Bass
Vilmos Csikós was born in Budapest, Hungary, into a family of gypsy musicians. His mother played the violin and his father was one of the best gypsy bassists in the country, who played with all the most important musicians in the sector. When his father returned from his numerous trips abroad, he always brought with him records that little Vilmos listened to day after day with great attention, thus coming into contact with many types of music (American jazz, classical music, Jewish music, traditional Romanian music etc.), which had a great influence on his career.
His favorite instrument has always been the double bass, but since he was too young to play it at the age of six, he began studying piano at the famous Dugonics school in Budapest, winning several national competitions during this period. At the age of ten he also began studying the double bass: his first teacher was the famous Lajos Montag, and he later studied with Peter Axman at the Istvan Gymnasium in Budapest.
At the same time he started playing the accordion as well. From the age of 15 he was hired to play in various important hotels and restaurants in Budapest, on the Grand Princess ship, at the famous Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo. In 2000 he became the bassist of the orchestra of the Les Ateliers de la Grande Ile of Brussels replacing his uncle Andor Gaspar, who had always been for him a source of inspiration. He then moved to Belgium, where he still lives today.
One of the regulars at the Grand Ile was the young Belgian gypsy musician Tcha Limberger, who has since become a good friend of the Csikós family. Together with him and the Aka Moon trio, Vilmos successfully performed in “VSPRS” and “Patchagonia”, two contemporary dance shows directed by Alain Platel and Lisi Estaras for the world-famous company Les Ballets C de la B, with which he traveled throughout Europe, as well as Japan, Korea and Canada.
Vilmos joins us this year as a member of Fapy Lafertin’s quartet. He figures prominantly in other Tcha Limberger projects, such as the Budapest Gypsy Orchestra with which he toured England and recorded two CDs. In the video that follows he joins Tcha and Vivi Limberger at the famous Le Quecumbar in London in 2011.