The brilliant Boston-based pianist and educator Laszlo Gardony celebrates his new Sunnyside Records album Close Connection with an album release concert on Thursday, January 26 at Berklee College of Music’s David Friend Recital Hall.

Joining Gardony in a program that embraces his Hungarian folk music and prog rock roots, are bassist John Lockwood and drummer Yoron Israel, who are also featured on the album.

“It’s a confluence of musical styles in a highly interactive trio setting, where Laszlo’s Central European folk roots come to the fore alongside his lifelong love of jazz standards and his youthful infatuation with ’70s prog-rock. It’s where Bartok meets Monk and King Crimson, filtered through Gardony’s unique prism and expertly interpreted by his longtime simpatico rhythm tandem…and he calls it New Prog Jazz,” says writer Bill Milkowski, DownBeat and Jazziz contributor and author.