Dresch Mihály Quartet
Orchestra, choir, ensemble
Mihály Dresch (1955, Budapest) was an engineering student of seventeen when he turned to jazz under the influence of Johnny Griffin. After completing his studies in jazz at the Béla Bartók Conservatory in 1979, he linked up with the vanguard of Hungarian mainstream jazz, and although since then he has created an independent musical world, he has not completely broken away from 'traditional' jazz. To this day, his albums feature the odd evergreen piece - this is his way of paying homage to the masters.
Mihály Dresch founded his first band in 1984. By the mid-90s its line-up had changed several times: on the albums "Sóhajkeserű˝ and "Gondolatok a régiekről˝ we can hear István Grencsó (wind instruments), Róbert Benkő (bass) and István Baló (drums), the record ˝Zeng a lélek˝ features Tamás Geröly on drums and Félix Lajkó on violin, then in 1994 Lajkó was replaced by Ferenc Kovács (violin, trumpet).
In 1998 István Baló started to play the drums in the quartet again and the young Mátyás Szandai become the new bass player. The first album of the new formation was released in England with the title Riding the Wind in 2000. One year later, it was followed by Quiet as it is and in 2002 by the Hungarian bebop. Latter album, which was recorded with the co-operation of Archie Shepp, raised huge international attention. Their next album (Straight music, 2004) won the title Best Hungarian Jazz Album of the Year at the voting of the Gramofon magazine.
In addition to Archie Shepp, the members of the Dresch Quartet have worked with outstanding artists such as John Tchicai, Roscoe Mitchell, Chico Freeman, David Murray and Dewey Redman; and the band has been the guest of festivals and clubs as high-ranking as the Jazz & Wine Festival (Italy), the Festival Jazzebre (France), the London Jazz Festival (UK), JazzFest Wien (Austria), the Kalisz Festival (Poland), the New Morning (France) and the Jazz Brugge (Belgium).
The Dresch Quartet’s collaboration with Chris Potter, one of the world’s most prominent tenor saxophonists, is not a recent development; since they first met in 2008, they have performed together on numerous occasions. First in August 2011 at the BJC, then in April 2012 on the stage of the Müpa Festival Theater, and in 2015 and 2016 on the Opus stage. The recording from Müpa, titled Zea, was released in 2017 by BMC Records. On this album, the Quartet could be heard in a revised lineup, featuring Miklós Lukács on cimbalom, and it also showcased Mihály Dresch’s self-designed instrument, the fuhun.
His quartet has been performing in the same lineup for several years: he has been collaborating musically with Miklós Lukács (the internationally renowned cimbalom player) for twenty years now; the other members of the quartet are double bassist Marcell Gyányi and drummer László Csizi, who are also outstanding representatives of Hungarian jazz. Their album Live in London, released in 2024 by Morotva Records, showcases their collaborative sound, and several more CDs have followed since then.
Mihály Dresch founded his first band in 1984. By the mid-90s its line-up had changed several times: on the albums "Sóhajkeserű˝ and "Gondolatok a régiekről˝ we can hear István Grencsó (wind instruments), Róbert Benkő (bass) and István Baló (drums), the record ˝Zeng a lélek˝ features Tamás Geröly on drums and Félix Lajkó on violin, then in 1994 Lajkó was replaced by Ferenc Kovács (violin, trumpet).
In 1998 István Baló started to play the drums in the quartet again and the young Mátyás Szandai become the new bass player. The first album of the new formation was released in England with the title Riding the Wind in 2000. One year later, it was followed by Quiet as it is and in 2002 by the Hungarian bebop. Latter album, which was recorded with the co-operation of Archie Shepp, raised huge international attention. Their next album (Straight music, 2004) won the title Best Hungarian Jazz Album of the Year at the voting of the Gramofon magazine.
In addition to Archie Shepp, the members of the Dresch Quartet have worked with outstanding artists such as John Tchicai, Roscoe Mitchell, Chico Freeman, David Murray and Dewey Redman; and the band has been the guest of festivals and clubs as high-ranking as the Jazz & Wine Festival (Italy), the Festival Jazzebre (France), the London Jazz Festival (UK), JazzFest Wien (Austria), the Kalisz Festival (Poland), the New Morning (France) and the Jazz Brugge (Belgium).
The Dresch Quartet’s collaboration with Chris Potter, one of the world’s most prominent tenor saxophonists, is not a recent development; since they first met in 2008, they have performed together on numerous occasions. First in August 2011 at the BJC, then in April 2012 on the stage of the Müpa Festival Theater, and in 2015 and 2016 on the Opus stage. The recording from Müpa, titled Zea, was released in 2017 by BMC Records. On this album, the Quartet could be heard in a revised lineup, featuring Miklós Lukács on cimbalom, and it also showcased Mihály Dresch’s self-designed instrument, the fuhun.
His quartet has been performing in the same lineup for several years: he has been collaborating musically with Miklós Lukács (the internationally renowned cimbalom player) for twenty years now; the other members of the quartet are double bassist Marcell Gyányi and drummer László Csizi, who are also outstanding representatives of Hungarian jazz. Their album Live in London, released in 2024 by Morotva Records, showcases their collaborative sound, and several more CDs have followed since then.