The summer months are quiet at THD's because it is high season for bike rentals, and the 50+ bikes are a bitch to move every Thursday. But Autumn 2009 is upon us, and we had our season opening event last night, featuring a concert by The Jazz Apples. This is now the second time they have played at THD's, and they have obviously been putting some practice time in. Last night the band was much tighter, and singer Gabor Bihari far less nervous than a year ago. The Jazz Apples is a new formation satisfying an old need: to offer English-speaking jazz entertainment for the English-speaking community in Budapest - and for everyone else who appreciates it, of course. Singer Gabor Bihari has been planning on doing this for quite a while, ever since he moved to Budapest from his home city of Los Angeles, where he partly grew up. But when he recently met jazz pianist Rezső Ludvig, the time to procrastinate was clearly through.The lineup is filled out by Peter Roman on bass, and Janos Weszely on drums. The Jazz Apples feature a careful selection of your favorite classic jazz tunes, including Cole Porter's music (Bihari's all time favorite) and a blend of modern jazz with some twists and surprises. Gabor has asked us to "please forgive me for my debaucherous rocking past. It was all part of a process of maturing." No need, his voice has already matured, and his hard rock stage presence gives a great atmosphere one does not normally experience at jazz concerts. Jerome Li Thiao Te (The Last Drops) also deftly jumped in and joined the band on violin for a few songs. The Jazz Apples seem to be one of many Budapest supergroups coming together after the success of the Mookie Was Robbed benefit concert earlier this year.

Bring, who actually did form for the Mookie Was Robbed Concert in May, featuring Gabor Bihari, Jerome Li Thiao Te, Dusan Sevic, Greg Ziegler (The Last Drops), Csaba Mester, Loránt Kégl, and Mike Kentish (The Random Chocolates), will play Saturday, October 10th at te Blue River Pub from 21:00-24:00 (Petőfi tér, Dock 8). All Bring could offer back in May 2009 was that if you showed up to the Mookie was Robbed concert in Budapest, you could see them play at least one gig, and you'd be able to experience their music ranging from folk-rock to gypsy-jazz and everything in between. And if they liked it, and if the audience liked it too, they promised to keep playing in one form or another. Well, BRING is a band now, not just a formation, a project, or an experiment. That also means that they really liked what they ended up doing, and enough people from the audience encouraged them too.

Alt.country legend Mookie Brando himself will be playing at Treehugger Dan's on Thursday, October 8th.