Laszlo Gardony (born 1956) is a Hungarian-born American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

pianist and composer. Gardony performs as a solo artist and leads his own trio, quartet and sextet. He is also a featured sideman with several other groups.

Biography

Gardony studied at the Béla Bartók Conservatory in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, graduating in 1979. He also holds a Masters of Education in Mathematics and Physics from Eötvös Loránd University. In 1983 he moved to the United States on a scholarship to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He was the first student in the school's history to be offered a teaching position upon graduation. He has been a full Professor of Piano at Berklee for nearly two decades. While still a student at Berklee, he formed the group Forward Motion with Tommy Smith,

Terje Gewelt Terje Gewelt (born 8 June 1960) is a Norwegian jazz musician (upright bass). Career Gewelt was born in Oslo and raised in Larvik, a small town on the southeastern coast of Norway. He started playing guitar at the age of 10, switched to elec ...

and Ian Froman. He soon formed his first trio with Froman and

Miroslav Vitous Miroslav may refer to: * Miroslav (given name), a Slavic masculine given name * ''Young America'' (clipper) or ''Miroslav'', an Austrian clipper ship in the Transatlantic case oil trade * Miroslav (Znojmo District), a town in the Czech Republic S ...

with whom he recorded ''The Secret'' for

Antilles Records Antilles Records was a record label founded as a division of Island Records. It began as a jazz label, recording Joanne Brackeen, Biréli Lagrène, and Phil Woods, though its catalogue did expand to include eclectic musicians like Brian Eno and R ...

. His second album, ''The Legend of Tsumi'' (Antilles) featured

Dave Holland David “Dave” Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for over 40 years. His extensive discography r ...

and Bob Moses. In 1987, he won first prize at the Great American Jazz Piano Competition. Since 1987 he has been on the faculty at Berklee where he is Professor of Piano. Gardony's first album for

Sunnyside Records Sunnyside Records is an American jazz record company and label established by François Zalacain in 1982 initially to release an album by pianist Harold Danko. Albums by Kirk Lightsey and Lee Konitz soon followed beginning a sequence of release ...

was a critically acclaimed solo piano disc, ''Changing Standards''. His next album, ''Breakout'' (Avenue Jazz Records), was released in 1994 and featured

Mick Goodrick Mick Goodrick (June 9, 1945 – November 16, 2022) was an American jazz guitarist who spent most of his career as a teacher. In the early 1970s, he worked with Gary Burton and Pat Metheny. Biography An Elvis fan, Goodrick began studying guitar ...

on guitar as well as George Jinda (talking drum; udu), Satoshi Takeishi (taiko drums) and Stomu Takeishi (electric bass). Gardony returned to Sunnyside in 2001 with a trio recording, ''Behind Open Doors'' which featured

Jamey Haddad Jamey George Haddad (born July 2, 1952 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American percussionist who works primarily in the fields of jazz and world music and specializes in hand drums. Biography Haddad is of Lebanese ancestry. From the age of four, he b ...

and John Lockwood. Subsequently, Gardony has recorded four albums with bassist John Lockwood and drummer Yoron Israel, his working trio of nine years: ''Ever Before Ever After'' (Sunnyside) in 2003, ''Natural Instinct'' (Sunnyside) in 2006, ''Dig Deep'' (Sunnyside) in 2008 and ''Signature Time'' (Sunnyside) in 2011 ''Signature Time'' also features multi-instrumentalist, vocalist,

Stan Strickland Stan Strickland is an American singer, saxophonist, and flutist. Strickland was a protege of Ran Blake Ran Blake (born April 20, 1935) is an American pianist, composer, and educator. He is known for his unique style that combines blues, gospel, ...

on a few tracks as well as drummer Yoron Israel on the vibraphone. His 2013 recording is a solo piano album, ''Clarity'' (Sunnyside) In 2015 Gardony released a live sextet album, ''Life in Real Time'' (Sunnyside) with Bill Pierce,

Don Braden Don Braden (born November 20, 1963) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist.https://jazzbakery.org/events/saxophoniest-don-braden-quartet-presents-earth-wind-and-wonder saxophonist Don Braden Quartet presents Earth Wind and Wonder Career Braden w ...

, Yoron Israel and John Lockwood. The album was named by the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' as one of the 10 best jazz albums of 2015 His 2017 release - also on Sunnyside - is a solo piano disc titled ''Serious Play'' In 2019 he released another solo piano album, "La Marseillaise" (Sunnyside). Then in 2022 Gardony recorded a critically acclaimed trio album "Close Connection" (Sunnyside) which was released in December, 2022 Among other projects, he has also been involved in violinist Matt Glaser's group, The Wayfaring Strangers, a fusion of bluegrass and jazz. Gardony has performed with the Wayfaring Strangers at numerous venues and festivals, including Symphony Hall with the

Boston Pops The Boston Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart. Founded in 1885 as an offshoot of the Boston Sym ...

, with the Utah Symphony in Salt Lake City, and at Merlefest in North Carolina. Gardony has also performed with

David "Fathead" Newman David "Fathead" Newman (February 24, 1933 – January 20, 2009) was an American jazz and rhythm-and-blues saxophonist, who made numerous recordings as a session musician and leader, but is best known for his work as a sideman on seminal 1950s an ...

at several festivals, and with

Eddie Gomez Eddie or Eddy may refer to: Science and technology *Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle * Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Lin ...

's Per Sempre Quintet. Both

Randy Brecker Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was born on No ...

and

Dave Liebman David Liebman (born September 4, 1946) is an American saxophonist, flautist and jazz educator. He is known for his innovative lines and use of atonality. He was a frequent collaborator with pianist Richie Beirach. In June 2010, he received ...

have performed as guest soloists with Gardony's group. Gardony is featured on two Yoron Israel & High Standards albums: ''Visions – The Music of Stevie Wonder'' (Ronja, 2012) and ''This Moment'' (Ronja, 2015). He is also a featured soloist on New York-based flutist Christian Artmann's 2018 CD, "Our Story" (Sunnyside) Gardony's composition, "Meeting You There" was featured on

Chihiro Yamanaka is a Japanese jazz pianist and composer, born in Kiryū, Gunma Prefecture."Chihiro Yamanaka BiographyAllMusic/ref> As of 2012, she was based in New York City. She has had more than a dozen albums as a leader, most of them being released by Verve ...

's Blue Note album, "Guilty Pleasure"

Critical reception

Gardony has been praised for his "fluid pianism" in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' and for his "uniformly high quality of compositions", harmonic complexity and emotional content which ''

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

'' found to be comparable with Bill Evans'. The ''Jazz Review'' described him as "a pianist worthy of praise within the highest pantheon of performers". Dave Brubeck called Gardony a "great pianist".

Discography

Sources:

References

External links

Official websiteBerklee College of Music Faculty page CreativeGroundAll About Jazz Musician PageSunnyside Records artist profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardony, Laszlo Post-bop pianists Berklee College of Music alumni Berklee College of Music faculty Living people American jazz pianists American male pianists 1956 births 21st-century American pianists 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Sunnyside Records artists Antilles Records artists