Opus Jazz Club in Budapest forms part of the Budapest Music Centre (BMC), a centre for contemporary music in general and for jazz in particular. Built just over a decade ago, there’s a concert hall, rehearsal rooms, a recording studio, a library and it gives a creative home for two of Hungary’s contemporary music trailblazers, Peter Eötvös, now 80, and the legend: 98 year old György Kurtág.
The Opus Jazz Club itself is not only a performance space, it has to be considered together with the BMC record label, run under the fatherly eyes of Tamas Bognar. The label is prolific, usually recording in its own studio in the basement of the building; there’s a wide range of fascinating jazz, from across Europe, many seemingly with French musicians involved and, recently, that of Robin Fincker, Lauren Kinsella and Kit Downes, but especially, and naturally, Hungary. There is also contemporary music from the leading Hungarian composers. In the first half of 2024 alone, there are 14 new projects on the go. As with labels in some other countries which find a balance between furthering the causes of local and international artists so well, such as Clean Feed in Portugal and Intakt in Switzerland, excellent possibilities are offered for local artists to rub shoulders with iconic international musicians.
One of those releases to come is from guitarist Gábor Gadó. I attended a rehearsal ahead of his recording. Very intricate with its own sound world, it felt like a song cycle with a band including singer Veronika Harcsa and Belgian trumpeter Laurent Blondiau.
I was also able to hear a concert at the club by Organic Soulfood, with saxophonist Daniel Erdmann, Jim Hart (on drums instead of vibes ) plus French Hammond organist Antonin Rayon. Their gig was the culmination of a three-day recording session and the album will appear later in the year. We heard from Rayon some sounds that seemed to echo the amazing church organists of France, so that at one point during “DE Phone Home” he sounded Bach-like! We heard great colours and melodic range from Jim Hart’s drumming throughout, such as on his tune, “Mumble Jumble”, a version of which is also on the recent Velvet Revolution album. Erdmann is a charismatic and imaginative saxophonist with a touch of impish humour, not just in this trio and Velvet Revolution, but also in his sextet Therapie de Couple and his trio with Robin Fincker and Vincent Courtois (REVIEW). Throughout, there’s quick-fire interplay – and their joy of playing together really communicates with us. With this pedigree, it’s perhaps hardly surprising that they ended a song by Tom Waits, “I Wish I Was In New Orleans”.
On the second night, I heard a Hungarian band, Fifth Column, which mixes traditional music with jazz and chanson. Amazing dervish-like cimbalom from Ferenc Zimber as well as string-playing from Sándor Csoóri Jr on viola, also leader of the group, and Máté Hegedűs on violin. The rhythmic drive was provided by the complex, but potentially danceable, powerhouse of Csaba Novák on bass, even in unusual time signatures. It shows how much jazz in this part of the world has evolved out of the strong folk tradition and interacting with improvisation. A link to chanson was provided by vocalist Izabella Caussanel, who has roots in both France and Hungary.
High expectations of how the BMC label is run were emphatically confirmed by this trip, as were those of the very high quality programming at the Opus Jazz Club.
