Attila László

Having graduated as an architect from the Technical University Budapest (BME), and as guitarist from the Jazz Faculty of the Béla Bartók Conservatory, he started to play in leading Hungarian jazz bands. He founded his own band, the group „Kaszakő” in 1975, which had a really original sound. Their first record was published under the title Édenkert (Garden of Eden) in 1983. He formed the group „Things” with sax player Tony Lakatos in 1985, which functioned for a period of seven years. During his career he played with such world famous jazz musicians as Randy Brecker, Anthony Jackson, James Moody, Tommy Campbell, David Friedman, Gary Willis, Hiram Bullock, Billy Cobham, Miroslav Vitous, Peter Erskine, Bob Mintzer, IlaiyaRaaja, Jimmy Haslip, Russell Ferrante and Patti Austin.

He has been teaching at the Jazz Department (formerly faculty) since 1987, and is currently the Associate Professor of the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, as well as the leader of its big band. The alumni of the orchestra led by him have founded two professional big bands since, the Budapest Jazz Orchestra and the Modern Art Orchestra.

He founded the Attila László Band in 1992, playing in a style similar to contemporary jazz, which stayed together for 15 years. The Attila László Band played on a tour of the United States in 2004, consisting of eight concerts in various cities. In New York they have played a special concert where the UN representatives of over 40 countries listened to their music. Successively the Attila László Quintet was formed, which worked together for four years. Members of the band were top performing artists from different musical backgrounds. They have recorded their album Just Trust in the following line-up: Attila László guitar, composer, leader; Kálmán Oláh keyboards; Mihály Borbély reeds; Béla Lattmann bass guitar; Gergő Borlai drums. Working together in the ensemble Attila László - Kálmán Oláh Quartet is the newest phase of the 25- year-long collaboration of the two soloist-composers, featuring some standards apart of their original compositions.

Attila László was invited in August, 2009 by Indian composer IlaiyaRaaja, one of the most famous composers of that country to contribute soloist to his original compositions. IlaiyaRaaja has followed and liked the music and recordings of Attila László since 2000. The recording session took place in the 7-million-strong metropolis, Chennai. The guitarist has again been invited to Chennai and Madurai at the end of 2009 to teach harmonisation and instrumentation (arrangement) to the Indian master. In May 2010 he had the chance to play together with two world famous drummers within two weeks, Peter Erskine and Tommy Campbell.

Attila László has been working together for over 22 years with the singer Charlie as a composer, arranger and session musician in live concerts and studio recordings. Their collaboration has been marked by many successful concerts, CDs and TV appearances. He can be credited with designing the „Charlie Jazz” concept and line- up in the first decade of the new millennium. He has also played a decisive role in recording the comeback albums of singer Zsuzsa Cserháti in the nineties.
He has been teaching jazz guitar at the Snétberger Talent Centre, in Felsőörs, Western Hungary since 2011. He also played with drummer Billy Cobham as a member of the Morgan Workshop in Budapest in September, 2011. In January 2012 a big band was formed by the current student members and the alumni of the big band of the Jazz Department of the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music under the name „Senior Big Band” and in the Palace of Arts (MÜPA) they accompanied bass player Miroslav Vitous, who became world famous as a member of the band Weather Report.

In 2013 he published the teaching aid The Absolute Solfeggio System of Attila László, which can contribute significantly to learning to read notes quickly. It is a brand- new and original method, in which the 12 tones are given names in a way that they can be sung quickly and easily one after the other. Most recently Attila László has been appearing as a member of the band „Guitar Trio” with fellow guitarists Gyula Babos and Tibor Tátrai, performing rock and fusion standards as well as original compositions.

In the summer of 2013 he played in Los Angeles with drummer Ferenc Németh as well as multiple Grammy winners Russell Ferrante and Jimmy Haslip in the recording of the album Bridges of Souls, which was published next year. The album has made it to No. 7 of the Top 40 of the EMC radio airplay list for weeks. At the end of 2013 he conducted the „Senior Big Band”, a big band that was formed by the current and former students of his at the Jazz Department of the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music during the last 27 years at the Concert Hall of the Academy, which has recently been renovated. In January 2014 the same big band also accompanied Grammy-winning singer Patti Austin, who has previously been singing duos with Michael Jackson, Natalie Cole and George Benson. It was a resounding success in the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall of the Palace of Arts. In 2015 the Attila László Band played before the Marcus Miller Band in the venue called Budapest Park. “Tell Your Story” - Attila László's “Author's Night” took place at the Budapest Music Center (BMC) with Modern Art Orchestra on February 28, 2016. Attila László's big band compositions were performed by the author on guitar and the big band. Attila László recorded his album “Magic City” together with Budapest Jazz Orchestra big band and the soloists such as Kálmán Oláh, Charlie, Mónika Veres, Béla Lattmann, Péter Kaszás. The album features 9 of Attila László’s compositions arranged for a big band.

The Budapest String Chamber Ensemble, the woodwind instruments and jazz quartet performed Attila László’s new work in the Óbuda Society in June 2019 for the first time, called "Concerto for Jazz Guitar and Chamber Orchestra". Jazz guitarist Gábor Juhász wrote about it as: "a milestone in the history of Hungarian jazz guitar playing." The guitar concerto, „Concerto for Jazz Guitar & Chamber Orchestra” was recorded at the end of the year and was released in the spring of 2020 by Tom-Tom Records. The author played the guitar part of the pieces, in addition to the jazz guitar, the jazz trio also played a significant role with the soloist Kálmán Oláh (piano) - the flute - oboe - bassoon woodwind section and the string orchestral sound performed by the Budapest Strings.

The “László Attila Fusion Circus” was formed in 2019 and performed for the first time at the Cegléd Drummer and Percussion Gala. The ensemble plays the band’s dynamic jazz-rock compositions, arranged for wind and rhythm instruments. The Hungarian but New York-based Gergő Borlai was the guest of the group and the Drummer Gala. On March 10, 2020, Attila László's author's night entitled “It’s Already That” took place in Müpa. The evening consisted of two parts. The author presented two different sides of Attila László's music world with his great fellow musicians. In the first part, there was softer sounding chamber music painted in pastel colors; in the second part, a more dynamic, “biting” fusion music was dominating. The premiere included a piece composed by László Attila's for the 15th birthday of Müpa (Palace of Arts).

Attila László Fusion Circus was chosen as the top 3 best jazz band in the public vote of the largest Hungarian jazz portal, Jazz.hu, and Attila László became the best arranger that year. The band's record was released in the summer of 2022 and was a great success - named "Good Luck". Gergő Borlai also plays on the record, and the young talents playing in the horn section are listed among the best and most talented musicians.

Awards

1999 Gábor Szabó Award (for Lifetime Achievement - Hungarian Jazz Federation)
1999 Elected Chairman of the Hungarian Jazz Federation, served until 2005
2000 Leó Weiner Music Education Prize (MAOE)
2001-2009 Board member of the Hungarian Music Council
2003 Ferenc Liszt Award
2010 Distinguished Artist Award of the Hungarian Republic
2010 Gramofon Jazz Prize
2015 János Gonda Music Education Prize (Hungarian Jazz Federation)
2017 Composer of the Year (Artisjus Award 2017)