MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — The next MTSU Jazz Artist Series concert is set for March 4 on campus, featuring the Hungarian and American Eastern Boundary Quartet.

The concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 4, in Hinton Hall of the Wright Music Building, 1439 Faulkinberry Drive. A parking map is available at https://bit.ly/3IOkyuL.

The concert will feature Hungarian musicians Balazs Bagyi (drums) and Mihaly Borbely (saxophone), and the long-standing partnership of American bassist Joe Fonda and pianist Michael Jefry Stevens.

“The concert will showcase the sound of musicians that have performed and recorded together since 2007, and represent cross-cultural music-making at its best,” said Jamey Simmons, director of Jazz Studies in the MTSU School of Music.

As a part of a tour of the eastern United States, the group will play a hybrid of Hungarian folk rhythms and melodies combined with jazz harmony. 

“This music represents the ability of jazz musicians to cross boundaries to create new and exciting sounds,” said Simmons. 

Tickets are $10 for the public and free for MTSU students, faculty and staff. Discounts are available for area band students and educators.

Tickets can also be purchased in the lobby of the Wright Music Building before the concert. For reserved tickets, call 615-898-2724 or email James.Simmons@mtsu.edu.

Quartet members will also give a free masterclass for the public on Thursday, March 5, at 4:20 p.m. in Room 101 of the Saunders Fine Arts Building, 629 Normal Way.  

Stevens’ appearance is supported in part by a generous donation from the Steinway Piano Gallery of Nashville. MTSU has the distinction of being an “All-Steinway” university.

“The exciting thing for us as teachers is to bring in musicians who have a long-term commitment to the music and show our students what it’s like to have a creative life combining talent, respect and brotherhood in improvised music,” said Simmons. 

About the musicians

Drummer Balázs Bágyi was born in 1973 in Pécs, Hungary, and is a well-respected artist on the international music scene, including collaborations with several renowned American musicians, music for theaters, mainstream jazz, world music and avant-garde jazz.

He is the director of the Dr. Lauschmann Jazz School, president of the board of the Hungarian Jazz Federation and a representative of the Canadian Ayotte drums in Central Europe.

Mihály Borbély specializes in playing unusual wind instruments, including the tárogató, folk flutes, kaval, dvojnice, fujara, ocarina, bombard, and zurna, as well as soprano and tenor saxophones. 

He has participated in countless recordings and has given concerts in Hungary, throughout Europe and the United States with musicians like Paul Bley, Steve Coleman, Trilok Gurtu, John Hollenbeck, Herbie Mann, Bob Mintzer, ROVA Saxophone Quartet, Saxophone Summit (Michael Brecker, David Liebman and Joe Lovano), the Budapest Big Band, the Budapest Jazz Orchestra and others. 

He has been on the faculty at Béla Bartók Conservatory since 1986, and at the Jazz Department of the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy since 1990.

Asheville, North Carolina-based pianist Michael Jefry Stevens and New York-based bassist Joe Fonda will round out the quartet. The two musicians have played together since the 1970s.

Illinois Jacquet Jazz Festival

Mark your calendar for Saturday, March 28, for the MTSU Illinois Jacquet Jazz Festival. It includes a full day featuring performances by school ensembles and MTSU groups, jam sessions, educational sessions, and the 5:30 p.m. headline concert featuring dynamic Spanish jazz saxophonist Jesus Santandreu.

Dedicated to the memory of tenor saxophonist Illinois Jacquet, the festival seeks to educate, inspire, and entertain audiences in Middle Tennessee. For information, visit https://www.mtsu.edu/music/jazzfest.php.

For more information about the MTSU Jazz Artist Series, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/music/jazzseries.php. 

— DeAnn Hays (deann.hays@mtsu.edu)