.png){kind=small}
.png){kind=small}
.png){kind=small}
.png){kind=small}
.png)
For the fifth time, we’ll fill the heart of Józsefváros – Rákóczi Square – with music, life, and community. True to the district’s character, the festival is diverse: traditional and new directions of jazz meet for three days on two stages – in the square and inside the Market Hall.
Renowned performers and young talents alike will take the stage, alongside many outstanding Hungarian ensembles.
The festival is free, outdoors, and open to all ages – bring your family and friends!
Let’s meet in Józsefváros, where jazz feels at home.
The festival is organised by the Municipality of Józsefváros with the event coordination of Rendezvény8, supported by the Italian Cultural Institute and Budapest Market Halls.
PROGRAM
4:00 pm – Balázs József Quartet – Rákóczi Square
5:00 pm – Fusion Maze – Market Hall
6:00 pm – Intergeese – Rákóczi Square
7:00 pm – Horváth “Tojás” Gábor – Market Hall
8:00 pm – Pluto Fusion – Rákóczi Square
9:00 pm – Subtones – Market Hall
Saturday, 13 September
4:00 pm – Balázs Elemér Quintet – Remember 80/81 – Rákóczi Square
5:00 pm – Varga Balázs Quintet – Market Hall
6:00 pm – Pankastic! – Rákóczi Square
7:00 pm – Roberto Magris Quartet – Market Hall
8:00 pm – Valami Swing – Rákóczi Square
9:00 pm – The Pastorz – Market Hall
Sunday, 14 September
4:00 pm – Szivacs Balog Jenő Quartet – Rákóczi Square
5:00 pm – Borbély Workshop – Market Hall
6:00 pm – Snétberger Foundation – Student & Alumni – Rákóczi Square
7:00 pm – Négyessy Barnabás Quartet – Market Hall
8:00 pm – Muck Éva Band – Rákóczi Square
9:00 pm – Kada ad Libitum – Market Hall
PERFORMERS
Balázs József Quartet
Band members:
Balázs József – piano
Zoltán Zana – saxophone
Krisztián Pecek Lakatos – double bass
Elemér Balázs – drums
%20m%C3%A1solata.png)
Friday 4 p.m.
Rákóczi square
Horváth Tojás Gábor Trió
The surrounding universe, theoretical physics, and the diversity of moods in songs were the starting points for jazz pianist-composer Gábor Horváth “Tojás” and his trio’s fifth album, Multiverse. His compositions are characterised by playfulness, musical humour, and emotional variety, so the album features joyful, rhythm-changing songs alongside grandiose solos and hymn-like ballads. This is not a concept album; in his compositions, he aimed to present the duality, dynamism, and intimacy typical of their concerts.
Band members:
Gábor Horváth “Tojás” – piano
Balázs Horváth – acoustic bass
Attila Gálfi – drums
Friday 7 p.m
Market hall
Balázs Elemér Quintet - Remember 80/81
Pat Metheny admired Ornette Coleman’s playing and music. In 1980, he released the album 80/81 under ECM, paying tribute to the master, accompanied by Dewey Redman, Michael Brecker, Charlie Haden, and Jack DeJohnette. Elemér Balázs admired both Metheny and Coleman, as well as the two saxophonists, Redman and Brecker, who have since passed away. As a result of this mutual respect, he pays tribute to their memory in the company of outstanding musicians.
Band members:
Elemér Balázs – drums
Krisztián Lakatos Pecek – double bass
Márton Fenyvesi – guitar
Zoltán Zana – tenor saxophone
Kristóf Bacsó – tenor saxophone
Saturday 4 p.m.
Rákóczi square
Fusion Mase
The name “Fusion Maze” essentially describes the band’s approach to composition. Different styles pass the ball to each other wall-to-wall; rock and funk, jazz and ambient fuse at the same time. The foundation of this mysterious maze is five musicians who find a way out into musical spaces where balance is born.
Band members:
Ábel Putovits – guitar
Tamás Günther – saxophone
Martin Oletics – guitar
Adrian Skowronek – bass
Marius Georgescu – drums
Friday 5 p.m.
Market hall
Pluto fusion
The band was founded by József “Pluto” Horváth with three musicians from different cultural roots. The magic of the production lies in the interplay of four musicians who each nurture completely different cultural backgrounds. They will perform original songs and lesser-played pieces in Hungary.
