About Me
A native of Hungary, jazz pianist Kálmán Oláh has gained international renown as an artist who masterfully combines elements of jazz, folk and contemporary classical music. The recipient of numerous awards, he has appeared with scores of well-known artists including Lee Konitz, Jack DeJohnette Ron McClure, Randy Brecker, Steve Grossman, John Patitucci, Tommy Campbell, Stefano Di Battista, Jay Leonhart, Daniel Humair, Andrej Ceccarelli, Paolo Fresu, Kenny Wheeler, Mark Murphy, Shelia Jordan, Palle Danielsson and Ravi Coltrane to name a few...
Born in Budapest in 1970 of Romany (Gypsy) parentage, Kálmán went on to graduate from the Béla Bartok Conservatory, completing his musical studies at Franz Liszt Music University, on whose jazz faculty he currently sits. During his student years, his unique, ecumenical approached gained him widespread recognition, winning numerous awards at competitions both in Hungary and abroad including the Great American Jazz Piano Competition in Jacksonville, Florida.Kálmán founded Trio Midnight, an innovative jazz group that helped him earn recognition beyond Hungary as he became a regular at festivals in Italy, France, Spain, Belgium, Germany and elsewhere. Kálmán’s versatility as a performer is demonstrated by his passion to expand the musical boundaries and his ever-lasting quest for new forms of self-expression. His own compositions fuse jazz and contemporary classical musicand sometimes with Hungarian folk.In 2006 he received the Franz Liszt Award from the Hungarian Ministry of Culture and was awarded Grand Prize in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Composers competition. His winning composition, "Always," is the centerpiece of his first U.S. release recorded with Jack DeJohnette and Ron McClure.
