The Budapest Ragtime Band was founded in 1980 by former students of the Franz Liszt Music Academy of Budapest. The band has seven highly qualified musicians.
The high standard and creativity of their performances have made them one of the most prestigious jazz bands in Hungary and abroad for more than four decades.
The repertoire of the musicians includes pieces of traditional ragtime and classical music, swing melodies, dixieland-evergreens and virtuoso instrument solos.
In addition to nurturing the traditions of ragtime music, the band aims to introduce a multitude of other traditional American music genres.
The unique and extraordinary shows of the popular band of Spike Jones gave them the idea to prepare and play humorous adaptations and parodies of classical music pieces like Strauss’ Blue Danube Waltz, Khachaturian’s Sword Dance, Brahms’ Hungarian Dances and the Monti Csardas.
The musicians have produced exceptional instrumentation setups, in line with their own interpretation of ragtime.
The band constantly freshens up its repertoire with musical gags, improvisation and extraordinary instrumentation that guarantees a great show and special music experience.
In recent years there have been some changes in the band; the new, young and talented musicians in the frontline also reach and attract a younger audience.
The band has regular concerts in Hungary and abroad. In the past decades they have toured Europe and the USA with great success, performed at many international festivals and jazz clubs, and played together with magnificent artists such as Dave Brubeck, Chris Barber, Clark Terry, John Scofield and Johnny Griffin.