Gabor Szabo

• 8-panel digipak case

Hungarian guitarist Gabor Szabo (1936-82) released only three live recordings during his lifetime. Significantly, the first of these, The Sorcerer (1967), remains the most popular album in the guitarist's all-too-short discography. But there was also More Sorcery (1968) and Gabor Szabo Live with Charles Lloyd (1974), on which Szabo was completely in his element and showed his enchanting side. In recent years, other Szabo concert recordings have surfaced, including this one, recorded live for radio in 1976 at the 600-seat Agora Ballroom in Cleveland, Ohio. It is a revelation. One gets the feeling that concertgoers heard a very different Gabor Szabo than record buyers.

For one thing, Szabo is heard as the frontman of what is likely his own group, rather than as a member of an army of studio musicians. In 1976, Szabo led a great quartet with George Cables (or Joanne Grauer) on piano, Tony Dumas on bass and Sherman Ferguson on drums. Szabo hadn't had a band with this much jazz punch since his famous quartet with Jimmy Stewart in 1967-68 - and it's a union worth savoring: Szabo's records during this period were lightly jazz-heavy at best.

PERSONNEL:

• Gábor Szabó - (guitar, composer)
• George Cables - (piano)
• Tony Dumas - (bass)
• Sherman Ferguson - (drums)

Recorded live August 17, 1976 at the Agora Ballroom, cleveland , Ohio

TRACKS:

• 01. It Happens
• 02. Autumn Leaves
• 03. Magical Connection
• 04. Concorde (Nightflight)