KRISZTIÁN OLÁH EUROPEAN QUARTET FEAT. ALEX HITCHCOCK (HU/IT/UK)

In December 2022, Alex Hitchcock was a guest in Krisztián Oláh's own band, and although a long flight delay and the Christmas traffic shortened the rehearsals considerably, the two musicians found their harmony from the very first moment. Krisztián met Michelangelo Scandroglio at a Spanish jazz festival two years ago, and they have stayed in touch with the Italian double bassist ever since, who has performed with leading European bands on several occasions in Budapest, including at the Opus Jazz Club. They quickly connected – "everybody knows everybody" – as it turned out, and last spring Krisztián, Alex and Michelangelo performed together at the Pinocchio jazz club in Florence. It was there that the idea to introduce the group to the Hungarian audience was born; Krisztián asked one of Hungary's most outstanding drummers, Ferenc Dániel Szabó, who is also versed in a wide variety of genres, to join them.

The members of the Quartet are all composers and bandleaders, so their repertoire consists almost exclusively of their own compositions. Their pieces reflect not only their individual styles, tastes and influences, but also a sense of the pan-European zeitgeist that four young artists of the same generation can create in 2024.