Béla Szakcsi Lakatos Presented by Liszt Academy

Béla Szakcsi Lakatos is a celebrity in Hungarian jazz circles, a living legend who has been in the business for nearly 60 years. Generations of artists have grown up listening to his music. Alongside the fact that this 75-year-old Kossuth Prize pianist speaks the language of jazz fluently, his musical sensitivity and virtuosity have been turned to good effect in many other genres, with his name associated with several stage productions and musical collections. His bands are world famous and his recordings enjoyed in all parts of the world. Improvization remains his favourite area: his play combines American bebop with features of Roma music, pop and classical, and this synthesis is permeated throughout with that inimitable passion, that childlike playfulness and that scientific attitude characterized by one word: Szakcsi.