Szerkesztő:Séthy Viktor
Viktor Séthy (1968-) Hungarian musician, music teacher, writer and fine artist
Early years
Coming from a musician family - his father played the violin, his uncle was a trumpet player. That 3 years he spent in Africa during his early childhood also had a deep effect on his musical taste. He studied 10 years of classical music, then 2 years of jazz on piano. Picked up the guitar and the drums in his early twenties. He was 16, when started giving concerts - mostly neoclassical improvisations, and jazz. At this age he'd been accepted by Berklee Collage of Music, but didn't leave, even that drummer Marvin Smitty Smith offered him to be smuggled out of the eastern block in an amp case. After finishing high school he played around West- and East-Europe. Cause of some political reasons, and not being accepted by local Jazz Collage, he left Europe in 1988.
In the USA
Viktor's uncle - Erno B. Séthy, who was also a pianist, and composer of film scores - invited him to his home to New York, but changed his mind in few weeks. After a short period of homelessness, Viktor moved upstate to a small town named Suffern, joining the band P.G.Q. - containing Paul Golenya on guitar and flute, Bob Magnuson on saxophone, and Charlie Molins on drums. They worked with numerous different bass players, among whom Thomas Martin provided the most lasting performance. Viktor was offered the position of deputy director of the local music school, but due to lack of a green card, he could not take it. However, he had been accepted among the members of Rockland County Jazz & Blues Society. After all his savings were stolen, he moved to the Lower East Side, in a squat he helped restore. C-squad later became a legal cultural center. Viktor had performances at numerous places, like the Blue Note, the Knitting Factory, and also participated in many jazz jam sessions. However, before he could finish the recordings of his first double solo CD, he fell seriously ill. At the urging of his relatives, he finally returned home to Hungary by 1993.
After returnig to Hungary
For various reasons, Viktor focused more on fine arts and writing in the following years. In 1994, he met his current wife, Bogárka, who is also a visual artist. In 1998, they moved to the countryside, where they repaired a dilapidated house with their own hands. During the following years he participated in a trio with Johnny Lambizi and Csaba Papp, in a formation called Secret Proof of Music with Balázs Bujka and Lajos Kata Louis, and in a quartet called Calling Dexter, playing traditional jazz. Also collaborated with Peruvian guitarist Pierre Huarniz, and Philadelphia drummer Grant Calvin Weston. He also hosted his own show on the local Kerepes Rádio. He also appeared on stage with jazz musicians like George Coleman, Julian Priester, Lee Konitz, Gábor Gadó, and many others. Also worked as a studio musician. Wrote 12 novels, newspaper articles, humorous stories, poems and essays, and participated in numerous exhibitions held together with his wife. In addition to all this, he also deals with theoretical physics and philosophy.
Discography:
1989 - Early Morning lingering at the very edge of the Universe
1990 - Movements and consequences
1990 - Overture for a fool's dinner
1991 - The last birds, and blind noise
1995 - Home again
2003 - Additional examples I.-II.
2007 - Séthy Viktor - solos
2007 - Twilight shadows
2008 - September electric
2008 - 9.2
2009 - 2016 - Piano concertos I.-V.
2009 - Standards I.
2009 - Improvisations
2009 - Ultralight
2009 - Dance music
2009 - Bizarre
2010 - Trioida
2010 - Trios, quartets
2010 - Atlantis folk songs
2010 - Spring suite
2011 - Summertime suite
2011 - Standards II.
2011 - Standards on guitar
2012 - Whitsun fantasy
2012 - Christmas fantasy
2012 - September acoustic
2012 - Hakni
2013 - Jazz standards piano trio
2013 - Standards III.
2014 - More bizarre
2014 - Way more out
2014 - Prophet's humor
2017 - Piano music
2018 - Standards 2018
2018 - Blindspot
2019 - Hymn of doubt
2020 - On guitar
2021 - Best of whatever found
Collaborations:
1989 - PGQ Revelations I.-II. (Bob Magnuson, Zsolt Paul Golenya, Charlie Molins)
1989 - PGQ LIVE (Bob Magnuson, Zsolt Paul Golenya, Thomas Martin, Charlie Molins)
1992 - Duos with Marcus I.-II. (Marcus - violin)
1996 - Full Moon (Kovács Ferenc - trumpet, Ádám Kálmán - trumpet, drums, Ádám Zoltán - bass, Fekete Gyula - drums)
2009 - Lima - Kerepes (Pierre Huarniz - guitar)
2012 - Songs and other songs (Johnny Lambizi - guitar, Papp Csaba - drums)
2014 - Elemets of fusion (Grant Calvin Weston - drums)
2015 - SPOM - studio (Bujka Balázs - bass, Kata Lajos Louis - drums)
2015 - SPOM - LIVE (Bujka Balázs - bass, Kata Lajos Louis - drums)
2015 - Kata-Séthy duos (Kata Lajos Louis - drums)
Viktor Séthy's works can be mostly found on Jamendo, Youtube, Bandcamp and Soundcloud.