Budapest. A GREAT Night at the Cafe IF

Those of you who have follwed us before know we live about four blocks from a fantastic jazz club.  It features a different act every night, but we have been going long enough now to recognize players we have heard before.  Last night we went to the IF for a jazz trio.  The pianist, an amazingly talented man named Gaspar Karoly, was playing with a bass and drummer.  Well, it turned out that it was the drum player's birthday and the club was filled with musicians.  What started as a trio became a huge jam.  We ended up with the piano player, two drummers, three bass players, two trumpets, a clarinetist and a guitarist.

We also sat next to a very nice Hungarian man and his Swedish colleague, both of whom love jazz and the US but who are bothered by You Know Who.  The Hungarian man and I agreed that though we had both been to the IF many times, this night was special.  First-class, world-class jazz we all agreed.  The little video that follows is terrible. I was trying to figure out how to shoot video on my camera (something I've never done before).  But it gives a little sense of how lively the evening was.

UPDATED TO INCLUDE MUSIC IDS,  Sorry the video is so bad; it doesn't do any justice at all to the amazing music in that room.

Károly Gáspár In the video shown: Csomós Feri Popovics - drums, Joe Fritz - clarinet, Gábor Szalay - guitar, Kalle Strandell - trumpet, horn, Gáspár Károly - piano, Viktor Hárs - bass, Péter Czakó - bass

#CafeIF,
#Budapest,
#jazz,
#GasparKaroly

We Live Four Blocks From a Jazz Club

We live right off Raday Utca, a long street with lots of restaurants and bars.  One of those places is the IF Cafe, a small restaurant/bar with a different jazz group EVERY NIGHT.  It takes us approximately 10 minutes to walk and there we are: at a real jazz club.  We went in one night last week just for the last 30 minutes of a duo playing keyboard and jazz guitar.  Lovely and mellow.  Last night we went for the whole performance of a string jazz quartet, consisting of two acoustic guitars, a bass and violin.  The music was quick, lively and brilliant.  It just took over the room.

We had a couple of drinks, then ordered dinner with a bottle of wine.  That plus the cover charge for the music came to about $60.  However, it is quite fine to just come for a drink and music. The fact that we can, any night of the week, simply walk down our street and be in a jazz bar is one of the most amazing aspects of living in Budapest.