Tatabánya Jazz Camp

Now in its fourth session, the biannual Tatabánya jazz camp has gained a special place among the many European summer jazz courses. Located in an industrial town 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Budapest, the camp offers practical and theoretical investigations in creativity and improvisation. It features classical music as well as jazz teachers, and the program includes lectures on the use of improvisation in classical and jazz teaching methods. Among this year’s lecturers were Pavel Blatny from Prague and György Szabados from Budapest.

The 1986 session held on July 29-August 8 attracted students from as far away as Australia. Participants had a full-time job of practicing and playing jazz, either solo or in group-contexts. Among the teachers were Jasper van’t Hof (keyboards), Béla Szakcsi Lakatos (piano), Tony Lakatos (saxophone), Dezső Lakatos (saxophone), Balázs Berkes (bass), Gyula Babos (guitar), Imre Kőszegi (drums) and Rudolf Tomsits (trumpet). Unfortunately, students had to do without NAJE’s president Richárd Dunscomb who, at the last moment, had to travel back home for family reasons.

(Jazz Forum, 1986/5)