Liszt Award-winning Bela Szakcsi Lakatos started playing the piano at age nine. After falling in love with jazz at the Bela Bartok Conservatory where he was studying classical music, he quit his studies to pursue it. Since the 1960s, he has been at the forefront of Hungary’s jazz scene. Szakcsi performed at some of the most important jazz festivals, including those in Warsaw, Zurich, Nuremberg, Belgrade, North America, and Asia. As a composer and soloist, he has been part of eleven albums by George Jinda or Chieli Minucci’s Special EFX. Szakcsi also recorded many albums with GRP Records, including Sachi (1988), Mystic Dreams (89), Eve of Chance (1992), and Straight Ahead (1994). Szakcsi is a performer and composer who has performed with many famous musicians like Art Farmer, Dave Weckl and Marvin “Smitty” Smith.