Tibor Fonay

A double bass and electric bass player, Tibor Fonay (1987) is one of the busiest musicians on the Hungarian jazz scene. He plays with several renowned acts and has appeared on nearly 50 jazz albums to date. Throughout his career, he has won several prestigious awards, including the Junior Prima and Fonogram Awards.

 

Tibor was born in the Southeast Hungarian city of Hódmezővásárhely, where he learned to play the cello at a local school before switching to the double bass. He later continued his studies at the Gyula Lauschmann Secondary School of Music and Jazz in Székesfehérvár. In 2008, he was admitted to the Jazz Department of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, where he earned his Bachelor of Performing Arts degree in 2011 and his Master’s degree with honors in 2013.

 

​He has played with the Binder Trio/Quartet, the Áron Tálas Quintet, Syrius Legacy, the Richárd Révész Latin Trio/Quartet, the Péter Sárik Trio, the Subtones, and Myrtill Micheller’s band. He is also a member of the Senior Big Band, a renowned jazz group comprising former students of the Liszt academy's jazz faculty.

 

​In 2017, as a member of the Bálint Gyémánt Trio, he played on the "True Listener" (BMC Records). Music critics noted that all three musicians on the album (guitarist Bálint Gyémánt, drummer László Csízi, and double bassist Tibor Fónay) “are members of a new generation of musicians who, with perhaps a broader perspective than ever before, are reinterpreting jazz traditions within contemporary improvisational music, while also mastering the tools of popular music.”