Band members:
Mike Gotthárd – guitar
Róbert Szakcsi Lakatos – piano
Róbert Nagy – drums
József “Pluto” Horváth – bass guitar
%20m%C3%A1solata.png)
Friday 8 p.m
Rákóczi square
Varga Balázs Quintet
An extraordinary musical evening where jazz meets spirituality: biblical stories come to life through the original compositions of Dezső “Ablakos” Lakatos Prize-winning guitarist and composer Balázs Varga. The pieces are personal in tone, with deep emotional and intellectual content that speaks to the audience through the freedom of jazz. A unique atmosphere, outstanding musicians, and a musical journey that uplifts and inspires thought. The concert is titled Meeting of Faith and Sounds.
Band members:
Máté Balogh – saxophone
Zsolt Farkas – piano
Géza Jónás – double bass
Tamás Fazekas – drums
Balázs Varga – guitar
%20m%C3%A1solata.png)
Saturday 5 p.m.
market hall
Intergeese
Intergeese was founded in February 2023 by three young musicians. Each member comes from a different musical background and is an active participant in the emerging music scene. The trio format provides both the freedom and the important task of making music together. Their musical inspiration is complex: it includes the great masters of post-bop and avant-garde jazz, contemporary jazz musicians, late 20th-century pop and hip-hop performers, as well as authentic Hungarian folk music. Using all these, they strive to create a distinctive, often unconventional sound, mix genres, and push boundaries. At their concerts, they play their own compositions, searching for new musical paths along the borderlands of written and improvised music. The band won the professional award at the 2024 Jazz Showcase.
Band members:
Áron Horváth – cimbalom (traditional Hungarian instrument)
Lőrinc Ágoston Mohácsy – double bass
Zoltán Fekete – drums
Friday 6 p.m.
Rákóczi square
Subtones
Founded in 2019 by trumpeter Gábor Subicz, Subtones is one of Hungary’s most exciting supergroups. With genre-crossing, song-focused compositions, they have quickly become a crowd favourite on the Hungarian jazz-pop scene. The arrival of singers Vera Jónás and Flóra Kiss steered the band towards more vocal forms, so much so that in 2022 they placed second in the national music competition A Dal. To connect even more directly with Hungarian audiences, their Fonogram Award-winning album Lángolj features only songs in Hungarian, with lyrics written by the band members as well as Mátyás Szepesi and Péter Závada.
Band members:
Vera Jónás – vocals
Flóra Kiss – vocals
Gábor Subicz – trumpet
Zsolt Csókás – guitar
Vince Bartók – bass guitar
Dávid Benkő – keyboards
László Csízi – drums
Friday 9 p.m. Market hall
Pankastic!
Pankastic!’s music is special, unique, and yet pleasant to almost everyone. The virtuosic playing of the members appeals to the most discerning listeners, while the light lyrics and catchy melodies delight those who enjoy feel-good music. From the outset, the band aimed to create a sophisticated new style: harmonising original melodies and lyrics with acoustic instruments, the world of French “manouche swing,” spiced with elements of modern pop and jazz.
The name of this distinctive genre: django-pop.
Band members:
Panna Pálmai
Krisztián Oláh
Dániel Serei
Gábor Ladányi
György Orbán
Saturday 6 p.m.
Rákóczi square
Roberto Magris Quartet
International jazz pianist Roberto Magris from Trieste, Italy, returns to Budapest after 18 years. Following his most recent concert with Tony Lakatos, he will perform at the 2025 Józsefváros Jazz Festival together with a group of outstanding young Hungarian talents. The concert will mainly feature Magris’s own compositions from his latest recordings, released by the JMood jazz label from Kansas City, USA, where Magris has been serving as music director for twenty years.
Band members:
Roberto Magris – piano
Máté Balogh – alto saxophone
Sándor Suke – bass guitar
Máté Éles – drums
%20m%C3%A1solata.png)
Saturday 7 p.m.
Market hall
Balog “Szivacs” Jenő Quartett
The jazz quartet was founded in 2024 by Eugen Balog, who returned from the USA, and has since given several successful concerts to the delight of jazz lovers. Their programme includes arrangements of traditional jazz standards as well as original compositions.
Band members:
Jenő “Szivacs” Balog – drums
Ferenc Gayer – double bass
István Gyárfás – guitar
Máté Balogh – saxophone
Sunday 4 p.m. Rákóczi tér
Négyessy Barnabás Quartet
The Négyessy Barnabás Quartet (NBQ) is a modern jazz formation performing a programme of original compositions and unique arrangements. Their musical world combines melancholic, melodic themes with energetic, experimental, free improvisation-based pieces, blending different styles into an organically unique, homogeneous sound. Their compositions are influenced by modern jazz, experimental free improvisation, rock and pop elements, contemporary minimalist music, as well as classical and folk music traditions. In their playing and improvisational language, the equal role of the instruments is important; they constantly build on each other’s ideas, resulting in exciting, surprise-filled musical dialogues. In February this year, the band won the audience award at the Müpa Jazz Showcase, along with three special prizes.
