Mihály Dresch is an outstanding representative of Hungarian jazz music, an excellent saxophone player with a unique music world based on Hungarian folk music and jazz.

The most characteristic feature of his unbroken career is the effortless combination of Hungarian and Central-Eastern European folk music and elements of African-American jazz both in his original compositions as well as at his performances. With the same fluency, he is able to collaborate with the distinguished representatives of both genres, too, and has been participating in jazz and folk groups or projects as a member or guest for many years besides his own bands.

He started to play music relatively late, at the age of seventeen – influenced by Johnny Griffin, he wanted to become a saxophone player.  In the beginning he was mainly interested in the classical American black jazz, the gospel and the spiritual. From the early ‘80s he regularly gave concerts with renowned Hungarian jazz musicians. He founded his first quartet in 1984, although the line-up of the band has changed frequently.

Mihály Dresch has been invited to a number of prestigious festivals and jazz clubs. He performed at the Jazz & Wine Festival in Italy, the Festival Jazzcb in France, the Kalisz Festival in Poland, the Jazz Brugge Festival in Belgium, the London Jazz Festival, the JazzFest Wien, and in the New Morning Club in Paris. Throughout his career he’s performed and recorded albums with such famous artists as John Tchicai, Archie Shepp, Roscoe Mitchell, Chico Freeman, Lee Konitz, David Murray and Dewey Redman. Although Dresch has developed a totally unique world of music, he’s never seceded from mainstream jazz and still plays one or two eternal classics on his latest albums as well.