Gabor Szabo 90 – opening
Exhibition opening
Exhibition/Installation
Szervezés:
This programme is held in Hungarian.
The most renowned Hungarian jazz guitarist
Undoubtedly the most internationally known and most acclaimed Hungarian jazz guitarist is Gábor Szabó (1936–1982), who lived and created in the United States from a young age. In homage to his art, the Hungarian Jazz Association founded in 1992 what remains to this day the most important professional award.
By the mid-1950s, Szabó was already present at the era’s most important jam sessions in Budapest; for a short time he performed with Menyus Totth’s band at the Astoria bar, and in the summer of 1956 he even made a radio recording as a member of Tamás Deák’s ensemble. After the crushing of the revolution, he left the country at the age of twenty as an ambitious musician, settling first in Austria and then in the United States. After graduating from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, he joined drummer Chico Hamilton’s quintet, with which he recorded numerous memorable albums. In this formation he met Charles Lloyd, in whose quintet he later also played. The year 1964 brought him true professional recognition: in Down Beat’s critics’ poll, in the Best New Guitarist of the Year category, he triumphed – sharing the honor with Attila Zoller – and, moreover, in the overall ranking of jazz guitarists he placed eighth. In 1965 he formed his first own band, with which he released perhaps his most famous album, the energetic, Latin jazz–infused Spellbinder. It features his best-known track, Gypsy Queen, which in 1970 – appended to Black Magic Woman – became a global hit in Carlos Santana’s version.
Szabó first returned to Hungary in 1974, and after that he came home twice more – the last time, essentially, to die. Not long after he released his final LP, Femme Fatale, already in Hungary.
This year the guitar genius would have turned 90. We are still trying to get to know his to-this-day mystical life path through photographs and letters from the family archive, as well as album covers that are hard to access in Hungary! At the opening, the artist’s nephew, Sándor Darányi, will also commemorate his legendary relative, alongside biographer Károly Libisch and jazz guitarist and researcher András Párniczky. The latter’s quintet will recall Szabó’s excellent compositions with a mini-concert in the following line-up: Péter Bede – tárogató, Yancha Nagy – keyboards, piano, Péter Ajtai – double bass, Ágoston Szabó-Sipos – drums, and András Párniczky – guitar.
The exhibition can be visited until January 2027.
Dear Visitor, We kindly inform you that during the event, photographs, audio recordings, and/or video recordings may be taken. By attending the event, you consent to the recording of such materials through your implied conduct.
