"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. He began his musical studies as a classical clarinetist, and later started to learn jazz saxophone playing. He graduated at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, and he not only had the opportunity to perform in many parts of the world (South Korea, Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil, Morocco), but also to learn about musical heritages outside of Western musical traditions. He composed a couple of filmscores, and studying Turkish classical and folk music is another current inspiration for him, the impact of which is echoing in his compositions. His long-cherished dream of founding his own trio came true with the pandemic. He invited two talents of the young Hungarian jazz generation, guitarist Péter Cseh and drummer Tamás Hidász into this musical adventure. This evening, they will also be joined by the virtuosic master of the cimbalom, Kálmán Balogh. www.mesterdaniel.com

Manel Ferreira and Márton Stummer's acquaintance began with the European Guitar Award’s 2021 edition in Dresden, where they both won a prize. But this is only one of the many things they have in common: they both build a colourful musical universe with a penchant for Latin American, classical-contemporary and flamenco guitar music, mixing these influences with jazz. This diversity also extends to the lineups, as this concert will feature solo, duo, trio and quartet performances of their original compositions and Latin American guitar pieces. In the rhythm section we find two members of Márton Stummer's new trio, Ambrus Richter and Márk Miskolczi.

With their outside-of-genres, song-centric compositions, Subtones has become a favourite concert band on the Hungarian jazz-pop scene in just a few years. In order to connect even more directly with the Hungarian audience, their award-winning album Lángolj features only Hungarian-language songs with lyrics written by Mátyás Szepesi and Péter Závada. Subtones, founded in 2019 by trumpeter Gábor Subicz, is one of Hungary's most exciting supergroups. The arrival of vocalists Vera Jónás and Flóra Kiss has pushed the band towards vocal forms. "Right from the beginning, when this line-up was born, it became clear to me that I wasn't driven by a desire to communicate. With Subtones, I want to make music that I enjoy listening to. People often ask whether Subtones plays jazz or something else. For me, jazz is a mindset: you have to leave as many possibilities open as possible, while excluding playing music just out of habit. I love it when I don't know what other people are going to play, and those are my favourite moments when we kick the chair out from under us. There are so many different elements to our music, we play on quite a variety of stages, from TV studios to jazz clubs to festivals, and I feel that our music is relevant everywhere. With Hungarian lyrics we want to get closer to the audience. I feel that in a local context, English lyrics are a bit of a hiding, a mask. In our own mother tongue, the effect is much more instinctive, the song flies directly into the listener's ears", says Gábor Subicz, band leader and mastermind behind Subtones.  

Details soon...

This album has been overshadowed by an even more legendary recording, but it has a lot of beauty. Saxophonist Paul Desmond is the only member of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, apart from the bandleader, to become a big name outside that quartet. Desmond recorded the album Time Out with the Dave Brubeck Quartet in August 1959 - one of the most successful jazz albums ever made. In September, guitarist Jim Hall, as well as Percy Heath and Connie Kay of the Modern Jazz Quartet joined Desmond for his second solo outing, producing another example of the golden age of laid-back, cool, elegant, swinging jazz. The quartet consistently and unwaveringly performs the hits of the era, which include MJQ numbers and standards, but the CD reissue also includes a Desmond composition. The alto saxophone is lilting and flattering, seductive and reassuring. That's why it was voted number one again in Playboy magazine that year, as the album title suggests. As many of the series’ regulars will have guessed, Árpád Dennert will evoke the sound of one of the saxophone’s unforgettable masters with the MAO's rhythm section.