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Jeb Bishop, Pandelis Karayorgis, Damon Smith: Duals
by Mark Corroto
The Jeopardy answer is “three to the power of 2." If you buzzed in fast enough with “what is the album Duals“? You would be correct. The three musicians, trombonist Jeb Bishop, bassist Damon Smith, and pianist Pandelis Karayorgis recorded these 33 duos in Boston between the fall of 2021 and the summer of 2022. While we promised there would be no math, the equation 'three to the power of 2' actually equals three separate discs each with duo combinations ...
read morePandelis Karayorgis Trio: The Hasaan, Hope & Monk Project
by Mark Corroto
Thelonious Monk is quoted as saying, “the piano ain't got no wrong notes." He most certainly said this in response to the criticism of his approach to both composing and performance. In what sounds blasphemous today, critics and other musicians in the early days of bebop flat out said he couldn't play. Perhaps the lesson here is that nonpareil outliers who maintain the conviction of their methods ultimately prevail. That most certainly is the driving force behind pianist Pandelis Karayorgis' ...
read morePandelis Karayorgis Double Trio: CliffPools
by Mark Corroto
Visit any dog park and you'll notice canines need no instruction on how to play together. Chasing the ball, chasing each other, or investigating a pond is quite instinctive for our furry friends. Apologies for equating the master musicians heard on CliffPools with a pack of dogs, but a ferocious struggle for dominance this is not. Boston-based pianist Pandelis Karayorgis had the idea to merge two of his piano/bass/drums trios into one coterie of kindred spirits. His trio work with ...
read moreBenoît Delbecq - Jorrit Dijkstra - John Hollenbeck: Linger
by Glenn Astarita
Thes New England-based record label, Driff Records, was established in 2012 by Jorrit Dijkstra (reeds, electronics) and Pandelis Karayorgis (piano) with the intentions of creating “transatlantic improvised music." Dijkstra and drummer, composer John Hollenbeck have enjoyed a productive working relationship since the 1990s, and invited forward-thinking French pianist Benoît Delbecq into this beguiling and uncanny improvisational trio setting for Linger. It definitely goes against the grain, even by free jazz nomenclatures. But the intermixing of acoustic and electronics yield some ...
read moreBathysphere: Bathysphere
by Glenn Astarita
Driff Records labelmates, pianist Pandelis Karayorgis and reedman Jorrit Dijkstra assembled this impressive lineup with the intentions of keeping the “individual musicians in mind." The group moniker relates to a deep-sea submersible apparatus that draws a parallel to the ensemble's deep dive musical exploits. The band imparts a translucent region of sound via asymmetrical elements of modern mainstream and avant-garde framed expressionism. One of the reoccurring highlights pertain to the artists' inner-workings and mechanics in concert with ballsy horns charts; ...
read morePandelis Karayorgis Quintet: Afterimage
by Glenn Astarita
Boston, MA area pianist, composer Pandelis Karayorgis brandishes his magic at a Chicago venue with some of the Windy City's finest improvisers. He shifts many concepts with odd-metered progressions while straddling the avant-garde spectrum amid a manifesto based on cohesive discourses, where the hornists may purposely lag behind the beat or bust out into commodious movements. Karayorgis is a perceptive composer, whether he ingrains a smoky blues motif with sinuous phrasings or positions the band into a manifold gait where ...
read moreThe Whammies: Play The Music of Steve Lacy Vol. 3, Live
by Mark Corroto
The third volume of Steve Lacy dedications by the cover/not cover band The Whammies is a live recording from their 2014 tour. Recorded in Italy and Austria, the band performs their self-described “instant-arranging" of mostly Lacy tunes that in true-to-form fashion elicit surprise and clever improvisation.Saxophonist Steve Lacy, who passed away in 2004, would certainly be pleased.This international band led by Dutch saxophonist Jorrit Dijkstra and Greek-born Boston-based pianist Pandelis Karayorgis keep the flame of his ...
read moreThe Whammies: Play The Music Of Steve Lacy
by John Ephland
It's a Lacy sandwich. Sort of. Between the opening and closing slices of “Bone" and Monk's “Locomotive," we get to hear some real free-range chicken, so to speak, said tunes played relatively straight, with clearly recognizable heads and a unity swing. (Throw them into the lunch bucket, too.) And, except for the lurching closer “Locomotive," the remaining seven Steve Lacy cuts have dedications, the bouncy “Bone" going to Lester Young. Selected cuts are part of something larger, based on poems ...
read morePandelis Karayorgis Quintet: Circuitous
by Glenn Astarita
In the album liners, Boston-based jazz pianist Pandelis Karayorgis cites this unit as a dream band, featuring prominent Chicagoans, saxophonist Dave Rempis and drummer Frank Rosaly. Never one to run short on creative sparks, the pianist is a sly arranger, and these works are asymmetrically synched within organization and improvisation. Moreover, several of these pieces are influenced by Thelonious Monk, primarily from an unconventional rhythmic standpoint amid odd-metered expressionism. Vivid imagery is rampant on “Swarm," where the frontline ...
read morePandelis Karayorgis Trio: Cocoon
by Mark Corroto
With so many projects in the works, where is one to begin in a survey of pianist Pandelis Karayorgis? The Boston-based educator (born in Athens, Greece) is a member of The Whammies (featuring Han Bennink), a sextet formed with Driff Records partner Jorrit Dijkstra to cover the music of Steve Lacy. He also maintains a Chicago Quintet with Dave Rempis, Keefe Jackson, Nate McBride, and Frank Rosaly, and is a member of System of 5, Construction Party, and the Guillermo ...
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