Elek Bacsik

Elek Bacsik (22 May 1926 – 14 February 1993) was a Hungarian-born American jazz violinist and guitarist.

Bacsik was born in Budapest, the son of Arpad Bacsik and Erzsebet Pocsi. He was of Romani ethnicity and studied violin at the Budapest Conservatory, but found his primary musical inspiration in bebop pioneers Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. He was also the cousin of Django Reinhardt. In his early years he travelled as a musician to Lebanon, Spain, Portugal and Italy. He worked in Paris in the early 1960s and recorded with some well known French musicians such as Jeanne Moreau, Serge Gainsbourg and Claude Nougaro as well as making solo albums. In 1966, he went to work and live in the United States and played in Las Vegas. Bacsik played guitar on Gillespie's Dizzy on the French Riviera (1962) and later played violin with Gillespie at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1974. His bebop violin playing is featured on his two albums as a leader, I Love You (1974) and Bird and Dizzy: A Musical Tribute (1975).

Partial discography

As leader

• 1962: The Electric Guitar of the Eclectic Elek Bacsik (Fontana) – on guitar
• 1962: Bossa Nova (EP; Fontana) – on guitar
• 1963: Guitar Conceptions (Fontana) – on guitar
• 1963: Jazz Guitarist (Philips Records) – on guitar (This is a reissue of The Electric Guitar of the Eclectic Elek Bacsik)
• 1974: I Love You (Bob Thiele Music) – on violin and violectra
• 1975: Bird and Dizzy: A Musical Tribute (Flying Dutchman) – on violin and violectra

As sideman

• 1962: Dizzy Gillespie, Dizzy on the French Riviera (Philips) – on guitar
• 1963: Dizzy Gillespie, New Wave (Philips) – on guitar
• 1963: Serge Gainsbourg, Gainsbourg Confidentiel (Philips)
• 1965: Barbara, Barbara chante Barbara (Philips) – on guitar
• 1966: Jeanne Moreau, 12 chansons nouvelles (Jacques Canetti)
• 2009: Serge Gainsbourg, 1963 Théâtre des Capucines (Universal Records)

On film

• 1958: Bell, Book and Candle, appears with Candoli Brothers in Zodiac nightclub scenes

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

External links

• Elek Bacsik's 1960 Titre de Voyage (travel document) at www.passportland.com
• Blog Elek Bacsik (French)
• Elek Bacsik on www.djangostation.com (French)
• Biography on www.about-django.com (French)