Gabor Szabo: A Western Love Affair

Gabor Szabo – regardless of his unfortunate lack of commercial success – is really a story about music and the possibilities that America can hold. Being born in a problematic time in Hungry, Szabor left Budapest after spending about 20 years there – 6 of them performing at dinner clubs and the like. As he made his way to California, no doubt drawn there by ‘60s idealism, he probably was unaware of what the future held for him. And while he doggedly stuck to those idealistic notions that brought him to the State’s West Coast, the guitarist would basically watch all of that melt away as he continually strove for acceptance in the jazz community.

Szabo attended the Berklee School of Music in Boston and soon after joined the Chico Hamilton group that also counted Charles Lloyd in the ranks. As the elder percussionist allowed and in fact encouraged Szabo to explore what the guitar was capable of doing, the Hungarian player eventually struck out on his own. And using a variety of interesting settings – both live and in the studio – Szabo quickly made a name for himself as he toured frequently up and down the West Coast. Again, though, as he attempted to distill that irreverent idealism into his music with an eye to the psych scene, Szabo found that he didn’t fit perfectly anywhere, frustratingly so.

The year that he first led groups in the studio, 1966, Szabo released no less than four albums. Some of the discs work to better affect than others. In that same year, though, the Rolling Stones released their Aftermath. On it Brian Jones makes use of a sitar for the album’s opener, “Paint it Black.” Szabo, obviously an ardent fan, was so overcome by that inclination towards combining disparate elements he redoubled his efforts and reworked the song.

Having “Paint it Black” on his Jazz Raga album might make sense in hindsight. But at the time, it must have been difficult for the jazz world do digest. Regardless of that single song’s inclusion here, Szabo goes into the disc with a vociferous rock prodding. Counting Bernard Purdie on drums probably didn’t hurt too much either. And with that steady back beat, Szabo recorded the entire album as a trio, with Johnny Gregg on bass. The thing was, though, that after completion of Jazz Raga, Szabo went back and overdubbed sitar on pretty much every track. Playing against himself could have yielded some startling songs, but it becomes obvious pretty quickly that Szabo’s not too adept at the Indian instrument.

Having said that, Jazz Raga isn’t an exploitation album in the same way that The Deep or Lord Sitar are. Each of those efforts takes a stab at crass commercialism for the sake of a dollar while Szabo ardently believed in the social and political ramifications that new musics could have. Of course, he hailed from a country ravaged alternately by fascists and commies. So, some of that might have just been wishful thinking. But regardless of that reality, Jazz Raga ends up being a genuine effort, if not one of the most stunning.