Bacsó Kristóf
saxophone, saxophone - alto, saxophone - soprano
Place of Birth
Budapest
Date of Birth
1976
Orchestra
Czirják Csaba Quartet
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Bacsó Kristóf Quartet
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Modern Art Orchestra
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Oláh Kálmán Sextet
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Bacsó Kristóf Triad
Web
Kristóf Bacsó was born in Budapest in 1976. He started his saxophone studies at the age of 12. After his graduation from the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, he also studied at the Conservatoire de Paris and at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where his instructors were Joe Lovano, George Garzone, Greg Hopkins, Hal Crook and Bill Pierce. In 1999 together with Zoltán Zana he won the Dezső "Ablakos" Lakatos Saxophone Talent Contest organized by the Hungarian Radio. For five and a half years he lived in France and the United States, performed in most countries of Europe, in the United States and in Japan.
In 2003, after obtaining his Bachelor's Degree, he moved to NYC and worked as a freelance musician. In 2003 and 2005 he was featured on Gabor Winand's albums Agent Spirituel and Different Garden, which received "Choc", the highest rank from the well-known French jazz journal, Jazzman. In 2004 he moved back to Europe and since then has worked as a musician, composer and teacher.
He has performed with well-known artists like Eddie Henderson, John Pattitucci, Tony Lakatos, Nico Morelli, Giovanni Mirabassi, Kálmán Oláh, Gábor Gadó, and the groups Europlane Orchestra, the Budapest Jazz Orchestra, Nigun, and the Imre Kőszegi Quartet. With his own group the Kristóf Bacsó Quartet, which he founded in 2003, he played his own music, based on traditional jazz and contemporary classical music. With his formation he performs his own compositions, in which jazz and contemporary music are combined with a central-eastern European spirit. They played in many festivals in Hungary and in Europe, Asia and Brasil and released two albums in the past years entitled Alteregos (BMC Records, 2008) and Nocturne (BMC Records, 2012).
He has been working with Gábor Gadó since the end of the 1990s; he participated on his records Modern Dances, Psyche and Lung-Gom-Pa and was a soloist on the releases Agent Spirituel and Different Garden by Gábor Winand, which were composed by Gábor Gadó. He has regularly played with the well-known piano player - Kálmán Oláh - since 2004, and in 2006 they released a trio album entitled Fitting, featured Sébastien Boisseau on bass. As a soloist he performed the piece of Oláh Concerto for Symphony Orchestra and Jazz Band and Return To Pangea.
He frequently works with the Kálmán Oláh Sextet and the Hungarian high-level big-band - the Modern Art Orchestra, in which he is featured as a soloist, arranger and composer. In 2014 the BMC Records released a new album of Modern Art Orchestra – called Circular – on which all the music is composed and arranged by Bacsó. He is a co-composer of the projects which are dedicated to Bartók’s and Kodály’s music.
His band - Kristóf Bacsó Triad - was formed in 2013 with the collaboration of Kristóf Bacsó, Árpád Tzumó (keyboards), and Márton Juhász (drums). Their first album, titled "Pannon Blue", was released in 2016 (BMC Records); during its production, Benin-born guitarist Lionel Loueke joined the band as its fourth member. The album won the prestigious “Album of the Year” award from Gramofon magazine. On their 2022 album, Imaginary Faces, Áron Tálas had already replaced Árpád Tzumó in the band. Bassist Daniele Camarda appears on the album. In 2025, the Kristóf Bacsó Triad released their next album Let It Go - also on BMC Records.
In addition to his musical career, he places great emphasis on training the next generations. From 2008 to 2012, he was a professor in the Department of Arts at Kodolányi János College (jazz saxophone, orchestration and ensemble practice), and from 2004 to 2012, he served as artistic director of the jazz department at the Egressy Béni Secondary School of Music. He is currently the chair of the jazz department at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest, where he also teaches jazz saxophone (BA, Artist MA, integrated teacher’s degree) and serves as the program coordinator.
