Zsofia Tardy's Hunglish Project Plays the Music of Gábor Szabó

Zsofia Tardy presents The Hunglish Project — the band whose name reflects its repertoire, moving between American jazz standards, Hungarian jazz tunes, Balkan-influenced music, and bebop. This month, the group turns its attention to the music of Gábor Szabó, the Hungarian-American guitarist whose hypnotic, genre-blurring sound made him one of the most singular voices in 1960s and '70s jazz.

Best known as a brilliant instrumentalist, Szabó also left behind a gorgeous vocal songbook — most famously his 1970 collaboration with Lena Horne — and this show brings those songs, along with newly sung versions of his best-loved instrumentals, to life. Zsofia, herself Hungarian-American and a longtime voice teacher and vocal coach before moving from Budapest to Portland in 2015, leads the band on vocals, joined by her husband and guitarist Attila Csikos, with Adam Carlson on drums, Bill Athens on bass, and Clay Giberson on keys.

Since arriving in Portland, Zsofia has become a familiar voice in the local jazz scene, described as "a deeply passionate and skilled" singer. This tribute traces Gábor Szabó's own journey from Budapest to the American jazz scene through the songs he loved, wrote, and made his own.”