Elek Bacsik (22 May 1926 – 14 February 1993) was a Hungarian-American jazz guitarist and violinist. He was the cousin of guitarist Django Reinhardt.[1]
Career
Bacsik was born in Budapest, Hungary. He was the son of Árpád Bacsik and Erzsébet Pócsi.
He studied classical violin at the Budapest Conservatory before moving to jazz guitar.[2] He worked in a big band with Jozsef Quitter and Geza Szabo and recorded for the first time in his career with this band[1] in 1943.[2] A few years later he went on tour in Europe and Lebanon with Mihaly Tabanyi.[2] He was hired by Renato Carosone to be in a quartet with Peter Van Wood and Gegè Di Giacomo in which he played bass, violin, and guitar.[2] When he lived in Paris, he accompanied American musicians who were passing through, such as Lou Bennett, Dizzy Gillespie,[1]Quentin Jackson, Art Simmons, and Clark Terry.[2] He also supported French singer Serge Gainsbourg.[2] In 1966, he moved to the U.S.[1] and until 1974 accompanied Teresa Brewer.[2][1] In the 1970s he recorded as a leader on violin and electric violin.[2] He played at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1974 and ten years later at the Olympic Games Jazz Festival in Los Angeles.[2][1]
Discography
As leader
The Electric Guitar of the Eclectic Elek Bacsik (Fontana, 1962)
Guitar Conceptions (Fontana, 1963)
I Love You (Bob Thiele Music, 1974)
Bird and Dizzy: A Musical Tribute (Flying Dutchman, 1975)
^ abcdefghiGabor Simon, Geza; Lotz, Rainer E. (2002). Kernfeld, Barry (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). New York: Grove's Dictionaries. p. 102. ISBN1-56159-284-6.
Sources
Barnett, Anthony. Almost Like Being in Bop: a Not-So-Brief Account of the Hidden History of the Swing to Recorded Bebop and Progressive Violin in America and Europe. Lewes, East Sussex: AB Fable, 2005. More information on his recordings on violin on AB Fable Bulletin : violin improvisation studies
