Hungarian saxophonist Tony Lakatos came to West Germany long before Glasnost and Perestroika. Within a very short time he became one of the most popular saxmen in Europe because of his original tough sound and his talent to contribute to a lot of different styles.
His own music draws most of it's inspiration from hard-bop traditions, but often incorporates modern rhythms from funk and rock. Therefore he recorded both on Jazzline and Lipstick.Unlike a lot of modern jazz artists he does not see his role as a bandleader as the main soloist, but as a composer and the main melodic voice - giving a lot of room for improvisation to his usually well-known sidemen.
While he has been popular among american musicians for many years, he only became known to the US-audience when his album "Recycling" was introduced to the USA in 1994 - and went to the top 10 of the radio jazz charts. His second album was co-led by legendary drummer Al Foster and similarily succesfull both on US-radio and with european jazz-fans.
In spring 1995 he toured with an allstar band including pianist Joanne Brackeen, drummer Al Foster and bassist Cecil McBee. The band had sold-out clubs of usually 200 to 400 seats in most cities in Central Europe. Since then he has also cooperated with many groups including dutch singer Masha Bijlsma and has recorded a few albums for the label Jazzline.
Different Moods
Recycling
The News
During the last few years Tony Lakatos has been busy working both with radio bigbands and with musicians like Anthony Jackson, Al Foster, Jim Beard, blues-singer Kal David and the afro-pop group "Pili-Pili". He also tours with several other groups and is a popular guest for recording sessions
Soundbytes: 1) From a solo on "The News" (200 k WAV 20 sec.) 2) From the title track "The News" (216 k WAV)