Prior to World War II, harmonica playing was very popular in Hungary. One of the places organized harmonica performing developed was within the scouting movement. Another popular place for harmonica playing was under the big top at the circus. It was at circus shows during the 1940s that the first professional harmonica band - the Barabas trio - became well-known.
The ABC Harmonica Trio was formed in 1964 from members of former harmonica bands. The trio - Sándor Farkas, Ferenc Jassó and Árpád Martinek - gained their first recognition when they submitted a tape cassette to 1967 Hohner World Championship and earned ninth place. At that time it was different to travel abroad because of the political situation. Indeed, it would be years after a promotional film was made by the Hohner Harmonica company that the band discovered they featured in it. But two years after their 1967 success, the trio was able to travel to the World Championship in Winterthur, Switzerland and win fifth place. They went on to win second place at 1971 World Harmonica Championship in Eindhoven, Netherlands with their performance of the Csardas by Monti and the Caravan by Duke Ellington.

The last performance of the ABC Harmonica Trio was in 1990.

Written by Péter Nemes Nagy (Translated by Stephen R. Saracco)