Balázs Major was born in Mezőtúr, Hungary. He started playing drums as a self-taught musician. In the seventies, he was a key member of the band Watt’73. From 1977 to 1979, he was a private student of Gyula Kovács, who guided him towards jazz and improvisation. In 1980, as a percussionist, he and guitarist Sándor Szabó formed the Szabó-Major duo. In the early 80s, he studied Indian classical music and learned to play the tabla. The Szabó-Major duo performed in almost every club in the country within a few years. In 1986, their first album was released under the English label LEO RECORDS. Foreign artists were often invited, as a result of which they participated in numerous national concert tours and made recordings. The result of such a collaboration was an album released under the label HWYL RECORDS with the participation of Belgian guitarist Gilbert Isbin. One of the most significant stages of his career was the SzaMaBa Trió. The trio was formed by Sándor Szabó, László Bagi, guitarists, and Balázs Major. The trio operated for about ten years, supplemented by guest musicians, and made 3 albums. A joint recording was made at the Tatai Jazz Camp, which was released by Pannon Jazz in 2005. Due to the cultural decline in Hungary, they played less and less, and the trio disbanded in 1995.
Balázs Major gave solo drum concerts in the mid-80s, where he used the drum briefly, in its most ancient form, to convey messages and thoughts. In 1996, his first solo album was released with the collaboration of Krisztián Major and Sándor Szabó, titled Határok között töött, which is pure acoustic drum music. In 1998, the album Fate Of Outlaw was released with the collaboration of Mihály Dresch, István Grencsó, and Sándor Kármán. He has worked with Sándor Szabó regularly since the end of SzaMaBa, and they have produced several albums, which also feature a new instrument, which was made by the Swiss company PANArt based on Balázs’s designs.
In July 2007, his solo concert was recorded on DVD, which was released in March 2008. However, on the album Modern Magyar Makám released in 2010, he again guested with Sándor Szabó. In 2011, a trio album titled Tryptich was released in the United States, on which Balázs plays drums alongside guitarists Kevin Kastning and Sándor Szabó. He recorded the 2012 Wizzard Dance with German bassist Ralf Gauck, who had come from an international guitar scene, this time within the borders of Europe, and his old musical partner Sándor Szabó. In 2013, the album Becoming, a trio with Kevin Kastning and Sándor Szabó, was released in the USA, and another CD will be released in Norway later this year. In 2014, the concert recording Fractal String, recorded in 2008, was released in the USA, featuring Sándor Szabó, American bassist Michael Manring and German guitarist Claus Boesser Ferrari. In 2015, the album Clouds On The Lake was released, featuring Ralf Gauck, Sándor Szabó and Roland Heidrich. In recent years, a series of albums have been released, mainly abroad, on which we can hear his unique instruments and sensitive, creative playing. In 2018, he released the album Kismaros in a duo with Kevin Kastning, in 2019, he released the album Ethereal II in a trio with Kevin Kastning and Sándor Szabó, and then Ethereal IV in 2021, which were nominated for a Grammy Award. In 2022, the album Ethereal V was nominated again for this prestigious award. His new solo albums, Cosmic Ballads and Life Pictures, were released in 2023.
He is one of the few Hungarian percussionists to have been nominated for a four-time Grammy Award. In recent years and today, we can hear his playing most often in the Szabó/Major duo and as a member of the Kobza Vajk Group.
