Elemér Balázs's solo career can be divided into two major periods: he made three CD’s with his trio and quintet, Fly bird in 1995, My new way in 1997 and Always that moment in 2000 (his first release on the BMC label, which was awarded the “Hungarian Jazz Album of the Year” by Gramofon magazine); and since 2002 he has been the leader of the Elemér Balázs Group. Their debut record Around the world was released the same year.

Charlie Mariano alto and soprano saxophone player, the son of Italian immigrants, was born in Boston in 1923. He made his first recordings under his own name with Jaki Byard and Herb Pomeroy in 1950. In late 1953 he took Lee Konitz's place in the Stan Kenton band, where he remained until the end of 1955. He lived in Los Angeles until 1958, and played mostly with Frank Rosolino and Shelly Manne. After moving back to Boston, he formed a group with his second wife, the Japanese pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi and they moved to New York. He played with Charles Mingus, and contributed to three of his records. He moved to Japan for two years, and in 1965 went back to Berklee, this time to teach there. Travels around the world brought him to Japan three more times with Astrud Gilberto. 1967 took him to Malaysia to coach the Radio Malaysia big band. During his five month stay there, he began his studies of South Indian music, and learned to play the nadaswaram, a double reed instrument. Since the early 1970s he has lived mostly in Holland and later Germany, finally settling in Cologne.

József Balázs, one of the most talented pianists of the younger generation of jazz musicians, made his first appearance on his brother’s album, My new way. He has played with Erik Truffaz, Stephane Belmondo and Steve Houben among others. He won second prize at the Jazz Pianist Competition named after the late Gábor Balogh Füsti and he was judged “best soloist” at the Krakow Jazz Juniors Competition.

Gábor Juhász, guitarist, has worked with Károly Binder, was a founding member of the Tin-Tin Quartet, and has also been a prominent member of Zoltán Lantos’ Mirrorworld. He formed the band Off Course in 1990 with bassist József Horváth Barcza and pianist Róbert Szakcsi Lakatos. Their first record Street of secrets (1999) was followed by another in 2002 entitled Tales of the lighthouse, featuring Erik Truffaz. Juhász has also performed at numerous festivals, the most memorable of which were Delhi, Jaipur, London, Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Leipzig, Berlin and Udine. In 2002 he won the Hungarian Jazz Award established by Gramofon magazine. He is presently the member of Samsara, Off Course, Bosambo, the Elemér Balázs Group and Mirrorworld, besides teaching music which is also very important to him. He has accompanied world famous musicians like Archie Shepp and Iain Ballamy.

Mátyás Szandai became known as the bassist of the Mihály Dresch Quartet. Since then he has been invited to perform with many different bands and has become a most sought-after session musician. He began his career playing with István Grencsó and Gábor Gadó. He has recorded with Gadó, Herbie Mann and the Mihály Dresch Quartet featuring Archie Shepp. A CD by saxophonist Csaba Tu"zko" will appear on the market this year with Szandai as the bass player. As a member of the Mihály Dresch Quartet, he has also had the chance to work with David Murray and Chico Freeman.

András Dés is another talented representative of the younger generation. After studying classical percussion, his interest turned towards the music of different nations. Currently he is a student at the Jazz Faculty of the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music. He has performed and recorded with Frank London, the Budapest Jazz Orchestra, the Bosambo Trio, Off Course featuring Erik Truffaz, and with the Kaltenecker Trio. He participated on recordings of film soundtracks and theatrical music.

Thanks to his unique voice, Gábor Winand is perhaps the most often employed Hungarian jazz singer. He worked with the ESP Group, was a guest musician of Trio Stendhal for two years, played with Gábor Gadó’s Joy, Brass Age, György Vukán’s CAE trio and Class Jazz Band, and the Bosambo Trio. He can regularly be heard singing with his wife, Elsa Valle, playing Cuban jazz. His debut album, Corners of my mind – composed by Gadó – was voted record of the year 2002 by the reviewers of the French magazine Jazzman. His second CD is to come out in 2003.

Henriett Czerovszky made her first appearance as a jazz singer on the Elemér Balázs Group’s CD Around the world. Previously she worked as a background vocalist for famous Hungarian popular artists with whom she performed at concerts and made recordings.