Pandelis Karayorgis (born 1962) is a Greek-born and
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
-based pianist, composer and educator.
Life and career
Karayorgis was born in Athens, Greece in 1962. He began classical piano lessons at the age of 9, but by the end of high school he was in love with jazz and beginning to play gigs while pursuing a degree in economics. In 1985, Karayorgis went to
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
to attend the
New England Conservatory, where he earned BM and MM degrees in music while studying with
Paul Bley
Paul Bley, CM (November 10, 1932 – January 3, 2016) was a jazz pianist known for his contributions to the free jazz movement of the 1960s as well as his innovations and influence on trio playing and his early live performance on the Moog and ...
,
Jimmy Giuffre
James Peter Giuffre (, ; April 26, 1921 – April 24, 2008) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He is known for developing forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating f ...
,
George Russell, and
Joe Maneri
Joseph Gabriel Esther Maneri (February 9, 1927 – August 24, 2009), was an American jazz composer, saxophone and clarinet player. Violinist Mat Maneri is his son.
Boston Microtonal Society
In 1988, Maneri founded the Boston Microtonal Society ...
among others.
[Henderson, A. Pandelis Karayorgis biography '']Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
'', accessed March 29, 2014.
He studied and performed extensively the music of
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", ...
and
Lennie Tristano
Leonard Joseph Tristano (March 19, 1919 – November 18, 1978) was an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and teacher of jazz improvisation.
Tristano studied for bachelor's and master's degrees in music in Chicago before moving to New Yo ...
. In the nineties, he worked closely with violinist
Mat Maneri
Mat Maneri (born October 4, 1969) is an American composer, violin, and viola player. He is the son of the saxophonist Joe Maneri and Sonja Maneri.
Career
Maneri has recorded with Cecil Taylor, Guerino Mazzola, Matthew Shipp, Joe Morris, Ger ...
producing several recordings mostly in duo format. During the same time, he also co-led a group with Eric Pakula featuring much of the Tristano repertoire, and collaborated with Argentine saxophonist and composer Guillermo Gregorio.
He recorded for labels such as
Cadence
In Western musical theory, a cadence (Latin ''cadentia'', "a falling") is the end of a phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don Michael Randel (199 ...
,
Leo, Nuscope,
OkkaDisk
Okka Disk is an independent American jazz record company and label founded in Chicago by Bruno Johnson in 1994.
Okka began as a rock music label, but Johnson soon changed direction to record free jazz. ,
Clean Feed
Clean may refer to:
* Cleaning, the process of removing unwanted substances, such as dirt, infectious agents, and other impurities, from an object or environment
* Cleanliness, the state of being clean and free from dirt
Arts and media Music A ...
,
hatOLOGY
Hathut Records is a Swiss record company and label founded by Werner Xavier Uehlinger in 1974 that specializes in jazz and classical music. The name of the label comes from the artwork of Klaus Baumgartner. Hathut encompasses the labels hat ART, ...
, Not Two, and Driff, an artist-run label co-founded by Karayorgis and Jorrit Dijkstra. Some of the most extensive recording/performing collaborations have been with Nate McBride, Curt Newton, Luther Gray, Jef Charland, Randy Peterson,
Ken Vandermark
Ken Vandermark (born September 22, 1964) is an American composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist.
A fixture on the Chicago-area music scene since the 1990s, Vandermark has earned wide critical praise for his playing and his multilayered compos ...
and
Dave Rempis. His projects include the Pandelis Karayorgis Trio, the electric trio mi3, the quartet Construction Party, the quintet System of 5, and the Whammies, a group dedicated to the music of
Steve Lacy.
[Pandelis Karayorgis](_blank)
at All About Jazz
''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...
Discography
As leader/co-leader
With The Whammies
* ''The Whammies Play the Music of Steve Lacy'' (Driff, 2012)
* ''The Whammies Play the Music of Steve Lacy, Vol. 2'' (Driff, 2013)
* ''The Whammies Play the Music of Steve Lacy, Live Vol. 3'' (Driff, 2014)
As sideman
With Guillermo Gregorio
* ''Approximately'' (hatART, 1996)
* ''Red Cube'' (hatOLOGY, 1999)
References
External links
Official siteA bounty of brilliance from Boston pianist Pandelis Karayorgisat ''
Chicago Reader''
Pianist focuses on the essentialsat ''
The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karayorgis, Pandelis
1962 births
Living people
Post-bop pianists
Avant-garde jazz pianists
New England Conservatory alumni
Musicians from Athens
21st-century pianists
Okka Disk artists
Cadence Jazz Records artists
Clean Feed Records artists
Leo Records artists