In Focus: Gábor Szabó

An idiosyncratic outlier in the history of 20th Century guitarists, Gábor Szabó's intricate style is as unique as his origin story. Inspired by cowboy films as a teenager whilst living in his native Budapest, Hungary, Szabó was mostly self taught, and serenaded diners and drinkers in establishments around the city in the 1950s. He escaped political turmoil in Hungary, moving with his family to California, where he attended Berklee College, and soon began playing with California jazz artists like Chico Hamilton, and eventually with legendary bassist Ron Carter. Shaped both by this jazz experience and the Hungarian folk music of his youth, Szabo's solo career was a sonic one-off, filled with free-wheeling, delicate psychedelia and unpredictable melodic inventiveness.