This album is put together for the purpose of documenting and promoting the alternative jazz scene in Budapest, which is arguably the most creative, impassioned and distinctive niche in the musical life of the Hungarian capital. The tracks included in the collection, five of which were remastered for this release, were originally published between 2013 and 2022, most of them without the support of a label. Even though the album is framed as “jazz”, focusing on the common musical background of most of the artists represented here, it should be of interest also to the aficionados of prog, psychedelia, ethnic fusion, and contemporary experimental music; the works included herein abolish the boundaries between these styles and often display a means of expression that is harsher, darker or weirder than customary jazz. Perhaps the peculiarity of the Hungarian alternative jazz scene is owed to a rich local history of jazz, both conventional and experimental, joint by a confrontational, deconstructivist attitude rooted in the Hungarian avant-rock and post-punk of the 1980s, and a curiosity towards non-Western musical elements that go all the way back to Béla Bartók and to the cosmopolitan characteristic of the country’s traditional music which is made up of Magyar, Jewish and Roma ingredients; or perhaps it doesn’t have much to do with all these and more with the idiosyncratic character and musical genius of the individual musicians. The listener should keep in mind that what is presented here is only a fragment of what is going on in the underground jazz world of Budapest: many important performers had to be excluded from the collection in order to delineate the scope, including most of the free improvisation formations and the older generation of musicians who are still active in the scene.
There will be an album release party on 7 October 2023 in Gólya, Budapest, featuring Gentry Sultan, Sauropoda, Inverted Spectrum Records DJ Set, and an improvisational quartet curated specifically for the event, composed of Péter Ajtai (bass), János Bujdosó (guitar), Ádám Czitrom (guitar), and Attila Gyárfás (drums).
The background story of the album and interviews with six of the participating bands can be found in It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine:
psychedelicbabymag.com/2024/01/the-underground-jazz-scene-in-hungary.html
released September 22, 2023
The Underground Jazz Scene in Budapest Today:
an Adventurous Introduction
Compiled by Işık Sarıhan, 2023.
Released digitally by Inverted Spectrum Records, 22 September 2023. (ISR016)
© All rights reserved by the artists and/or the record labels where mentioned.
Remastering by Özüm İtez.
Cover art by István Nyolczas (date and title unknown).
Thanks to Nándor Hevesi, Máté Takács, Marci Bíró, Özüm İtez, Ágnes Bakk, Hunnia Records, Prepost Records, Sinistra, and Gólya.
(01) Bujdosó Trio – Full Time Scapegoating (2:22)
János Bujdosó: guitar; Ádám Klausz: drums; Dani Szerető: bass.
Composed by János Bujdosó.
Remastered by Özüm İtez.
Originally released on the album "National Amnesia Institute" (2019).
Video (original mastering):
youtube.com/watch?v=GNU0R33Iv_E
triobujdoso.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/bujdosotrio
(02) Deus Ex Quartet – Creepta Cracker (5:21)
Kristóf Velsz: guitar; Márk Csernovszky: keyboards; Márton Csernovszky: bass; Márk Gasner: drums.
Composed by Márton Csernovszky.
Recorded at Kék Ló, Budapest, March 2018; mixed and mastered by Márton Csernovszky; remastered by Özüm İtez.
Originally released on the album “Horus” (2019).
Live video:
youtube.com/watch?v=6PZ5KcjDbhE
deusexquartet.bandcamp.com
(03) Kinetic Erotic – Inferno (3:40)
Szabolcs Vereb: tenor saxophone; Márton Csernovszky: bass; Márk Gasner: drums.
Composed by Kinetic Erotic.
Recorded live in Lumen club, Budapest. Recorded, mixed, mastered and produced by Dávid Tamás Pap.
Originally released on the album “Kinetic Erotic” (Prepost Records, 2021).
Video:
youtube.com/watch?v=VAzsZlLwrJw
kineticerotic.bandcamp.com
(04) Gentry Sultan – Chewing Gum or Something (5:42)
László Horváth: trumpet, fusax; Szabolcs Vereb: saxophone; Nándor Hevesi: double bass, keyboard; Gergely Kovács: drums.
Composed by Gentry Sultan.
Recorded and mixed by Krisztián Keszei; mastered by László Válik.
Originally released on the album “Guerilla Fresco” (2018).
