Biographies

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Arnie Somogyi - Bass
Visiting double bass teacher, and jazz history lecturer at Birmingham Conservatoire, Arnie's big bass sound is a leading part of Britain's bubbling Jazz scene and has featured on over 20 albums including Urban Species, Galliano, Omar and most recently Juliet Robert's 'Beneath the Surface'. He has worked with most leading British and international jazz musicians from Steve Grossman, James Moody, Bobby Hutcherson, Annie Ross and Clare Martin, to Art Farmer, Joey Calderazzo and Bud Shank. His first album as leader and composer, 'Cold Cherry Soup' was received with widespread critical acclaim and chosen as BBC Music Magazine's Jazz Pick of the Month. He also created and led the acclaimed Hungary Jazz Festival in Soho in May 2002, starring some of the UK's and Hungary's finest jazz artists.

Mihaly Borbely - Reeds
Between 1997 and 2000 Multi-reedist Mihály Borbély was the chairman at the Jazz Department at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, where he still teaches saxaphone and reed instruments. He got his degrees in classical clarinet and jazz saxophone from the Béla Bartók Conservatory and the Liszt Academy and has now become a versatile musician working in different musical styles from folk and world music to jazz and contemporary. He was originally trained on clarinet and alto saxophone, but later took up the soprano and tenor saxes and special folk instruments like tárogató, folk flutes, kaval, dvojnice, fujara, ocarina, bombarde and zurna. He is a member of the famous folk group the Vujicsics and a soloist of the international world music group,Vents d'Est'' (,,East Wind'') led by Michel Montanaro. He has also performed and recorded with legendary jazz flautist Herbie Mann as well as with Jiri Stivin, Zbignew Namislovsky, John Wetton (King Crimson, Asia) and jammed with the ROVA Saxophone Quartet. He also performed with composer-conductor Peter Eötvös and the National Philharmonic Orchestra. In the nineties he formed his own jazz groups, the world music-oriented Quartet B, the Borbély Workshop and a duo project with pianist Károly Binder.

Bela Szakcsi Lakatos - Piano
Trained at the Béla Bartók Conservatory, Szakcsi made his jazz début in Andor Kovács' group. By the mid-sixties he'd formed his own band and released the first album Anthology '67. In 1970, as a member of Aladár Pege's quartet, he won a prize at the Montreux Jazz Festival, opening the gates to an international career. Much admired by Chick Corea, he's played many high level international festivals from America to Asia and collaborated with jazz musicians from all over the world including percussionist George Jinda, Carmen Jones, Frank Zappa, Art Farmer, Mark Ledford, Dave Weckl, Omar Hakim, Jay Leonhart, Mike Richmond and many more. As soloist in Special EFX, formed by George Jinda and Chieli Minucci, Szakcsi was composer/performer on eleven albums. He also collects Gypsy folklore and adapts it to the stage - first Gypsy musical, Red Caravan opened in 1975, followed by Once upon a time a Gypsy girl, then Cartwheel. In 1989 he wrote The Beast, a rock opera based on the life of Erzsébet Báthory, commissioned by the Rock Theatre, and a hundred-minute ballet Cristoforo opened at the Hungarian State Opera.

Neil Yates - Trumpet, Celtic Bodhran & Whistle
Described variously as ‘a new legend for Irish music’, to ‘the best trumpet player in Britain’, Neil spent eight years recording with major pop artists including the Lighthouse Family, Supergrass, Alison Moyet, the Brand New Heavies and many more before moving out to North Wales to play and write his own music. Originally trained at Salford University and The Guildhall, London, he became involved in celtic and traditional music - working with such giants as Michael McGoldrick, Kate Rusby, John McCusker, Karen Matheson(Caperceille), Karen Tweed andJon Jo Kellie - and has the distinction of being the only person ever to interpret Irish traditional styles (rolls, turns, cranns etc) onto the trumpet- a big hit at major festivals across Europe. He formed "Yates/McGill Collective" mixing sounds of English/Irish folktune with textures of Gil Evans/Duke Ellington for the Manchester Jazz Festival 2000 to high acclaim, and has his own "e2K" band which combines jazz, English folksong, Irish melodies and rhythms from Ghana (West Africa), has a 2 album deal with Topic Records, London. "We'll be hearing a lot more from this talent" reckons The Observer’s Dave Gelly.

