It was in 1970 that the fusion wave built on the combination of jazz and progressive rock made it to Hungary, with its leading representative indisputably the ensemble Syrius. This quintet composed of Miklós "Jackie” Orszáczky, Zsolt Baronits, László Pataki, Mihály Ráduly and András Veszelinov released its 1971 album The Devil's Masquerade in Australia and was standing on the threshold of world renown, but political conditions in Hungary stood in their way. Syrius continued as a functioning group, with a changing line-up, until 1978 and gave its last concert in 2001, on Margaret Island.
Syrius Legacy, formed in 2014 in order to play legendary Syrius compositions in a modern jazz arrangement, is much more than just a tribute band. They consider it their calling to bring the riches of Syrius's music to generations that never got the chance to hear the original pieces. The band is made up of young musicians, winners of prestigious competitions in Hungary and abroad, including Tamás Ludányi, the victor at Müpa Budapest's Jazz Showcase 2017, the Junior Prima Award-winning Tibor Fonay, and, Ákos Benkó, who is scarcely 30 years old and already teaching at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. Their first album, Devil's Masquerade Reloaded, came out in the autumn of 2015 and was nominated for a Fonogram Award. The suite Broken Dreams has now appeared on disc for the first time since the original Syrius project structured around the works of Hungarian poets came out 44 years ago. Joining them for this one concert will be Tibor Tátrai, the iconic Hungarian rock guitarist who was himself briefly a member of Syrius from 1972.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest