Twice winner of the eMeRTon Prize, as well as the Líra Prize and Louis Armstrong Memorial Prize, the Hot Jazz Band does not merely sweep all lovers of the jazz of the 1920s, ‘30s and ‘40s off their feet in Hungary. At Europe’s most important competition for traditional jazz, the International New Orleans Jazz Competition in France, the band finished in first place ahead of 53 other competitors; moreover, they have been voted most popular band at two of their six appearances at the legendary Sacramento Jazz Jubilee. A special element of their performances is that, as well as the great American composers and performers such as Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, George Gershwin and Duke Ellington, Hungarian artists of the classical jazz age such as Katalin Karády, Pál Kalmár, Kálmán Latabár, Gyula Kabos, Mihály Eisemann and Alfréd Márkus also play a crucial role.
The emphasis this evening, however, is on the repertoire of American standards, since the language of the Hot Jazz Band’s guest vocalist Denise Gordon is English. Appearing as the first guest singer of the band’s domestic concert career, the exotically beautiful Gordon traces her lineage to the former British colony of Saint Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean Sea, but was born herself in the United Kingdom. Thanks to her Afro-Caribbean musical heritage, Gordon was exposed to gospel, jazz, blues, soul and spirituals from a very young age. She has performed across the world from Australia to Zimbabwe – and, to our great delight, is now set to tick off the letter H on her international odyssey. She has sung before Queen Elizabeth II, for presidents and even for Pope John Paul II. As a special treat this evening, Gordon will also sing some duets with the Hot Jazz Band’s leader Tamás Bényei.

Presented by: Palace of Arts