MUSICIAN'S XCHANGE PROGRAMME: ZOLTAN ZANA
“"Zana....a virtuoso"”
ProgVisions
Originally from the industrial North of Hungary, this quietlyspoken and thoughtful musician is widely considered to be one of the finest and most versatile saxophone players on the Hungarian Jazz/contemporary music scene. He first came to public attention in 1999 when, as a student at the highly regarded Ferenc Liszt Academy, he won the Dezső Lakatos 'Ablakos' Saxophone Talent Contest organised by the Hungarian National Radio. Following his graduation from the Academy in 2001 his exceptional talent was recognised when he was invited to the Berklee School of Music in Boston to take part in a programme featuring the 100 most promising young musicians from around the world. His performances in Boston led to him being asked to join the European Youth Jazz Orchestra, and from there he was soon being featured in an impressive array of Hungarian and pan-European bands. Since that time Zoltan has appeared with some of the finest players in Hungary and beyond, including the Budapest Jazz Orchestra, the Daniel Szabó Quartet and the award winning Equinox, with whom he has toured and recorded widely. He also includes work with his own quintet, producing the excellent album "First Steps", as well as with the doyen of Hungarian jazz, the great pianist Béla Szakcsi Lakatos who described Zoltan as "arguably the best tenor-player in the country", which coming from one of the iconic figures of Hungarian jazz is praise indeed! With a beautiful tone and flawless lyricism, Zoltan's playing is wonderfully fluent and creative, no matter what context he is performing in, leading one critic to describe him as “Hungary’s answer to Stan Getz”. Tonight Zoltan will be performing his straight ahead jazz standards set with the occasional melodic original accompanied by a world class UK rhythm section of: Jim Watson (Katie Melua, Manu Katché) piano, Steve Watts (Kenny Wheeler, Joe Lovano) bass and Chris Higginbottom (Kyle Eastwood, Seamus Blake) drums. I actually heard Zoltan performing in Budapest a little while back and was so impressed that I specifically asked for him to be included in our exchange programme. A very impressive player and a guaranteed great night out.