The Hot Jazz Band is a Kossuth Award-winning Hungarian jazz band whose repertoire primarily includes American and Hungarian jazz songs from the 1920s to the 1940s. Their interpretations of Hungarian swing and jazz songs and film scores from the interwar period are particularly popular.
The band was founded by Tamás Bényei in 1985, and has been the leader ever since. They were formed during their military service, including a “Ki Mit Tud?” show organized in the barracks. The members stayed together even after their discharge. Their name at the time was Jazztramps, and they mainly played Dixieland music. At first, they worked as street musicians, but they also went abroad on a few occasions.
The band’s name has been Hot Jazz Band since 1988. The membership gradually became permanent, and their own individual style developed, in which, in addition to Dixieland, the emphasis was placed on various music of the swing era. The process of becoming a professional band began in the early nineties. In 1994, based on a recording sent out, they were invited to the international Louis Armstrong Festival in Le Havre.
