JazzTime
26-28 August 2022
2021 saw a renewed version of Müpa Budapest’s season-opening festival, which is traditionally of interest to jazz fans. The enthusiastic reception made it clear that the JazzTime festival was on the right path, and we will maintain the same direction in 2022. Ellington, classic Hungarian hits and Barbra Streisand: the last weekend in August promises to be magnificent fun.
The series of events will begin on Friday 26 August at the Festival Theatre with Echoes of Ellington, an international production prepared especially for the occasion. The eight-member band will be made up of German, Dutch, English and Hungarian musicians, while the artistic director is the saxophonist Frank Roberscheuten, who makes masterful arrangements for his quintet of woodwind players. Duke Ellington is a timeless composer, and the range of musical combinations on display this evening will further strengthen the sense we are listening to truly modern music.
On Saturday, the festival feeling will be in full swing at the Müpa Budapest Open Air Stage with concerts from two young groups, the 2022 Jazz Showcase Jury prize-winner and audience prize-winner Reggie Jonas Jr. Trio, and the Adrienne Bangó Quartet. At the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall, the Hot Jazz Band will produce a giant 'blowout' with a parade of special guests and bands to finally celebrate their 35th birthday, two years down the line.
On Sunday, once again there will be no shortage of guest artists in the Festival Theatre, as Orsi Kozma and her loyal accompanying band play a selection from the legendary Barbra Streisand’s jazz repertoire that will be full of absolute delights. The Mendelssohn Chamber Orchestra and the actor Tamás Szabó Kimmel will be on hand to help Orsi recreate Streisand’s world-famous hits and also provide some surprises in the form of her early, lesser-known songs.
We will also see Béla Szalóky in the role of host across the three-day festival – as we have for so many years. Indeed, he will also play the trombone at the Echoes of Ellington show on Friday!
