Zolbert

After a stint on the drums, Zolbert picked up the saxophone in his mid-teens, spurred on by the discovery of Grover Washington, Jr., David Sanborn and Everette Harp. He also drew inspiration from the music of Dave Koz, Gerald Albright and Brian Culbertson. Fast forward to 2009, when he put together a tribute band to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the passing of his musical hero, Grover Washington, Jr. Originally assembled for a one-off event, it evolved into the Grover Washington, Jr. Memorial Band – a unit that fast became a stalwart of the local jazz scene. Buoyed by the band’s success, Zolbert developed his own material and took the plunge to go solo. In 2013 one of his early compositions, Frappé, won the first prize in a smooth jazz club’s song contest. In 2014 he won the grand prize in the annual song contest on 90.9 Jazzy, Budapest’s leading jazz station. His music was soon on heavy rotation, and the exposure earned him a deal with Tom-Tom Records, one of Hungary’s best-known independent labels.