Jazz Showcase Budapest

Jazz Showcase Budapest
Jazz legends of today and tomorrow in the Palace of Arts

http://mupa.hu/en/jazz-showcase-2012/

Tim Ries, sax player of Rolling Stones, Grammy-award winner Nicholas Payton, legendary bass player Miroslav Vitous, the Marcin Wasilewski Trio already successful at Sziget Festival and two talented young men from Komárno (Slovakia): 14-years-old drummer David Hodek and guitar player Andreas Varady – only a few examples of the intriguing guests of the Jazz Showcase organized between 13 and 15 January 2012.

This year's Showcase features artists from the Visegrád countries: Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia. On Friday night 13 January, the first evening concert will focus on the Marcin Wasilewski Trio who already had roaring success in the Palace of Arts Jazz Tent at the 2006 Sziget festival. From 2001 on, their albums have been published by the most influential European jazz publishing company – ECM. At the beginning, they played together with the iconic trumpet player Tomasz Stanko and from 2004 they are developing their own music. Now the audience will hear their newest album 'Faithful' at the Festival Theatre.

On 14 January, the amazing drummer David Hodek and his band will play together with guitar player Andreas Varady who is of the same age but has already been a cover face of the Guitar Player magazine. They will be joined by International Composition Award winner Péter Sárik on the piano, accompanied by two amazing musicians from the US: sax player and vocorder artist Casey Benjamin and bass player Corcoran Holt.
Both David Hodek and Andreas Varady come from Komárno, Slovakia and they have played together for years. Although Andreas moved to Ireland with his parents in 2008, close cooperation remained so that Hodek and the two Varadys are touring with a common band. In March 2012, they will take part of a 28-part European tour. Also in March, they will appear on the TV Total Show by Stefan Raab which has a 10 million audience.
First time in the history of the Jazz Showcase, the Sunday-night concert – actually a Visegrád–US summit – will take place at the National Concert Hall. The meeting of the Senior Big Band headed by Attila László and the guest bass player Miroslav Vitous tops off the "Czech day". Vitous comes from the Czech Republic, although his talents and good fortune led him to the most famous fusion jazz formation, the Weather Report band already at the beginning of his carreer. After the interval, as a highlight of the concert and the whole Jazz Showcase drummer Elemér Balázs together with pianist József Balázs and bass player Krisztián Pecek Lakatos will form a quintet with two first-line musicians from the US: Tim Ries, sax player of the Rolling Stones and Nicholas Payton, Grammy-award winner trumpet player from New Orleans. Payton does not only feel himself at home in jazz circles, but also in R&B and hip-hop. He has participated in more than 120 recordings as solo player, composer, arranger, guest star or accompanying musician.
The Jazz Showcase has a tradition of inviting world-class musicians representing the newest styles of jazz to the evening concerts at the Palace of Arts. The aims of the afternoon 'talent market' are also unchanged.
This is an opportunity for young jazz musicians at the start of their career to introduce themselves in the most prestigious cultural institution of our country. Here they may find their partners among the European professionals, publishers of thematic press, festival organizers and managers and thus approach the international audience. The initiative has already lead to many successful projects: The festival has seen Veronika Harcsa, the Transform Quintet, Juli Fábián, Roland Balogh and David Hodek who first appeared at the festival last year, when being 13 years' old.

The Jazz Showcase is supported by the International Visegrad Fund.