Balázs Bágyi

His previous quartet under his name, that had existed from 2004 – 2011, was an important band on the Hungarian ethno-jazz a world music scene. The music of his new quartet, which was formed in 2013, contains less of the folk background but sounds like today’s pure acoustic contemporary jazz, based on post bop elements with classical and gipsy music flavours. His partners are the best players from Budapest, saxophonist Soso Lakatos, who studied and got his diploma in Amsterdam, the classically trained Junior Prima awarded pianist Dezso Olah, and Peter Olah, one of the greatest bass players in Central Europe. During the past decade the band played at many European jazz festivals (Bratislava Jazz Days, Jazz Juniors Krakow, Bansko Jazz Festival, Nisville, Mosaic Jazz Fest Sibiu, Sarajevo Winter, Petrovac Jazz Festival, Skopje Summer Festival, JazzKaar in Estonia…), and performed at a few really famous jazz clubs as Jazz Dock in Prague, B-Flat in Berlin, Jazzland in Wien, the Green Hours in Bucharest, Hogo Fogo in Banska Bystrica Slovakia, the Jassmine in Warsaw…just to name a few. Beside the European scene they regularly play in China, where they performed at several famous festivals and clubs like the Beijing Nine Gates Jazz Festival, Changchun Jazz Festival, Meeting Jazz Festival and club in X’ian, Taihu Jazz Festival, JZ Club Shanghai and they were the first Hungarian band ever played at the Blue Note Shanghai. The band was invited to the Amman Jazz Festival in Jordan in 2018 and they performed at the Eurojazz Festival in Mexico City in 2024. In 2016 their album Homage to Shakespeare featuring vocalist Kriszta Pocsai won Gramofon Award, given by an international jury, then they became “ the band of the year” on the JazzMa.hu online magazine’s readers poll. The quartet plays the original music of the bandleader who has won the category “the composer of the year” on the same poll in 2016. 

Beside being a bandleader he works as a sideman too, as the regular drummer of the Karoly Gaspar Trio, the Gabor Szalay Organ Trio and the Dr.Jazz Duo. When he is at home he often can be heard to play at the Budapest Jazz Club and the Opus Jazz Club with the above mentioned formations and he works at the Kolibri Theater as well. 

Apart from having a successful international career as a professional musician Balázs is an active music educator and clinician, a mentor at the National Cultural Fund of Hungary, member of the board of the Dezső Ablakos Lakatos state scholarship supporting young jazz artists. He worked in the Junior Prima Award commitee in 2023 and he has won a scholarship at the Hungarian Art Academy (2022-2025). Balázs Bágyi was the president of the Hungarian Jazz Federation from 2013 till 2023.