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| Daniel Szabo Trio and Marta Topferova at the Kimmel Center Hungarian pianist-composer Daniel Szabo and his Trio explore Eastern European jazz at the Kimmel Center's Perelman Theater on Saturday, March 29, 2008 at 7:30pm as part of the Mellon Jazz Up Close “Goes Global" Series. Inspired by the colorful and complex cultural environment of Eastern Europe, the trio blends Hungarian traditional music with contemporary American jazz in both original compositions and standard arrangements, as heard on the trio's most recent release, Frictions. Szabo, who won the prestigious Martial Solal International Jazz Piano Competition in 2006, has performed with bassist Matyas Szandai and drummer Andras Mohay at festivals, concert halls and clubs internationally, and in collaborations with renowned jazz artists Kurt Rosenwinkel, Chris Potter, John Ellis, Rosario Giuliani and Flavio Boltro. Czech vocalist Marta Topferova joins the trio on stage, providing Latin American folk influences for a truly global experience. "Marta Topferova is a Czech singer whose heart is in Latin American music. She dips into styles from across the Caribbean and South America--Cuban son, Venezuelan joropo, Puerto Rican bomba--plays the cuatro and sings with an elegant longing in her voice."--New York Times An Artist Chat will take place with Daniel Szabo, Marta Topferova, Kimmel Center Vice President of Programming and Education Mervon Mehta and Mellon Jazz Up Close Series Artistic Advisor Danilo Prez during the ticketed performance. This concert is the fourth concert in the Mellon Jazz Up Close “Goes Global" Series scheduled for the Kimmel Center Presents 2007/2008 season. The next concert in the series will be Western Europe with Danilo Prez, Gerardo Nez and John Patitucci on Saturday, May 3, 2008 at 7:30pm. "Once in a while, a teacher gets rewarded with a brilliant student. My two years with Dan Szabo at the New England Conservatory were indeed a gift--he is a pianist with unlimited potential and a composer that makes my heart sing. I deeply feel that he is an important musician for the coming years."--Bob Brookmeyer of New England Conservatory Born into a family of musicians, Daniel Szabo started playing the piano at the age of four in his native Hungary, and was soon performing across Europe as a soloist and in various ensembles. Szabo received comprehensive training in the arts from the Ferenc Martyn School of Free Arts, The University of Pcs and the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. In 2001, Szabo continued his education on a full scholarship to the Henry Mancini Institute in Los Angeles where he performed with such luminaries as Randy Brecker, Christian McBride, Roy Hargrove, Vince Mendoza, Dave Carpenter, Eric Marienthal and Peter Erskine. He received his master's degree in 2005 from New England Conservatory in Boston, studying on a full scholarship under Bob Brookmeyer and jazz pianist Danilo Prez. As founder and frontman of the Daniel Szabo Trio, Szabo has been performing regularly at international festivals, concert halls and clubs. The trio's most recent album, Frictions, was released in August of 2007 and features a guest appearance by New York guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel. From an early age, Marta Topferova sang in a variety of languages including Latin, German, Spanish, French, Russian, Finnish and Czech. However, she quickly became enamored with the sounds of Latin America, and moved to Spain to further develop as a musician before settling in New York City in 1996. Since then, she has been actively composing, arranging and performing her original songs as well as collaborating with other groups including Lucia Pulido and Fiesta De Tambores, Los Acustilocos and Flameno Latino, among others. Topferova has performed in many venues in New York City and across the U.S. She has participated in festivals such as the World Music Festival in Chicago, Tanglewood Jazz Festival and internationally at the Brighton Festival, London Jazz Festival, Vienna Jazz Festival and many others. She has been featured on numerous television and radio programs, including BBC's “The World" and NPR's “Around Noon." Her 2006 release, Flor Nocturna, garnered rave reviews. write your comments about the article :: © 2008 Jazz News :: home page |