VIDÉK-VÁROS VISZONYOK / Ajtai Péter: Anthony Braxton Győrben

We kindly ask our audience members who are able and willing to do so to bring a jar of preserves with them, if possible!

In 1982, word spread throughout the Hungarian jazz scene that Anthony Braxton, one of the most famous saxophonists of avant-garde jazz, was going to perform at the Petőfi Sándor Cultural Center in Győr. This seemed so unlikely that the audience only believed the concert would actually take place when Braxton stepped onto the stage: until then, many had expected nothing more than a record-listening club or had even suspected it was a hoax.

This performance commemorates this unprecedented event, as well as the selfless efforts of the organizers, who made it possible for Anthony Braxton to perform in Győr despite the circumstances of the time. Péter Ajtai talks with the event’s organizer, Jenő Hartyándi, about the concert and the underground jazz culture of that era, for which provincial cultural centers served as bastions.

Meanwhile, with the collaboration of András Szőke and accompanied by Ajtai’s music, the legendary Győr performance by Anthony Braxton is evoked, along with a contemporary exhibition of preserves that has also become legendary.

Concept and Performance: Péter Ajtai

Performed by: Jenő Hartyándi, András Szőke

Musicians:

Áron Porteleki – drums

Dániel Cseke – saxophone

Vito Szelevényi – drums

Péter Ajtai – double bass