May 25, 2016
• 21:00 Athens Big Band
The City of Athens Big Band is the municipality's broad jazz music ensemble comprising the four instrument families, namely saxophones, trumpets, trombones and rhythmic drums, often backed by string and other symphonic instruments.Apart from Louis Armstrong and Benny Goodman, major composers and soloists of the Big Band music genre include Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Stan Kenton, Glenn Miller, Woody Herman, Buddy Rich, Tommy Dorsey, Don Ellis and William Russo.The City of Athens Big Band repertoire consists of historic compositions and orchestrations by the pioneers of the Big Band philosophy as well as modern, quality jazz works, oftentimes penned by Greek artists.
• 22:00 "Momo Trio"(Greece)
Momo Trio is an extraordinary ensemble formed by exquisite musicians. The trio plays unique compositions characterized by personal musical flair and great musical talent. Music played by "Momo trio" is defined by their dynamic approach of sound. Their elaborate musical technique resonates with utter simplicity and carries profound clarity along with immense sensitivity, explosiveness and imagination. Truly, they are an extraordinary trio of musicians with a unique musical perspective and impact in the world of music. Momo Trio : the Best Jazz Group 2015 - ( Jazzonline critic poll 2015)
George Dousis has been professionally active in the world of jazz music and modern music for over twenty years exercising his dual talent both as a composer and pianist. He has performed with many music groups on albums and in live performances as a pianist and orchestrator. His complex work is often presented in Greece and abroad. As an orchestrator and a pianist he has worked with many Greek and non-Greek orchestras.
Paraskevas Kitsos has studied acoustic guitar, electric bass, and double bass. He has participated in numerous recording productions and is an active session musician who takes part in live performances in Greece and abroad. In the Momo trio creation of the album "no vacancy", he plays the role of a founding member and that of a composer for the first time simultaneously.
Nikos Kassavetis had been characterized as a rare highly promising drummer in Greece. He studied percussion in Greece and went on to study at Berklee College of Music on a music scholarship. Since 1999 he has been the drummer for the Greek Orchestra of Contemporary Music of E.R.T. television. He often records for Greek television and radio and works as a session musician for independent productions.
They have released 2 albums : No vacancy in 2013 & Inati in 2015
• 23:00 Mário Laginha Trio (Portugal)
One of the most creative contemporary Portuguese jazz musicians. He is mostly recognized for his recurrent collaborations with fellow Portuguese jazz singer Maria João, with whom he recorded over a dozen discs and toured Portugal and Europe several times. Other famed collaboration work includes four-handed piano sessions with Bernardo Sassetti and Pedro Burmester.Mário's early influences include Keith Jarrett.
Mario Laginha (piano), Bernardo Moreira (contrebasse), Alexandre Frazão percussion)
May 26, 2016
• 20:00 Gilad Hekselman Duo (Israel)
Gilad Hekselman is a rising star guitarist in the jazz community.Hekselman has performed with many renowned artists including Anat Cohen, Mark Turner, Dayna Stephens, Aaron Parks, Jeff Ballard, John Scofield, Ari Hoenig, and Chris Potter.Hekselman moved to New York City in 2004 to attend The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music on full scholarship. In July 2005, he won the Gibson–Montreux Jazz Festival Guitar Competition in Switzerland.To date he has released five albums as leader: Splitlife (2006), Words Unspoken (2008), Hearts Wide Open (2011), This Just In (2013), and Homes (2015).Hekselman was also featured on Esperanza Spalding's Radio Music Society. He played on Petros Klampanis last album Minor Dispute release in 2015.
