György Szabados was a Hungarian jazz pianist, composer, and physician from Budapest, born on July 13, 1939. He is recognized as the leader of the Hungarian free jazz movement. Szabados began his professional career in 1963, and in 1972, his quintet won the Grand Prize at the San Sebastian Jazz Festival in the free jazz category. In 1975, he released his first album, Az esküvő (The Wedding), which was later included in the reference book The Essential Jazz Records. Szabados established the Kassák Workshop for Contemporary Music in 1975 and founded the Royal Hungarian Court Orchestra (MAKUZ) in 1988. His international collaborations include the duo record Szabraxtondos (1985) with Anthony Braxton and Jelenés (Revelation) (1998) with Roscoe Mitchell. Szabados received the Kossuth Prize in 2011. He died in Nagymaros on June 10, 2011.