Live video:
youtube.com/watch?v=OUIhIOP_2Ng
gentrysultan.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/gentrysultan
(05) Attila Gyárfás Trio – Cloud Factory (4:17)
Márton Fenyvesi: guitar; Marco Zenini: double bass; Attila Gyárfás: drums; Felician Erlenburg: alto saxophone; Jason Alder: clarinet, bass clarinet.
Composed by Attila Gyárfás.
Recorded at Studio-2, Amsterdam, June 2015 by Lex Tanger; mixed by Márton Fenyvesi and Attila Gyárfás; mastered by András Imre Nyerges; remastered by Özüm İtez; produced by Attila Gyárfás.
Originally released on the album “Cloud Factory” (Sinistra, 2018).
attilagyarfas.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/attilagyarfasmusic/
(06) Sauropoda – Unfinished (7:11)
Domokos Krizbai: guitar, effects; Zsolt Vaszkó: bass; Peter Lukács: drums.
Composed by Sauropoda.
Recorded and mixed by Gábor Földes; mastered by Szabolcs Harmath; remastered by Özüm İtez.
Originally released on the album “Penga” (2021).
Video (original mastering):
youtube.com/watch?v=FmwPiNGv-fw
sauropoda.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/sauropodatrio
(07) microdosemike – titán (7:39)
Ronald Mothokgo: drums; Csaba Kónya: bass; Dániel Bárány: saxophone; Miklós Kerner: trumpet, keys; Zsombor Törteli: guitar; Tamás Uhel: guitar.
Composed by microdosemike.
Recorded by Bence Ambrus at Psychedelic Source Records.
Originally released on the album “microdosemike” (2022).
Live video:
youtube.com/watch?v=wMie4NQmurY
microdosemike.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/microdosemike/
(08) Dorota – Dark in Frik (3:14)
Dávid Somló: guitar; Dániel Makkai: bass; Áron Porteleki: drums. Found recordings: saxophone (player unknown), keyboard (Dávid Somló).
Composed by Dorota.
Recorded by Dávid Tamás Pap at Makkai residency, Kosd, 2012.
Originally released on the album “FRIK / II. Miss Favour” (2015).
dorota.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/dorota.band
(09) Qiyan – Una Matica de Ruda (7:32)
Peter Ajtai: double bass; Dániel Cseke: baritone saxophone; Ákos Szelevényi: tenor saxophone; Aram Shelton: alto saxophone; Vito Szelevényi: trumpet; Ádám Czitrom: guitar; Ádám Mészáros: guitar; Áron Porteleki: drums.
Composed by: anonymous (Sephardic); arranged by Peter Ajtai.
Originally released on the album “Qiyan” (Hunnia Records, 2020).
qiyan.bandcamp.com
music.youtube.com/channel/UChPWz8msVGRSxnDcdK6TecQ
(10) Czitrom & Porteleki – Secrets of the Fisherman’s Wife (Acoustic Take) (8:35)
Ádám Czitrom: guitar; Áron Porteleki: drums.
Composed by Ádám Czitrom.
Recorded by Pap Dávid Tamás in the basement of Auróra club, Budapest, 2015. Mixed and mastered by Puha Szabolcs.
Originally released on the album “Secrets of The Fisherman's Wife” (2015).
Live video:
youtube.com/watch?v=Fyg9_hswHyw
czitromporteleki.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/czitromporteleki
(11) 12z – Circling Gulls Above Monitor Lizard (5:31)
Marci Kristóf: electronics; Áron Porteleki: drums; Bálint Szabó: guitar.
Improvised by 12z.
Recorded in Dömös, 2013; mixed by 12z; mastered by László Válik; remastered by Özüm İtez.
Originally released on the album “12z [onetwozed]” (2013).
12ztrio.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/12ztrio
(12) Decolonize Your Mind Society – Crazy (4:22)
Ernő Hock: fretless bass; Gergő Kováts: saxophone; Áron Porteleki: drums; Máté Pozsár: synth; Bálint Szabó: fretless guitar; Dániel Váczi: glissonic.
Composed by Decolonize Your Mind Society.
Recorded at Supersize Recording Studio, Budapest, 2022; recorded, mixed and mastered by Dexter.
Originally released on the single “How Am I Supposed to Play?” (Hunnia Records, 2022).
decolonizeyourmind.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/decolonizeyourmindsociety
decolonizeyourmind.net