Gilad Hekselman (guitar), Πέτρος Κλαμπάνης (contrebasse)
• 21:00 Veronika Harcsa &Gyémánt Bálint (Hungary)
Veronika Harcsa is a uniquely versatile Hungarian singer and songwriter, whose greatest strength lies in a clarity, which enchants and bedazzles instantly.Her current projects are an acoustic duo with guitar player Bálint Gyémánt
Veronika Harcsa (vocals), Gyémánt Bálint (guitar)
• 22:00 Marius Neset Quartet (Norway )
"Marius Neset combines Brecker’s power and Jan Garbarek’s tonal delicacy" John Fordham, GUARDIAN (UK) - “… saxophonist Marius Neset is a marvel. He makes his instrument dance like a gazelle and soar like an eagle, and he’s an ingenious composer too”. Ivan Hewitt, TELEGRAPH (UK)
Marius Neset (sax), Ivo Neame (piano), Phil Donkin (bass), Anton Eger (drums)
• 23:00 Kratochvil / Ackerman/ Zangi Jazz Trio
This trio has been a staple of the Czech jazz scene for decades. The trio of Martin Kratochvil (piano), Tony Ackerman (7-string guitar) and Imram Musa Zangi (percussion) has been a staple of the Prague jazz scene for over 25 years. Their unique sound combines elements of their three native countries (Czech Republic, USA, Iran) with the raw energy of jazz improvisation and the easy familiarity of a half a lifetime of playing together. Kratochvil was the first musician to bring jazz/rock behind the Iron Curtain in the early 1970's, and his jazz/rock group Jazz Q Praha still draws big crowds today. He was also the first Czech to attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, the most prestigious jazz university; he now divides his time between live music, trekking in the Himalayas, and making films of his adventurous journeys. Ackerman learned all the current folk and blues styles as a teenager in the Boston area, and honed his guitar skills with several years of classical study. His custom made 7-string guitar provides a rounded, natural sound to complement the grand piano and ethnic percussion. Imran Musa Zangi plays on a very personal set of congas, bongos, and a whole battery of small percussion instruments to lend not only rhythmic intricacy, but also a great range of ethnic colors, to the group. In their concert you will hear the three go from sweet, melodic openings to highly charged, rhythmically intricate free passages; because their music is so eclectic and has drawn on so many folk and world music roots as well as jazz, it has a way of speaking to people of all ages.
May 27, 2016
• 20:00 Ineke / Dimitriadis / Stanik / Guilfoyle Group (Holland )
An exceptional musical summit of European jazz scene and university teachers.Dimitriadis is regarded as a key figure in musical education in Greece. He is the founder of the unique and highly successful Jazz Studies Program at the Ionian University in Corfu, Greece where he holds the position of Associate Professor of Saxophone and Head of Jazz Studies, the first academic position given to a jazz musician in this country.Ronan Guilfoyle, is one of the most important representatives of the Irish jazz scene and directing the jazz studies program at Newpark Music Centre Dublin.Eric Ineke began his musical career in the 60s . He has played with many famous artists , he has recorded numerous albums and has participated in many international jazz festivals.Pianist Juraj Stanik incorporates a range of influences in his music , from traditional jazz to modern pioneers , drawing inspiration from classical music
Dimos Dimitriadis (sax), Juraj Stanik (piano), Ronan Guilfoyle (bass), Eric Ineke (drums)
• 21:00 Pol Belardi's Force (Luxembourg)
From the moment Pol played his first note on an instrument, sometime in the 90’s in a small town in Luxembourg called Tétange, his curiosity was awakened to create music. After extensive tutelage at local schools in classical percussion, piano, drums and theory, a fair amount of classical orchestra as well as rock band experience and a good first imprint in the local scene, he set sails to study in Brussels and Amsterdam, earning a master’s degree “cum laude” in bass guitar in 2014. He has forged himself a strong credo consisting of two main ingredients: polyvalence and creativity.
His numerous projects vary in both conception of style and the instrument(s) he plays, and since the first childhood composition try-outs (which were mainly transcribing and rearranging video-game music), he has grown to a prolific composer who is not afraid of taking advantage of his diverse musical background.
Now back in Luxembourg, in the heart of Europe, Pol leads his own bands Force (a modern jazz quartet/quintet) and Urban Voyage, an 11-piece crossover mammoth project based in Amsterdam. In addition to that, he is a member of DillenDub, a co-lead electro-groove-jazz trio.
