Jazz Showcase

7-9 February 2025

With this 18th instalment of Jazz Showcase, one of Europe’s most important jazz talent exchanges is coming of age. The free event, which starts at 4.30 pm on each of the three days, will once again bring to the stage six extremely promising up-and-coming bands selected by a preliminary jury from a host of applicants. Kicking off the events on Friday will be the Márton Lukács Trio and the Négyessy Barnabás Quartet, followed on Saturday by the Balázs Horváth Quartet and the band Tilia, and on Sunday by Dilladelphia and the Szabolcs Horváth Quartet.

Each of these 50-minute concerts will be preceded by a discussion led by László Jazzkovács to help us get to know these young talents better, and anyone who finds themselves unable to attend this invariably unforgettable event will also be able to follow it online. Apart from the prizes awarded by the international jury made up of renowned professionals, the audience can also vote for their favourites, with winners gaining valuable opportunities to perform. Heading the jury will be trumpeter, composer and bandleader Kornél Fekete-Kovács. The winners of the professional and audience awards will return to Müpa Budapest on 30 April as part of International Jazz Day. The event’s cooperating partners are also sponsoring a number of other special prizes for the young artists.

The evening concerts will once again shift the spotlight to familiar established artists. On Friday, 7 February, Junior Artisjus, Junior Prima and Creative Art award-winning multi-instrumentalist Petra Várallyay will open the series with her brand new material Circles in Motion. Usually performing alone – supplying vocals, violin and keyboards – with the help of a looper, at this concert she will be accompanied by musicians who have never been on stage together before. On Saturday the 8th, pianist/composer Zsigmond Gerlóczy, who has attracted the attention of several world-famous artists, will present his album Future Sounds, recorded in Los Angeles, in the company of French guitarist Antoine Boyer, who himself is celebrated throughout Europe. The two will also perform some new songs for the first time, as well as joint compositions of theirs. Taking the stage on Sunday will be the musicians of France’s Underground Canopy, joined by figures from the Budapest improv scene, including Fanni Zahár and Ádám Klausz, as well as Dombeats and Mukunda Papp, who are regular guests of Jazzbois.

Admission to the afternoon events is free of charge.