Band members:
Barnabás Négyessy – guitar
Bálint Banyó – keyboards
Brúnó Barakonyi – bass
Adonisz Fábry – drums
Sunday 19:00 Market hall
Valami Swing
The members of Valami Swing were brought together by their love for the music of Django Reinhardt, the legendary jazz guitarist and the first European jazz musician. They play Django’s tunes, standards, but mostly original compositions, staying true to the freedom of improvisation. Over the years of playing together, they began to push the boundaries of genres, developing their own style, which they call Hot Jazz Cool Swing. This musical style, born on the streets of Paris in the 1920s, soon travelled the world. The manouche jazz that combines American jazz, swing, hot club, chanson, folk, and traditional Gypsy music was crystallised into the wonderful music adored by millions today through the hands of Django Reinhardt.
Band members:
Vocals: Katalin Kis
István Babindák – clarinet
Antal Oláh – tenor saxophone
András Makk – jazz guitar
Dávid Kádár – manouche guitar
Louis Reince – double bass
Attila Földesi – drums
Saturday 7 p.m.
market hall
Borbély Műhely
The band was formed around the turn of the millennium under the leadership of Mihály Borbély, an Artisjus, eMeRTON, Knight’s Cross, Szabó Gábor and Liszt Prize-winning musician, who also received the Kossuth and Prima awards as a member of the Vujicsics Ensemble. Equally at home in folk, world music, jazz, and contemporary music, Borbély was joined by like-minded musicians. Their improvisational music blends various jazz styles with the folk music heritage of the Carpathian Basin and the Balkans, featuring intriguing melodic turns, sometimes delicately transparent, sometimes powerful rhythms, and elements of contemporary music.
Band members:
Mihály Borbély – saxophone, wind instruments
Áron Tálas – piano
Balázs Horváth – bass
Hunor G. Szabó – drums
Sunday 5 p.m.
Market hall
Instrumental fusion jazz musician Éva Muck switched from classical piano to bass guitar as a teenager. In addition to international theatre and Hungarian session projects, in 2015 she won the Queen of Strings international competition in the bass guitar category. Following this recognition, she began writing her own material. In 2017, she released her first solo album, Bassology, blending pop, neo-soul, jazz, and hip-hop.
Band members:
Éva Muck – bass guitar
Andor Jasper – saxophone, EWI
Joci Márkosi – keyboards
Péter Kaszás – drums
Sunday 8 p.m.
Rákóczi square
Muck Éva Band
The Pastorz
The Pastorz are passionate pioneers of the avant-garde music scene, boldly pushing the boundaries of genre. Their music is raw, pure primal energy that always takes an unexpected turn. You never get what you expect from them – each performance is unique and unrepeatable, full of tension, surprises, and the boundless freedom of musical improvisation.
Band members:
Ferenc “Royal” Kovács – saxophone, flutes, trumpet
Zsolt Varga – saxophone, electronics
Ádám Jávorka – viola, electronics
Árpád Kiss – trumpet
Gergely Kovács – drums
Nándi Hevesi – double bass
Saturday 9 p.m. Market hall
Snétberger Foundation – Students & Alumni
The students and teachers of the Snétberger Program take the stage at the Józsefváros Jazz Festival, showcasing their remarkable talent and dedication, representing the new generation of the Hungarian jazz world. Among the performers are young musicians who have already achieved outstanding results in their careers and have a promising future ahead of them.
%20m%C3%A1solata.png)
Sunday 6 p.m. Rákóczi square
Kada ad Libitum
Kada ad Libitum was formed in 2005, partly as a continuation of the progressive rock/free jazz band Kada from the 2000s. Their music is dominated by free, collective improvisation that combines elements of jazz-rock, modern mainstream jazz, noise, and contemporary classical music.
Band members:
László Válik – guitar, effects
Dániel Váczi – glissonic, saxophone
György Bartók – keyboards
Dániel Szerető – bass guitar
Dániel Serei – drums
Sunday 9 p.m. market hall
2
3
18
18
Location
Days
Performers
Hours of music
SUPPORTERS
