Eastern Boundary Quartet
The EASTERN BOUNDARY Quartet is a collaborative quartet featuring the Hungarian master musicians. drummer Balazs Bagyi and saxophonist Mihaly Borbely, and the long-standing bass/piano partnership of New York City bassist Joe Fonda and pianist Michael Jefry Stevens (co-leaders of the Fonda/Stevens Group and Conference Call). Since 2007 the quartet has toured Europe and the United States numerous times. The Quartet will be touring Europe again in October, 2024. The group has released four CDs.
In 2007 Hungarian musicians Balazs Bagyi and Mihaly Borbely and USA musicians Joe Fonda and Michael Jefry Stevens formed the Eastern Boundary Quartet. The group uses Hungarian folk rhythms and melodies in combination with Jazz harmonies and rhythms to form an original “hybrid” improvised music.
The Eastern Boundary Quartet performs original music by all members of the group. The band was formed with the imagination of connecting two worlds of the jazz scene today. This unique collaboration is a mixture of avant-garde jazz and ethno music from Hungary, like a cultural bridge between the USA and Eastern Europe. This bridge is made of talent, respect, brotherhood and friendship, built by the common language of jazz and improvised music.
The members...
Drummer Balázs Bágyi was Born 1973 in Pécs, Hungary. In 1998 Balazs graduated with honor at the Jazz Department of The Ferenc Liszt Music Academy in Budapest. Since then he has become a well-respected artist on international music scene including collaborations with several renowned American musicians, music for theaters, mainstream jazz, world music, and avant-garde jazz.
He is Director of the Dr. Lauschmann Jazz School and teacher of the Hang-Szín-Tér School of Arts in Szekesfehervar. He is also the president of the board of the Hungarian Jazz Federation and a representative of the Canadian Ayotte drums in Central Europe.
Balazs has performed with William Parker, Hamid Drake and Rob Brown as part of the International Improvised Music Workshop at the Mediawave Festivals. He has also played with Eldad Tarmu, Chuck Jennings, Arthur Kell, Geoff Warren, Marcello Sebastiani and Pedro Negrescu.
Mihály Borbély specializes in playing unusual wind instruments (tárogató, folk flutes, kaval, dvojnice, fujara, ocarina, bombard, zurna) as well as soprano and tenor saxophone.
He has participated in countless recordings and has given concerts in Hungary, throughout Europe, in the USA, in Mexico and in Australia, and has performed at large festivals with Hungarian and international musicians in different genres mentioned above. Some of the groups and musicians include Paul Bley, Steve Coleman, Trilok Gurtu, John Hollenbeck, Herbie Mann, Bob Mintzer, ROVA Saxophone Quartet, Saxophone Summit (Michael Brecker-David Liebman-Joe Lovano), Jiri Stivin, Jens Winther, Hungarian World Music Orchestra, Budapest Big Band, Budapest Jazz Orchestra, Modern Art Orchestra, Zoltán Lantos, János Nagy, Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, UMZE Chamber Ensemble and many 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.
Michael Jefry Stevens - Pianist, Composer and “Steinway Artist,” Michael Jefry Stevens has been active on the international jazz scene for the past four decades. He has composed over 400 works for both large and small ensembles.
Michael has released over 100 CDs featuring his own music and has performed and recorded extensively with many of the top names in Jazz, including Dave Liebman, Oliver Lake, Dave Douglas, Leo Smith, Matt Wilson, Han Bennink, Mark Feldman, Steve Wilson, Walt Weiskopf, Valerie Ponomarev, Cecil Bridgewater, Jeanne Lee, Dakota Staton, Pheeroan AkLaff, Charles Moffett Sr., George Schuller, Dame Evelyn Glennie, and many others. In 2021 he received a $10,000 Doris Duke Foundation Performing Artist Recovery Fund Grant administered by the New York Community Trust Fund and grants from the North Carolina Arts Council and Buncombe County’s Mountain Bizworks. He received his Master of Arts degree in Jazz Performance from Queens College (CCNY).
Bassist Joe Fonda has developed an extensive international reputation over the last several years recording and touring with the world-renowned Anthony Braxton including performances at some of the world’s most prestigious jazz festivals including the North Sea Jazz Festival and the Istanbul International Jazz Festival. He is also featured bassist on numerous recordings with Mr. Braxton including the famed Charlie Parker Project Recordings as well as the piano quartet recordings with Braxton on piano. Mr. Fonda has performed with such notable musicians as Anthony Braxton, Archie Shepp, Ken McIntyre, Lou Donaldson, Bill and Kenny Barron, Leo Smith, Perry Robinson, Dave Douglas, Curtis Fuller, Bill Dixon, Han Bennink, Bobby Naughton, Xu Fengia, Randy Weston, Gebhard Ullmann, Carla Bley, Carlo Zingaro, Barry Altschul and Billy Bang.
As a composer, Fonda has been the recipient of numerous grants and commissions From Meet the Composer New York and the New England Foundation on the Arts. He has released twelve recordings under his own name. Fonda was also a member of The Creative Musicians Improvisors Forum directed by Leo Smith and was the bassist with the American Tap Dance Orchestra in New York City, directed by world-renowned tap dancer, Brenda Bufalino.
Easter Boundary Quartet videos
“The Eastern Boundary Quartet – Hungarians Mihály Borbély on soprano saxophone and tárogató with drummer Balázs Bágyi alongside New Yorkers Michael Jefry Stevens (piano) and bassist Joe Fonda – is an exceptional demonstration of cross-cultural and multinational talent who work well together whenever an opportunity arises.”
CD Releases...
Click or tap the album cover to read the review.
