Gabor Szabo was one of the most original guitarists
to emerge in the 1960s, mixing his Hungarian folk music heritage
with a deep love of jazz and crafting a distinctive, largely self-taught
sound. Inspired by a Roy Rogers cowboy movie, Szabo began playing
guitar when he was 14 and often played in dinner clubs and covert
jam sessions while still living in Budapest. He escaped from his
country at age 20 on the eve of the Communist uprising and eventually
made his way to America, settling with his family in California.
He attended Berklee College (1958-1960) and in 1961 joined Chico
Hamilton's innovative quintet featuring Charles Lloyd. Urged by
Hamilton, Szabo crafted a most distinctive sound; as agile on
intricate, nearly-free runs as he was able to sound inspired during
melodic passages. Szabo left the Hamilton group in 1965 to leave
his mark on the pop-jazz of the Gary McFarland quintet and the
energy music of Charles Lloyd's fiery and underrated quartet featuring
Ron Carter and Tony Williams. Szabo initiated a solo career in
1966, recording the exceptional album, Spellbinder, which yielded
many inspired moments and "Gypsy Queen," the song Santana
turned into a huge hit in 1970. Szabo formed an innovative quintet
(1967-1969) featuring the brilliant, classically trained guitarist
Jimmy Stewart and recorded many notable albums during the late
'60s. The emergence of rock music (especially George Harrison,
Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix) found Szabo successfully experimenting
with feedback and less successfully (but innovative at the time)
with more commercially oriented forms of jazz. During the '70s,
Szabo regularly performed along the West Coast, hypnotizing audiences
with his enchanting, spellbinding style. But from 1970, he was
locked into a commercial groove, even though records like Mizrab
occasionally revealed the success of his jazz, pop, Gypsy, Indian,
and Asian fusions. Szabo had revisited his homeland several times
during the '70s, finding opportunities to perform brilliantly
with native talents. He was hospitalized during his final visit
and died in 1982, just short of his 46th birthday and five years
after his final American album was released.
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