Balázs Major

Balázs Major was born in Mezõtúr, Hungary in 1955. As a drummer and percussionist, he is fully self-taught. In the 1970s, he performed in the rock band WATT’73. Between 1977-1979, he was a private student of Gyula Kovács, who influenced him to pursue the direction of improvisation. In 1980, as a percussionist, together with guitarist Sándor Szabó, they formed the Szabó-Major Duo. In the early 1980s, he studied Indian classical music, and began playing the tabla. Due to his work with the Szabó-Major Duo, he became known throughout the clubs and venues in Hungary. The first Szabó-Major Duo album was released in 1988 on the British label Leo Records. They often invited guest artists from abroad, and as a result performed several succesful tours; one such tour was with Gilbert Isbin. Several albums were recorded in this period. One of the results of this collaboration was the „The Clear Perception”, an album released by the British label HWYL Records. The most significant period of his collaboration with Sándor Szabó was the SzaMaBa Trio. This trio was comprised of Sándor Szabó on 16-string guitar, László Bagi on 8-string contra guitar, and Balázs Major on percussion and drums. The SzaMaBa Trio existed for almost a decade. They released three albums together with many guest artists. 2005 saw a concert album released by the trio on the Pannon Jazz label. Due to the Hungarian cultural restrictions, the trio disbanded in 1996.Since the mid-eighties, Balázs Major has performed solo drum concerts, which were very unusual in Hungary at the time. His approach is more spiritual than technical; even though he possesses one of the highest level of drum techniques in Hungary. He is continously looking for the most ancient methods of expression on his instrument. His concerts are reminiscent of a spiritual ritual relayed by a mysterious story teller. In 1996, he released his first solo drum album featuring Krisztián Major and Sándor Szabó, entitled „Infinity Between Boundaries.” In 1998, his second album, entitled „Fate of Outlaw” was released. This album featured Mihály Dresch, István Grencsó, and Sándor Kármán.Since the disbandment of the SzaMaBa Trio, Balázs Major regularly collaborates with guitarist Sándor Szabó. In 2001, Balázs designed a special percussion instrument which is played utilizing the techniques of the tabla. This instrument, called the hang drum, was then manufactured by the Swish PANArt company. The hang drum is theoretically based on the Indian ghatam. It is a very unique steel udu, possessing an extremely low sub-bass range with a tonally neutral tambre, thus making it possible to play in any musical key. It is an ideal choice as a counterpart for modern acoustic guitar music. In July 2007, one of Balázs’s solo concerts was captured on DVD, which is scheduled to be released in early 2008. ............................................................ ..........................................................I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4 (www.strikefile.com/myspace)