4th MOL Jazz Festival Budapest, 2006 September 13-17

2006 is the fourth year of the MOL Jazz Festival Budapest – an event that has become a unique feature of the district of Ferencváros (hitherto best known for its football team). Once more, between 13th and 17th September, the Festival will hold the attention of jazzlovers who, we believe, will turn out in droves again at the twelve venues in Ferencváros providing the music. Apart from world class performers from abroad, the mainliners of the festival will still be the Hungarian jazz-musicians.The festival will focus on brass-players this time.

The opening and closing sessions will be held again at the Palace of Arts (M?vészetek Palotája) where the concert halls have some of the best acoustics in the world. The Portuguese diva, Maria João and her band will provide the opener. Her act is a real gem not to be missed. The second half of the opening session will present the highly rated and world famous New York trumpeter, Wallace Roney who will play with the adventurous Modern Art Orchestra led by another trumpet-man, Kornél Fekete-Kovács. Apart from the leader’s own compositions a few pieces are also likely to be revived from the material of the legendary Miles Davis/Gil Evans album, Sketches of Spain. The closing concert will kick off with the Tin-Tin Quintet featuring Kornél Fekete-Kovács and concludes with Canadian trombonist, Tom Walsh teaming up with Hungarian fellow-musicians.

Near the old Communal Depots (Közraktár) there’ll be a massive tent holding 1500 people where top-notch European jazz stars like Miroslav Vitous, Franco Ambrosetti, Sylvain Luc, Michel Portal, Tomasz Stanko, Robin Eubanks and Gerard Presencer will perform. The cutting edge of Hungarian jazz will be represented by Elemér Balázs, László Dés, Gábor Gadó, Béla Szakcsi Lakatos and Gábor Winand.
On the Jazz Ship Europe three EU countries: Belgium, Holland and France will be represented with a band from each.
On the open-air stage in Ráday Street and in the surrounding cafés talented young Hungarian bands will gig after hours.

We are providing a platform for various styles and voicings of jazz, presenting a uniquely rich and diverse programme consisting of 40 acts. We have chosen our venues with care and made sure of the technical excellence of sound, so we hope to attract not only the regular devotees of jazz but look forward to welcoming lots of new ’converts’ too.