History
separately, and become aware of the harmonic interrelationships of the melodies played by them. At the age of fifteen I was free to try every instrument in Benkó Dixiland Band . It proved to be a great school where I learned the skills of an artisan, if not art.
In my later career I seldom played without brass instruments in my band. I was very happy when, playing in Olympia, I found the opportunity to blow it all out again. It was after my humiliating return from Belgrade that I thought it was now or never to start to work deliberately on the implementation of my ideas. This was the original band:
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Josef Winkelmayer, Sándor Fodor, György Jakab
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Péter Ivanov , János Tóth, Elek Nyári
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But success did not come at once. Ivanov, the guitarist, and Fodor , the drummer, gave up in two months’ time, as they could not catch up with the tempo of my work. Tóth dragged on for half a year before he also quit. But then the band was complete:
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Josef Winkelmayer | |
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ARRANGEMENTS | |
| POZAUNE , PIANO | ||
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György Jakab |
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| ZONGORA | ||
| PIANO,ORGEN, VOCAL | ||
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Elek Nyári |
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| BASS GITÁR | ||
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János Németh | |
| TENOR | ||
| SAXOPHON |
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István Bihari |
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| DRUMS | ||
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Endre Czakó | |
| TROMPET | ||
This was the best ensemble. It was exactly what I had in mind: it met my musical and personal expectations. The two years we played together were miraculous. Gyuri Jakab proved to be an excellent student. We agreed on everything. They could play my musical arrangements immediately, which meant the rehearsals were brief and to the point. We were also hanging out together in our free time, as we were of the same mind in everything
After this the members of the band changed. I was the only one who stayed. Gyuri Jakab and the bass guitarist did not get a passport, whereas the drummer and the saxophone player quit without a word in November 1971.
Then Szekeres came to play the drums, Csécsei to play the guitar and Beke to play the bass, and we needed a new saxophone player, too. I played the organ again. After a few recordings at the Hungarian Radio in December, the ensemble left Hungary for Holland on 1st January, 1972. We played there for three months. This band remained together during 1972-1973, but then the band changed again: only the wind instrumentalists stayed.
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Then Szekeres came to play the drums, Csecsei to play the guitar and Beke to play the bass, and we needed a new |
saxophone player, too. I played the organ again. After a few recordings at the Hungarian Radio in December, the ensemble left Hungary for Holland on 1st January, 1972. We played there for three months. This band remained together during 1972-1973, but then the band changed again: only the wind instrumentalists stayed. Songs aussuchte, die wir spielten und ich der Manager war. |
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Dixiland Benkó
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Sándor Benkó |
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Winkelmayer |
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József Laux
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Ki Mit Tud: '62 |
Galery
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