Awards and Honors:
2014: “Revelation” designation from the French magazine Jazzman for the album Circular
2012: Second Prize, Composition and Arrangement Competition organized by the Hungarian Jazz Association
2011: Finalist, Composition Competition organized by the Brussels Jazz Orchestra
2009: Artisjus Award
2007: Artisjus Award
2006: Second prize, arrangement competition organized by the Hungarian Jazz Association
1999: First prize, Dezső Lakatos Ablakos Saxophone Competition organized by Hungarian Radio
In 2003, after obtaining his Bachelor's Degree, he moved to NYC and worked as a freelance musician. In 2003 and 2005 he was featured on Gabor Winand's albums Agent Spirituel and Different Garden, which received "Choc", the highest rank from the well-known French jazz journal, Jazzman. In 2004 he moved back to Europe and since then has worked as a musician, composer and teacher.
He has performed with well-known artists like Eddie Henderson, John Pattitucci, Tony Lakatos, Nico Morelli, Giovanni Mirabassi, Kálmán Oláh, Gábor Gadó, and the groups Europlane Orchestra, the Budapest Jazz Orchestra, Nigun, and the Imre Kőszegi Quartet. With his own group the Kristóf Bacsó Quartet, which he founded in 2003, he played his own music, based on traditional jazz and contemporary classical music. With his formation he performs his own compositions, in which jazz and contemporary music are combined with a central-eastern European spirit. They played in many festivals in Hungary and in Europe, Asia and Brasil and released two albums in the past years entitled Alteregos (BMC Records, 2008) and Nocturne (BMC Records, 2012).
He has been working with Gábor Gadó since the end of the 1990s; he participated on his records Modern Dances, Psyche and Lung-Gom-Pa and was a soloist on the releases Agent Spirituel and Different Garden by Gábor Winand, which were composed by Gábor Gadó. He has regularly played with the well-known piano player - Kálmán Oláh - since 2004, and in 2006 they released a trio album entitled Fitting, featured Sébastien Boisseau on bass. As a soloist he performed the piece of Oláh Concerto for Symphony Orchestra and Jazz Band and Return To Pangea.
He frequently works with the Kálmán Oláh Sextet and the Hungarian high-level big-band - the Modern Art Orchestra, in which he is featured as a soloist, arranger and composer. In 2014 the BMC Records released a new album of Modern Art Orchestra – called Circular – on which all the music is composed and arranged by Bacsó. He is a co-composer of the projects which are dedicated to Bartók’s and Kodály’s music.
His band - Kristóf Bacsó Triad - was formed in 2013 with the collaboration of Kristóf Bacsó, Árpád Tzumó (keyboards), and Márton Juhász (drums). Their first album, titled "Pannon Blue", was released in 2016 (BMC Records); during its production, Benin-born guitarist Lionel Loueke joined the band as its fourth member. The album won the prestigious “Album of the Year” award from Gramofon magazine. On their 2022 album, Imaginary Faces, Áron Tálas had already replaced Árpád Tzumó in the band. Bassist Daniele Camarda appears on the album. In 2025, the Kristóf Bacsó Triad released their next album Let It Go - also on BMC Records.
In addition to his musical career, he places great emphasis on training the next generations. From 2008 to 2012, he was a professor in the Department of Arts at Kodolányi János College (jazz saxophone, orchestration and ensemble practice), and from 2004 to 2012, he served as artistic director of the jazz department at the Egressy Béni Secondary School of Music. He is currently the chair of the jazz department at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest, where he also teaches jazz saxophone (BA, Artist MA, integrated teacher’s degree) and serves as the program coordinator.
Awards and Honors:
2014: “Revelation” designation from the French magazine Jazzman for the album Circular
2012: Second Prize, Composition and Arrangement Competition organized by the Hungarian Jazz Association
2011: Finalist, Composition Competition organized by the Brussels Jazz Orchestra
2009: Artisjus Award
2007: Artisjus Award
2006: Second prize, arrangement competition organized by the Hungarian Jazz Association
1999: First prize, Dezső Lakatos Ablakos Saxophone Competition organized by Hungarian Radio