Kalman Balogh – Cimbalom – (On Tour)
Kalman Balogh is one of the foremost Hungarian cimbalom players, descended from a famous dynasty of Hungarian Gypsy musicians. His virtuosity is matched by his understanding and respect of his heritage. A graduate of Ferenc Listz Academy of Music of Budapest, he has completed many successful tours throughout the world with various ensembles, including three tours in North America. The cimbalom, a sort of oversized autoharp played with mallets like a vibraphone, possesses piano like percussive abilities to drive a band rhythmically or take the melodic lead. In Kalman Balogh’s expert hands, the cimbalom can do both simultaneously. His mastery of this unique and rare Hungarian folk instrument has mesmerized audiences.

Miklós Lukács- Cimbalom - (On–CD)
Winner of the Hungarian Composers Prize, Miklós Lukács has played the Cimbalom since he was six years old. Following classical training at the Ferenc Liszt Academy in Budapest, he then discovered a powerful interest in different musical styles from jazz and pop, to world and folk music. Miklós has been a regular member of top-line orchestras in both Hungary and abroad including the Boston Chamber Orchestra in the US, the Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Hungarian Philharmonic, and has played with international Jazz artists such as the Dresch Kuartett and the Mitsourgi Kuartett B. He also featured on Herbie Mann’s (TK) cd.

Tony Lakatos - Saxophones
Hungarian saxophonist Tony Lakatos is among the world's most popular sax players. In the US, his 1994 album "Recycling" went into the Top 10 of the radio jazz charts and his second - co-led by legendary drummer Al Foster - was equally successful with US-radio and European fans. His tough, original sound has proven his talent across many different jazz, funk and rock styles - recording on both the Jazzline and Lipstick labels. Tony is currently playing as a soloist for the Frankfurt-based HR Big Band.

Jeremy Price - Trombone
Head of Jazz Studies and director of the BMus(Hons) Jazz programme at Birmingham Conservatoire. he is also very active as a trombonist on the jazz scene. As a performer, Jeremy has worked with, among others, Stan Sulzmann, David Murray, Billy Cobham, Ron Carter and Randy Brecker and has played with Colin Towns' Mask Orchestra, London Sinfonietta and more recently the Mike Gibbs Big Band. Jeremy is also an active member of the London Jazz Orchestra and Hans Koller's "New Memories."As well as designing the syllabus for the degree course at the Conservatoire, Jeremy is the author of several Jazz Education books published by International Music Press and the ensemble series "Jazz Works" published by the Associated Board of the Royal School of Music.

Beata Salamon - Violin, Vocals
Beata is widely acknowledged as one of the foremost folk violinists in Hungary. In 1985 she founded the band Meta, one of the leading folk groups in Hungary and winner of the MTV (Hungarian TV) Folk award. She regularly travels to other Central European countries to study with leading folk musicians and has been featured on a number of recordings in Hungary. Beata also teaches folk music at the Nadasdy Art School and regular summer camps. Her work is also available in high street record shops in the UK and widely across Europe.

Zsolt Bende - Guitar, Violin
Recently graduated from a music degree at Berklee College, Boston in the US, Zsolt began playing piano and violin at an early age in his home-town of Marosvásárhely, Transylvania - a small town under Ceausescu's strict Romanian regime. In his teens he took up guitar and secretly learned how to play jazz from recordings smuggled into the country. After the fall of communism he crossed into Hungary where he lived for several years before moving to London. He is now working and playing in New York.

Winston Clifford - Drums
Winston’s unique drumming style is in big demand. After studying with ex-Tubby Hayes drummer Bill Eyden and Trevor Tomkins at the Guildhall, he’s played with Courtney Pine, Bheki Mseleku, Jason Rebello, Pete King, the Ronnie Scott Band, Julian Joseph, Andy Sheppard, the Jean Toussaint Band, Monty Alexander, Art Farmer, Archie Shepp, Freddie Hubbard and many others. He has also appeared on Channel 4, BBC 2 & ITV, numerous radio broadcasts and at international Festivals around the world. Recorded albums include Carmen Lundy, Dave O’Higgins, Jean Toussaint, Andy Hamilton, Ed Jones, the Harry Beckett Quintet & Jon Gee. Winston is also an original member of Arnie Somogyi’s Anglo-Hungarian 5-piece band, Cold Cherry Soup.