Laszlo Gardony is a critically acclaimed artist who has brought his soulful and elegant improvisations to audiences in 23 countries. Winner of the Great American Jazz Piano Competition, Gardony has been called “a pianist worthy of praise within the highest pantheon of performers” — Jazz Review . com and “a great pianist” by Dave Brubeck.  He has released eight albums as a leader collaborating with Dave Holland and Miroslav Vitous among others. His 2006 release "Natural Instinct" (Sunnyside) reached No. 2 on the Jazz Week College Radio Chart and No. 25 on the Jazz Week Jazz Chart. His new CD “Dig Deep” (Sunnyside) was released on May 20, 2008. It features bassist John Lockwood and drummer Yoron Israel, his working trio of seven years.

 
Laszlo Gardony has performed with the David “Fathead” Newman Quintet as well as with Randy Brecker, Dave Liebman, John Abercrombie and John Blake who all appeared as guest soloists with his trio.  Gardony has been featured with the Boston Pops, the Utah Symphony and The Smithsonian Institute’s “Beyond Category” Traveling Duke Ellington Exhibit. He also wrote and arranged for The Danish Radio Big Band.  

Gardony has been praised for his “fluid pianism” by The New York Times and for his “uniformly high quality of compositions” and “harmonic complexity” by All About Jazz Magazine. JazzTimes has called him "one of contemporary music's truly original voices."  

Artists who featured Laszlo on their recordings include guitarist Garrison Fewell, guitarist Steven Kirby, the bluegrass-jazz group The Wayfaring Strangers, and singer Shelley Neill. Laszlo has been living in Boston for the past twenty years, where he is a Professor of Piano at Berklee College of Music. 

Born in Hungary, Laszlo Gardony has come a long way in the world of jazz. He was drawn to the piano at a very young age, showing an early talent for composing and improvising. It lead to a natural and personal connection with music from the beginning. He started classical piano lessons at the age of seven while teaching himself to play rock and blues. In his teens, he fell under the spell of Bill Evans, Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, and John Coltrane. After being accepted at the Bela Bartok Conservatory, he studied African music, jazz, classical and twentieth century composers while also attending the Science University of Budapest. After graduating from both institutions, Gardony worked as a much sought-after sideman in Europe, and released his first recordings as a leader. He matriculated to Berklee College of Music on a full-scholarship, and after graduation he joined the faculty.  

In 1986 he formed a trio with Czech bassist Miroslav Vitous, and drummer Ian Froman. In 1988 he recorded “The Secret” with that group for the Antilles label. His second Antilles release, “The Legend of Tsumi”, (1990) featured Dave Holland on bass and Bob Moses on drums. Gardony’s first Sunnyside release, “Changing Standards”, was released in 1990. He recorded “Breakout” for the Avenue Jazz label in 1994, and returned to Sunnyside in 2001 with “Behind Open Doors”, followed by “Ever Before After” (2003) and “Natural Instinct” (2006).

 From early on Gardony’s albums earned critical acclaim, including the highest (A) rating in the Village Voice Jazz Consumer Guide, and four-star reviews in Down Beat and the New York Daily News among others. Laszlo’s work has also been recognized by the International Association for Jazz Education as well. He was invited to perform with his trio at the 2001 IAJE Conference and subsequently to a clinic/concert trip to Ireland as a member of the Berklee College of Music team. Laszlo's work with the bluegrass-jazz group The Wayfaring Strangers got him in musical contact with an array of accomplished musicians from musical fields other than jazz - such as Ralph Stanley, Tony Trischka, Matt Glaser and Tracy Bonham. Between 2003 and 2006 the Wayfaring Strangers toured nationwide drawing large audiences and receiving positive reviews including one in The New York Times. 

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 Sunnyside Records' press release introduces Laszlo Gardony’s new CD "Dig Deep" as follows: Horace Silver, Bobby Timmons, Les McCann, and Ramsey Lewis applied swing to gospel, R&B, and soul idioms. Now, with “Dig Deep”, the latest Sunnyside release from the omni-talented Hungarian-born pianist/composer/bandleader Laszlo Gardony, with his wonderful trio - bassist John Lockwood and drummer Yoron Israel - takes his giant steps to that pantheon. “I find a lot of joy in marrying odd-meters/changing time signatures with the sound and groove of gospel, funk, jazz and rock,” Gardony writes in the CD liner notes. “Our trio has been together for six years, and we are able to connect yet again on the new compositions which definitely represent a new page for me.” Save for the trio’s respected and reinvented revision of the Gershwin standard “Summertime”, Gardony turns this new page with all-new self-penned selections. ”In Transit” grooves with Lee Morgan “Sidewinder” style syncopations. “Wide Awake” and  “Sunday Afternoon” ring with the reverence and rhythm of a Pentecostal sonic sermon, contrasted by the intricate and intense rhythm games on “Out On Top” and “Three Minute Mile,” the Afro/Abdullah Ibrahim vibed “New Song,” the Indian tabla-tantric “Rhymes,” and the power-rock pulsed “Heavy.” “Some of the compositions center around visceral unison bass lines between piano and bass, while others flow freely over extended musical forms,” Gardony writes. “The grooves we play navigate unexplored areas that challenge the musicians as well as listeners” The leader’s riveting and rooted pianism – buoyed by Lockwood’s formidable, sure-fired bass lines and Israel’s indestructible drumming – effortlessly shortens the distance from Budapest to Beale Street.  

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 Laszlo continues to record and tour worldwide, attracting new fans and earning critical acclaim for his synthesis of many musical sources and for creating a joyous, humorous, insightful, and open spirited music.

 
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Laszlo Gardony is a New England Foundation for the Arts Touring Roster artist. NEFA provides up to 50% of musician fees when his trio is presented by a non-profit organization in the six New England states. For more information please visit Laszlo Gardony’s page at NEFA’s Matchbook.org