David Fettmann (sax), Jérôme Klein (piano), Pol Belardi (bass), Niels Engel (drums)
• 22:00 Beat Kaestli & Marc Perrenoud Trio (Switzerland)
Hailed as “remarkable” by Jazzman (France) and “always masterful” by All About Jazz, Marc Perrenoud is one of the most acclaimed Swiss jazz musicians of his generation. Beat Kaestli is a Swiss vocalist, songwriter, arranger and producer residing in New York City. Upon receiving a scholarship to the prestigious Manhattan School of Music in 1993, he decided to move from his native home of Switzerland to New York and make it his permanent home. Following several years of supporting himself as a session singer, backing such dance artists as Barbara Tucker and Inaya Day and working alongside Linda Hopkins on the world tour of the Harlem Gospel Show, Kaestli made his recording debut in 2002 with Reasons a collection of R&B-infused, pop-jazz originals that earned him a review in Billboard Magazine and comparisons to such disparate headliners as George Michael and Maxwell.
Beat Kaestli (vocals), Marc Perrenoud (piano), Jérémy Bruyère (bass), Arthur Alard (drums)
• 23:00 Hidden Orchestra presents «Reorchestrations»
This new collection of Joe Acheson's 'Reorchestrations' (including two previously unreleased tracks) takes works by exceptional experimental/classical/folk musicians as source material, and passes them through Joe's studio where they are intricately reworked with the signature Hidden Orchestra composition and production techniques. The result is a cohesive new Hidden Orchestra album, consisting of tracks produced since 2012, and representing the best of the music to come out of Joe's studio since the last full Hidden album 'Archipelago'
May 28, 2016
• 20:00 Big Band
• 21:00 Pierre de Surgères Trio (Belgium)
Belgian pianist Pierre de Surgères is an autodidact musician who pursued a musical career only after he studied journalism and philosophy. So far, that career has been quite erratic, he attended master classes with diverse mentors such as Toots Thielemans and Anthony Braxton, launched a project dedicated to the provocative songs of Serge Gainsbourg, worked in Florida with funky jazz masters like George Duke and Marcus Miller. Surgeres formed a quintet back home featuring acclaimed French saxophonist Alexandra Grimal that played his compositions influenced by traditional jazz and ideas from Steve Coleman's M-Base. Just recently, Surgeres founded the Krysis trio.Also known also as The Groovy Mates, the project features bassist Félix Zurstrassen and prolific drummer, bandleader and label owner Teun Verbruggen.A promising debut by a trio with an original voice of its own.
Pierre de Surgères (piano), Félix Zurstrassen (bass), Teun Verbruggen (drums & percussion)
• 22:00 Nono García & Pablo Novoa (Spain)
Jazz, blues, flamenco and music from Latin America-
Nono García (guitar flamenco), Pablo Novoa (electric guitar)
• 23:00 Naoko Sakata Trio (Sweden)
The Naoko Sakata Trio combines three unique, individual musical voices that embrace the listener in landscapes of beauty and exploding improvisations. Contrasts between simplicity and complexity, tenderness to natural outbursts are exposed within the trio’s energy. Their repertoire has its fundamental grounding in free improvisation which is expressed within and throughout their original compositions. Naoko Sakata, Japanese born pianist, moved to Gothenburg in Sweden in 2008 to study at the Academy of Music and Drama at Gothenburg University. In 2009 it was here this trio was formed together with Anton Blomgren on double bass and Johan Birgenius on drums. In that same year, the trio won the chance to represent Sweden at the Young Nordic Jazz Comets 2009 held in Oslo. It was also at this event that Naoko won the prestigious ‘Best Soloist’ prize as a result of ‘her excellent and mature playing’. In 2010 she was also nominated for Swedish Radio “Jazzcat” (Jazzkatten) award for ‘New-Comer of the Year’.
Naoko Sakata (piano), Alfred Lorinius (bass), Johan Birgenius (drums)
May 29, 2016
• 21:00 TriCoolOre feat. Pantelis Stoikos (Cyprus)
The World Jazz Trio TriCoolOre came together in November 2013 in their home town Nicosia (Cyprus).A huge part of the philosophy of TriCoolOre is the fusing of different musical styles: explosive rhythms are mixed with more nostalgic, traditional melodies. The combination of these distinctive elements gives the trio a unique identity as they bring a Mediterranean touch to the global sound of jazz. Using special rhythmic forms blended with a strong element of improvisation, they manage to break away from stereotypes and follow their personal musical path.In April 2015 they released their debut album, Oregano Infused, which includes nine of their own compositions. TriCoolOre have performed at music venues in Cyprus, Greece and the United Kingdom.In addition, the band performed successfully at major festivals in Cyprus such as Aglanjazz,1st & 2nd Cyprus Jazz & World Music Showcase, Axiothea Festival and Fengaros Music Festival as well as the 2nd Kozani International Jazz Festival in Greece. Joining them on this journey is the internationally renowned musician Pantelis Stoikos, who is considered to be one of the most creative trumpeters of the Balkans.
