András Sipos – musician, actor

1954-2007

He was born in Budapest on 14 March 1954. He completed his studies at the Academy of Dramatic and Cinematic Art in 1981. In his childhood he learnt to play the accordion and later the drums. His attention turned towards handheld percussion instruments in the 1970s. His authentic style soon made him the best djembe player in Hungary. His master was Babatünde Olatunji. Acting and music played a great part in his life concurrently until 1998. He achieved significant successes with his percussion ensemble called Macumba, which he founded with István Bubik and Tamás Ruzicska. They played together with such bands as LGT, Illés and Neoton. He was also an important member of the legendary actors’ orchestra. He played unforgettable roles in the musical plays of Vígszínház and Pesti Színház (Fekete Péter, Book of the Jungle), as well as feature films (Csacsacsa, Üvegtigris 2).
In 1994 he joined Attila Égerházi’s band called Novus Jam. After releasing two albums, they founded the Djabe group, which received several awards and nominations in Hungary and abroad. He lived exclusively for music from 1998. In the few years before his death he appeared in 20 countries with the group, whose successes were largely a result of his contribution.

Szilárd Banai – drums

Born in Cegléd in 1978, he began his musical career as a cello player at his birthplace. After years of studying the cello, he turned to playing the drums, for which his mother’s profession as a percussion teacher gave a strong inspiration. He graduated from Bartók Béla Secondary School for Music in Budapest and got his degree at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music as a jazz drummer with outstanding results. Even at the beginning of his career he was given the opportunity to perform with the most outstanding jazz musicians of Hungary, such as Aladár Pege, Károly Binder, Miklós Birta and the Stúdió 11. He is a permanent guest of annual drum festivals. Szilárd became a renowned and popular performer, and often invited to participate in bands playing various genres and styles of music. As a drummer, he was a member of Djabe from 2001 to 2016. Performing at foreign festivals, the greatest star drummers also expressed their adoration of Szilu’s performance. In 2008, he received the “Golden Drumstick Award”, awarded by the Hungarian Percussion Culture Fund. 

Zoltán Kovács – keyboards

Born in Eger in 1973. Zoltán attended primary and secondary school in Győr, and graduated from Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in 1998, in Budapest. Besides his studies of classical composing and piano, Zoltán also engaged with jazz since the age of 13. He has been a member of the band Tea since 1997. Apart from the ‘Friderikusz’ and ‘Luxor’ TV shows he is known for numerous jazz and pop music pieces, arrangements, theatrical and television performances. He was the keyboard player of Djabe from 2001 to 2016. At Djabe concerts, during his solo piano pieces, he often ventured towards the classical. These pieces always proved to be colorful intermezzos of the gigs. Steve Hackett, guitarist of Genesis and a returning participant at Djabe concerts uttered his greatest admiration for the musicianship of Zoltán. Apart from being an active musician, he teaches music in Győr, Hungary.