Koszika & The Hotshots
The music of Koszika & The Hotshots – which spices indie, funk, soul and jazzpop styles with Transylvanian flavors – is now familiar not only to the Transylvanian audience.
The band combines different genres in a unique style, and their captivating multicultural music includes their songwriter, Koszika’s own songs in Hungarian and English, as well as reinterpreted folk songs.
So at their concert, in addition to their own songs and thought-provoking lyrics, you can also learn how a Székely folk song sounds in a Brazilian jacket or a Romanian mahala in funky pants.
If you like unique sounds, eclectic musical experiences and exciting fusions, then this band is a musical treat in which traditions and innovation, West and East, home and away, come together, and sometimes instead of grand interpretations, exciting instrumental improvisations captivate you.
The band has won several awards (e.g. Szatmári Street Music Festival Grand Prix), and their singer won the Best Composition award at the Jazz in the Park competition, the Discovery of the Year award at the Muzza Jazz Gala in Bucharest, and was also chosen as the best singer or best vocal soloist by several international jazz festivals.
Members
Krisztina Koszika Koszorus - vocals
Csaba Szász - guitar
Attila Zonda - bass guitar
Áron Éltes - tenor saxophone
Vaughn Roberts - trumpet
Frankie Ercsei - drums
Tamás Sárdi - keyboards
Reni & Boka
Reni & Boka tell us about themselves: "There is an unnamed spring in Börzsöny. Trees grow in pairs around it, and an old hanging metal cup indicates to passersby that it is drinkable.
We come here for our songs. We learn from water and trees.
What we have in common is that we can listen. And we love simple, revolving stories. Our songs are also stories. Games. The moods of small and large spaces. Mirrors of people. How beautiful they are when left alone. Inner world stops at the spring.
We would like to stop many, many people. To show the way to more inner, quieter spaces. To moonlight forests, to sunny riverbanks."
The Boka duo of Reni Iszlai and Márk Szász was formed in 2022 in the Danube Bend, from completely different musical worlds. Reni was inspired by classical, contemporary and experimental music, Boka by the melodies and rhythms she learned during her travels in Brazil, and their shared world became polyphonic singing, instrumental improvisation and abstract storytelling.
Reni graduated from the Academy of Music with a degree in clarinet. She is a three-time Communitas and Balassi scholarship holder. She is the creator of the interactive music sessions Csendzengés, Babadala and Dallangoló. She is a member of the Bélaműhely, which plays recycled instruments.
Boka played music in Brazil for years, sang on stage with Bobby McFerrin, and released a joint song with Bea Palya and Ági Szalóki. She is a member of the Afro-Latin-Balkan music group Peca and regularly holds Afro-Brazilian-Cuban singing circles.