On the 21st of March, premier London Jazz club Ronnie Scott’s played host to Andreas Varady – A 13 year old guitar prodigy who became their youngest headliner ever.

Born in Slovakia into a Gypsy family, Varady has been playing the guitar since the age for four, inspired by Django Reinhardt, Wes Montgomery, and George Benson.

Now, at the age of thirteen, he has achieved what many Jazz musicians only get to dream of – Headlining at the legendary Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London, England; performing on the same stage that has welcomed every influential jazz musician for the past six decades.

Hardly bigger than his guitar, Varady is able to piece together larger than life solos with complex harmonies that no one would expect from a 13-year old. He also manages to keep up with some of the best guitarists in the world, having worked with a large number of guitar icons including Louis Stewart, Tommy Emmanuel and Martin Taylor.

Varady has now teamed up with drummer David Lyttle for his debut album, ‘Questions’, which also features Michael Janisch on bass, and his father Bandi Varady on rhythm guitar.

For the album, Varady pushes the effects pedal over to the sidelines in favor of a much cleaner sound, which is well suited to his playing style. It is also clear to see that Django Reinhardt is one of his main influences with tracks like ‘Festival 48’, which feature the classic Django ‘hot’ jazz guitar style. Alongside behing a very enjoyable album, showing thrilling glimmers of Varady’s near-virtuosity, it is also an indicator of the great things we should expect from him in the future.

See Varady play ‘A Day In New York’ live below: