Elek Bacsik

Elek Bacsik (22 May 1926 – 14 February 1993) was a Hungarian-born American jazz violinist and guitarist.

Bacsik was born in Budapest, the son of Arpad Bacsik and Erzsebet Pocsi. He was of Romani ethnicity and studied violin at the Budapest Conservatory, but found his primary musical inspiration in bebop pioneers Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. He was also the cousin of Django Reinhardt. In his early years he travelled as a musician to Lebanon, Spain, Portugal and Italy. He worked in Paris in the early 1960s and recorded with some well known French musicians such as Jeanne Moreau, Serge Gainsbourg and Claude Nougaro as well as making solo albums. In 1966, he went to work and live in the United States and played at Las Vegas. Bacsik recorded on guitar on Gillespie's Dizzy on the French Riviera (1962) and later appeared on violin with Gillespie at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1974. His bebop violin playing is featured on his two albums as a leader, I Love You (1974) and Bird and Dizzy: A Musical Tribute (1975).

Partial discography

 * As sideman
 * 1962 : Dizzy Gillespie, Dizzy on the French Riviera (Philips Records) &mdash; on guitar
 * 1963 : Dizzy Gillespie, New Wave (Philips Records) &mdash; on guitar
 * 1963 : Serge Gainsbourg, Gainsbourg Confidentiel (Philips Records)
 * 1965 : Barbara, Barbara chante Barbara (Philips Records) &mdash; on guitar
 * 1966 : Jeanne Moreau, 12 chansons nouvelles (Jacques Canetti)


 * As leader
 * 1962 : The electric guitar of the eclectic Elek Bacsik (Fontana) &mdash; on guitar
 * 1962 : Bossa nova (EP; Fontana)&mdash; on guitar
 * 1963 : Jazz Guitarist (LP; Philips)&mdash; on guitar
 * 1963 : Guitar Conceptions (Fontana) &mdash; on guitar
 * 1974 : I Love You (Bob Thiele label) &mdash; on violin and violectra
 * 1975 : Bird and Dizzy: A Musical Tribute (Flying Dutchman) &mdash; on violin and violectra

On Film
 * 1958 "Bell, Book and Candle," appeared with Candoli brothers in Zodiac nightclub scenes