One of the Friday performers is the Kéknyúl Hammond Band, which was established by Mátyás Premecz, the Hungarian ambassador of Hammond organ. The other members: Márk Badics (drum), István Bata (bass guitar), Gergő Kováts (baritone saxophone), Zsolt Csókás (guitar), Andrew Hefler (vocals), András Jász (saxophone) and Csaba Puskás (trumpet).
We asked Mátyás Premecz about music, wine and the topic of this year’s Gere Jazz Festival: Italy.
Where does the love of music come from?
Making music is a family tradition at us. My grandparents consider music as a very important thing. Everybody learnt to use a certain instrument and it was not rare that on family occasions somebody played a freshly learnt piece or we sang together.
When I started to study jazz, Oscar Peterson, Bud Powell, Bill Evans had great influence on me. Later my interest turned to the Hammond organ players: Joey deFrancesco, John Medeski, Dr. Lonnie Smith are my favourites up to this day.
How can you describe the style of Kéknyúl band?
It is hard to describe the music of Kéknyúl. Several influence and style can be found in it. It is clear that we feed upon the traditions of soul, but blues and jazz elements are also present in our music. We do not search the trendy solutions rather we try our own identical sound for some years. With our music we aim to entertain and also reaching deeper thoughts. Beside of this I think that our pieces are filled with playfulness and experimental notions.
What is it mean to you to perform in the Gere Jazz Festival?
I had the chance to perform in Villány several times or just to visit this town for relax. Gere Jazz Festival always meant a pleasant entertainment. The new album of the band is compiled now so the guests of the festival can expect some new singles.
This year the festival will have Italian thematic…
I love Italian cuisine and their wines. At home in Budapest I like to visit Italian restaurants. We haven’t performed in Italy with the band yet, but that would be a great idea.
And what about wines?
On the family and other occasions 1-2 bottles of good wine always appear. I prefer big reds. In Villány or elsewhere I like to drink for example the Gere Attila Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah.
Premecz Mátyás