Pantelis Stoikos (trumpet), Aggelos Doukas (keyboard), Νikos Doukas (el. bass), Vassilis Vassiliou (drums & percussion)
• 22:00 Quadro Nuevo (Germany)
Quadro Nuevo is Europe’s answer to the Argentine tango. Arabesques, Balkan swing, ballads, daredevil improvisations, the melodies of old Europe and the lightness of the Mediterranean merge into fabulous songs full of joyous colour. These melodies tell of the vagabond life, of experiences and encounters on this great journey of life, of small coincidences and grand moments, of tenderness and wild temperament driven between the winds of east and west, caught between consuming yearning and joyful fulfillment – between the bitter and the sweet.Quadro Nuevo has been touring the globe since 1996 giving over 3000 concerts in places as far flung as Sidney, Montreal, Ottawa, Kuala Lumpur, Istanbul, New York, New Orleans, Mexico City, Peking, Seoul, Singapore, Tunis and Tel Aviv. From the tranquility of Upper Bavaria, the road has led them over the Alps to Porto, traversing Europe from Denmark to the Balkans and to the Ukraine.In the course of their travels, the quartet has established its own form of melodic poetry beyond all genre pigeon holes, unmistakably shaped by the passionate love of their instruments and the joy of making music. The secret is their devotion: it is a rare experience to hear music performed with so much excitement, verve and an empathy with cultures that are foreign. The Quartet’s venues are as diverse as the roots of their music and are not limited to concert halls and festivals. Quadro Nuevo’s ardent virtuosi are just as much at home busking on the piazzas of southern Europe, enticing audiences to dance to their music as a night-time tango band, as they are in jazz clubs and locations as famous as New York’s Carnegie Hall.Quadro Nuevo’s CD’s have received the German Jazz Award, climbed into the Top Ten of the Jazz and World Music charts and were awarded the coveted European Phono Award in Paris.The Echo, the German Phono Academy’s highest distinction, was presented to Quadro Nuevo in the category “Jazz/World Music, Best Live Act” in both 2010 and 2011. After an exciting and eventful trip to Buenos in early 2014, Quadro Neuvo have once again turned their intense focus back to the Tango.
Mulo Francel (sax), D.D. Lowka (bass & percussion), Andreas Hinterseher (accordeon), Evelyn Huber (harpe)
• 23:00 Erkan Oğur &Telvin (Τurkey)
Erkan Oğur was born in 1954, in Ankara, Turkey. He spent his childhood in Elazığ, eastern Turkey, where he became interested in violin and the Turkish bağlama lute, and started to practice them frequently. He was introduced to guitar education in 1973. In 1980, he started to study at the State Conservatory of Istanbul Technical University. He worked as an oud lute teacher. He had live performances with Fikret Kızılok and Bülent Ortaçgil where he contributed to scene with fretless guitar. He released his first album in Germany called Arayışlar (""Searches""). In 1989, he went to the U.S. to work with numerous local blues artists. He introduced fretless guitar into blues. A year later, he released his first album in Turkey, Bir Ömürlük Misafir (""A Lifetime Guest""), which was ranked 4th in European lists. He still performs concerts through the world and in Turkey. He works with Kemal Eroglu on technical improvements on bağlama lute; and continues his performances with Fahir Atakoglu and Bülent Ortaçgil. In 2004, he played on Yansımalar's album Pervane (""Moth""). He is a member of the Telvin trio, which mainly performs Turkish folk music in improvised jazz style, with İlkin Deniz and Turgut Alp Bekoglu, and has released an album called Telvin in 2006. His soundtrack for the 2004 movie Yazı Tura by Uğur Yücel won two awards: the 2004 Golden Orange for Best Music at the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, and the 2005 award for Best Music at the Ankara International Film Festival.".
Erkan Oğur (guitar), İlkin Deniz (bass), Turgut Alp Bekoğlu (drums)
www.technopolis-athens.com
