One of contemporary jazz's biggest stars, Danish-American saxophonist Michael Lington will come to Budapest to join the Peet Project on stage for an extraordinary evening of melodic jazz, soul, funky and pop.
Throughout his career, Michael Lington has performed and recorded with such luminaries as Dave Stewart, Vince Gill, Dave Koz, Booker T. Jones, Taylor Dayne, Barry Manilow, Randy Crawford, Brian Culbertson, Bobby Caldwell and Ray Parker, Jr. among others. His joint tour with Michael Bolton took him to 350 shows in 40 countries around the world. As he staged top-quality virtual concerts during the pandemic, Michael has become one of the key performers on the StageIt! platform, playing a pioneering role in the solution’s success.
Playing a unique blend of jazz, pop and funk in a violin/vocals, sax, keys, bass and drums line-up, the Peet Project is one of Hungary’s internationally recognized young bands. In 2009 they won the top prize in Jazzy Radio’s Song Contest in Budapest and have been regular performers at major jazz festivals in the US and at home since 2013. They won “Debut Artist of the Year”, “Album of the Year” and “Song of the Year” awards in 2013, 2017 and 2020, respectively, at Catalina Island JazzTrax, one of the most prestigious jazz festivals in the US. In early 2021, they topped Canada's jazz radio chart and they are the only Hungarian band to date who have made it to the Billboard Smooth Jazz Top 30 chart with four different songs. They were featured on Hungary's Got Talent in 2015 and on a similar TV show in 2018, and they are returning performers on the A38 stage as well as at the country's biggest jazz festival, the Paloznak JazzPiknik.
The Peet Project and Michael Lington first worked together in 2019, when Michael played as featured artist on Anything for You, a seductive track on the band's sixth studio album Ups & Downs. Their Budapest show together was first scheduled for 2020 but will take place only now, after a forced postponement due to the pandemic.
The concert will feature hits from both the Peet Project’s and Michael Lington’s repertoire, including current radio hits Crazy Times and Moon Goddess, offering an exceptional live music experience on a summer evening for lovers of funk, soul, pop and high-energy, melodic jazz."
The Peet Project is prime to become a Global sensation [they] have really managed to distill the important elements of Smooth Jazz and present the genre in a new, hip way that gets listeners dancing and grooving, and guarantees to leave a smile...! ~Sandy Shore, SmoothJazz.com
The members of Hungarian jazz/pop/funk group Peet Project are still only in their early twenties, but already have three albums under their belt. Their original music is a seductive and eclectic blend, reflecting influences encompassing Candy Dulfer, Brian Culbertson, George Duke, Earth Wind and Fire and Mezzoforte, among others. The groups driving force is violinist / composer / producer Peter Peet Ferencz (24) who gives the band its unique sound through his use of violin as a lead instrument in an equivalent role to saxophone or keyboards. Peters talent was recognized by Brian Culbertson, culminating in Brian lending production guidance to one of the standout tracks off the second album.
Aged just four, Peter kicked off his musical journey with classical violin lessons. At 13 he began to play for pop groups, which not only broadened his musical horizons but also fed his interest in composing, recording and mixing. By 15, he was writing and recording music for hip-hop, rnb, house and pop acts in his small home studio and used his free time to learn to play the guitar and the piano. At high school, Peter founded what later became the Peet Project with schoolmate and keyboard player dm Lrincz. Their original music soon got airplay at Budapest-based smooth-jazz/lounge radio station 90.9 Jazzy. In 2009 they won the grand prize in the stations song competition with a Candy Dulfer-style jazz-funk track titled Be Free.
The bands first album Pink Spirit (2010, Beagle Beat Records) received rave reviews, not only in Hungary but also internationally, at JazzCorner and JazzTimes, whilst Smoothjazz.coms Sandy Shore described the CD as off-the-hook, irresistible grooves and melodies. The album was then on serious rotation at smooth jazz stations in the US, the UK, Germany and Switzerland, and in September 2011, the band made its international stage debut, rocking Switzerlands Jazzclub Rorschach as they opened a concert season featuring such luminaries as Victor Bailey and Drew Davidsen.
Released in November 2011, the Peet Projects second album, Turn You On (Beagle Beat Records) was again embraced by smooth jazz stations worldwide, most notably in the UK and the USA, receiving over 1,700 spins in the States alone in 2012. The albums opening track, Does the music turn you on?, was produced by Peet with the expert guidance of none other than Brian Culbertson, after the two met in Budapest.
The Peet Projects third album, Overseas (2013, on Beagle Beat Records) was released hot on the heels of the bands successful US stage debut at the prestigious Seabreeze Jazz Festival in April 2013. The bands performance won a standing ovation from the 7,500 crowd.
In October 2013, the band returned to the USA to play the high-profile Catalina Island JazzTrax Festival where they opened for long-standing Tower of Power singer Larry Braggs and walked away with a Debut Artist of the Year award.
In September 2014, with a new line-up including 3 new members, the band released the single Night Is Fallin', an instrumental track that showcases the Peet Projects studio work as they are prseseting on this gig at the A38Ship.
