found in Ijexá, the popularity of Samba and the sophistication of Bossa Nova, Mario and his musicians celebrate the most musically rich territory on Earth. Brazilian Landscapes by Mario Bakuna Band