Ambassador András Simonyi met
Mr. Steve Winwood in Washington prior to a concert by the outstanding
British musician at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC.
At the meeting, they recalled
Mr. Winwood's visit to Budapest in 1969 with his groundbreaking
group Traffic, which was at the forefront of European rock music.
Ambassador Simonyi, then a high school student, attended the Budapest
concert and met with Steve Winwood after the event at the Budapest
Hotel Szabadság. "I hung out for a couple of days with Jim
Capaldi and the group's road manager, Albert, at Lake Balaton," the Ambassador said. "I did not join them"
Mr. Winwood recalled." "I went off to listen to gipsy music."
"I know, and I was really disappointed," Ambassador Simonyi
noted.
The Ambassador reminded Mr.
Winwood of the fact that, strangely enough, the group essentially
played without a bass guitar at the Budapest concert, with Mr.
Winwood playing the bass line on his Hammond organ -- just like in his
current band.
Ambassador Simonyi told Mr. Winwood of his his firm belief that rock music had an
enormous impact on the thinking of many Hungarians. "Listening to
rock music, we were part of you, part of the West. The Spencer Davis
Group (Steve Winwood's earlier band) and Traffic simply had a great impact
on me and other Hungarians of our generation. This was part of the
process which finally helped bring down the Iron Curtain."
They agreed that the music for
Hungarians was far more important than the lyrics. Mr. Winwood
remembered that only a few Hungarians spoke English at the time. He
also said a few words about the band he was currently working with,
which includes some outstanding British, Cuban-American and Brazilian
musicians, such as Wilfredo Reyes, Jr.
Mr. Winwood gave a great
concert. The Ambassador's presence - unfortunately - had nothing to do
with it. Congratulations, Mr. Winwood, and see you in Budapest.
