Violin
Pannon Portrait
Patai Zoltán is a prímás who combines the traditions of Hungarian café-style Gypsy music with extensive international experience and remarkable stylistic versatility. He has performed throughout Europe, the United States and North Africa, with a repertoire ranging from Hungarian nóta and csárdás to operetta, film music and Manouche jazz.
Career
Patai Zoltán has been playing the violin since the age of six. After completing his classical music studies, he successfully passed his professional performing examination at Hungary’s National Centre for Entertainment Music in 1989. Throughout his career, he has performed at numerous well-known restaurants and traditional venues in and around Budapest, including Trófea, Rézkakas, the Wine Museum and Open-Air Museum in Szentendre, Megyeri Csárda, Kulacs Restaurant, the New York Café and the historic Százéves Restaurant.
Since the age of twenty, he has also performed extensively abroad. His musical career has taken him to Belgium, Germany, the United States, Morocco, Italy, Switzerland, England, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, among other countries. For nearly eight years he performed at the Atelier de la Grande Île restaurant in Brussels, where he also had the opportunity to play together with world-renowned violinist Maxim Vengerov. During his years abroad, he has always considered it important to promote Hungarian culture and the tradition of Hungarian café-style Gypsy music.
His musical interests, however, extend far beyond the traditional repertoire. Through the Patai Gipsy Band and the Brooklyn Gipsy Band, he strives to combine the traditions of Hungarian Gypsy music with the expectations of contemporary audiences. Alongside Hungarian songs, folk songs and csárdás, his repertoire includes Strauss waltzes, selections from operettas and musicals, film music, and both classic and contemporary Hungarian popular songs. Jazz is another particular passion of his, especially the Manouche jazz tradition associated with Django Reinhardt.
In 2017, his original composition “Walking in the Garden” won the Audience Award in the Jazzy Rádió song competition. The composition subsequently continued to receive airplay on the station.
Patai Zoltán has appeared several times as a guest prímás on Duna Television’s popular programme “Jó ebédhez szól a nóta”. Despite the breadth of his repertoire, Hungarian nóta, folk songs and csárdás remain at the heart of his music, and his playing consciously preserves the traditions of the classic Hungarian café orchestra.
His musical philosophy places the audience at its centre: entertaining his guests is always his foremost priority. For him, music is much more than a profession – his work is also his hobby.
With the Pannon Orchestra
As a prímás, Patai Zoltán brings his extensive international experience and his deep commitment to the traditions of Hungarian café music to the Pannon Cigányzenekar.
Awards and Honours
2017 – Audience Award in the Jazzy Rádió song competition for his original composition “Walking in the Garden”.
Something Few People Know About Me
I speak English and French. Although Hungarian nóta, folk music and csárdás are at the heart of my music, I also have a great passion for jazz, particularly the Manouche jazz tradition of Django Reinhardt. For me, making music is more than a profession: my work is also my hobby.