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Balázs Bágyi
Jazz drummer, composer and music educator, former President of The Hungarian Jazz Federation
About Me
Jazz drummer and composer Balázs Bágyi is one of the most respected artists of the European jazz scene
today, working internationally, collaborating with numerous musicians all over the world. He has been leading
his own bands over the past decades and being a member of different projects he creates music almost in all
genres. His unique style of playing the drums gives a complex and joyful audiovisual experience.
The Gabor Szabo, Gramofon and Artisjus awarded musician was born and raised in the south of Hungary. He
graduated with honor from the Jazz Department of the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy in Budapest, where he is
based today.
Traveling world wide he has played in more than 30 countries during the last 20 years. Out of Europe he had
concerts in the USA, Mexico, Jordan, Turkey and China. Beside collaborating with many musicians from his
native country he played with iconic American jazz greats such as former Bill Evans Trio bassist Chuck Israels
and saxophonist Dave Liebman. He has been working with and co-leading a Hungarian-American band called
Eastern Boundary Quartet since 2007, with New York bassist Joe Fonda and pianist Michael Jefry Stevens
beside his fellow Hungarian band mate Mihaly Borbely on woodwinds. Balázs has played with other New
Yorkers like Arthur Kell and Chuck Jennings, Los Angeles rooted vibraphonist Eldad Tarmu and did several
exchange projects with guitarist Eric Essix from Alabama in the past. Because of having relatives there, he
often stays in California, having gigs with local musicians like Reka Parker, Justin Grinell and Antar Martin.
Among the European artists he worked with English flautist Geoff Warren, Italian bass player Marcello
Sebastiani and Czech saxophonist Lubos Soukup just to name a few. He is a member of the Visegrad Jazz
Exchange program where he collaborates with top players of the Central-Eastern European jazz scene, like
Slovakian saxophonist Radovan Tariska, Polish guitarist Rafal Sarnecki and Czech bassist Tomas Baros. Balázs
has a big reputation in China where he is a respected artist and educator. He invited Shanghai based trumpet
player Li Xiaochuan to play with the Balázs Bágyi New Quartet at the Palace of Arts in Budapest in 2017 and
then they released an album together called China Jazz Suite in 2018.
