Now being organised for the twelfth year by Müpa Budapest, the Jazz Showcase is firmly established as one of Central Europe's most important musical talent exchanges. As in previous years, nine young bands will compete to be the jury's, and the audience's, favourite. The performances will represent the broadest possible variety of jazz styles and instrumentation. Winners of the grand prize and audience prize will get a chance to play at Müpa Budapest again in 2019, and special category prizes will also be awarded. This event is presented in association with the Hungarian Jazz Federation, the Zemplén Festival and the Jazz Studies Research Group (Jatakucs).
Dániel Varga is a saxophonist, arranger and composer from Nagykanizsa. His teachers have included István Elek, Viktor Tóth, Béla Vámos and Gábor Kollmann. He is currently studying music composition at the Graz University of Music and Performing Arts, while his former teachers include Heinrich von Kalnein and Julian Argueles. In the field of music arrangement and composition, he has been taught by Ed Partyka, Michael Abene and Ed Neumeister. Dániel's musical influences range from hard pop and modal jazz to 1970s fusion and rock music to modern jazz and pop of the present day. He founded his own international jazz quartet in 2013. The Dániel Varga Quartet plays contemporary modern jazz with lyrical free influences.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest