József Balázs graduated from the jazz faculty of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music. He found his way to jazz already during his early years of education, with teachers like Kálmán Oláh, Béla Szakcsi Lakatos Jr., and later János Gonda.

He participated in several competitions with his first group Bop Machine. At the Jazz Juniors competition in Cracow he was given the award for the best soloist performance. The first album he actively took part in was My New Way, that of his brother’s quintet, the group in which he, next to his brother Elemér, is the other driving force since it was founded. He wrote songs for and instrumented all of the albums the quintet has released so far, has played in the Kőszegi Quartet, and on Ági Szalóki’s 2005 album. He has played together with numerous world-famous musicians, such as Randy Brecker, Erik Truffaz, Charlie Mariano, Pat Metheny, Robin Eubanks, Stéphane Belmondo, Bobby Watson or Steve Houben.

The József Balázs Quintet was formed in 2005. He was given the Dezső Lakatos Ablakos jazz scholarship in 2007. Beyond his successes in the jazz world, he is considered a renowned musical arranger and composer in other fields (pop, soundtracks) as well.

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Monday evening, I could enjoy Balázs József Quintet in concert at Jelen, after the presentation of the Encyclopaedia of Stupidity and the performance of Opal Theatre. The Dutch had a great time, even that smaller group of them in the jazz room.
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