PK/Bio

>BIO

Pandelis Karayorgis is a Boston based jazz/improvised music pianist, composer and educator.

In the last thirty years mostly led or co-led numerous groups in performances at festivals and clubs in Europe the United States, Canada and Japan. Recordings appear on labels such as Hat Art, HatOLOGY, Clean Feed, Not Two, Leo Records, Nuscope, Boxholder, Okkadisk, Cadence, Accurate, Leo Lab, Ayler and more recently on Driff Records, an artist-run label co-founded by Pandelis Karayorgis and Jorrit Dijkstra.

Some of the most extensive recording/performing collaborations have been with Nate McBride, Curt Newton, Ken Vandermark, Mat Maneri, Guillermo Gregorio, Jorrit Dijkstra, Jeb Bishop, Luther Gray, Jef Charland, Randy Peterson and Dave Rempis.

Pandelis Karayorgis performed and recorded with Joe Maneri, Han Bennink, Damon Smith, Mary Oliver, Steve Swell, Frank Rosaly, Jason Roebke, Keefe Jackson, Michael Formanek, Forbes Graham, Matt Langley, Jeff Galindo, Taylor Ho Bynum, John Lockwood and Eric Rosenthal.

Also performed with Josh Abrams, Chad Taylor, Jason Adasciewicz, Laurence Cook, Jeff Parker, Tim Daisy,Mike Reed, Josh Berman, Kresten Osgood, Kasper Tranberg, Jeff Platz and Charlie Kohlase.

Notable projects include The Pandelis Karayorgis Quintet, The Whammies, The Pandelis Karayorgis Trio (whose first trio CD "Heart And Sack" was featured on National Public Radio's program Fresh Air), the mi3, Construction Party, System of 5, the quartet Matchbox, the large group Bathysphere and more recently, the quintet Cutout, the Pools and Cliff trios and the Double trio CliffPools.

Born in Athens, Greece in 1962, moved to Boston in 1985. Prior to that, studied piano and performed in various jazz groups in Athens while pursuing a degree in Economics. Earned BM and MM degrees in music from Boston's New England Conservatory while studying with Paul Bley, Jimmy Giuffre, George Russell, Dave Holland and Joe Maneri (composition). Studied and performed extensively Thelonious Monk’s and Lennie Tristano’s music and in 1991 compiled a collection of all of Monk's compositions.


	>BIO Pandelis Karayorgis is a Boston based jazz/improvised music pianist, composer and educator. In the last thirty years mostly led or co-led numerous groups in performances at festivals and clubs in Europe the United States, Canada and Japan. Recordings appear on labels such as Hat Art, HatOLOGY, Clean Feed, Not Two, Leo Records, Nuscope, Boxholder, Okkadisk, Cadence, Accurate, Leo Lab, Ayler and more recently on Driff Records, an artist-run label co-founded by Pandelis Karayorgis and Jorrit Dijkstra. Some of the most extensive recording/performing collaborations have been with Nate McBride, Curt Newton, Ken Vandermark, Mat Maneri, Guillermo Gregorio, Jorrit Dijkstra, Jeb Bishop, Luther Gray, Jef Charland, Randy Peterson and Dave Rempis. Pandelis Karayorgis performed and recorded with Joe Maneri, Han Bennink, Damon Smith, Mary Oliver, Steve Swell, Frank Rosaly, Jason Roebke, Keefe Jackson, Michael Formanek, Forbes Graham, Matt Langley, Jeff Galindo, Taylor Ho Bynum, John Lockwood and Eric Rosenthal. Also performed with Josh Abrams, Chad Taylor, Jason Adasciewicz, Laurence Cook, Jeff Parker, Tim Daisy,Mike Reed, Josh Berman, Kresten Osgood, Kasper Tranberg, Jeff Platz and Charlie Kohlase. Notable projects include The Pandelis Karayorgis Quintet, The Whammies, The Pandelis Karayorgis Trio (whose first trio CD "Heart And Sack" was featured on National Public Radio's program Fresh Air), the mi3, Construction Party, System of 5, the quartet Matchbox, the large group Bathysphere and more recently, the quintet Cutout, the Pools and Cliff trios and the Double trio CliffPools. Born in Athens, Greece in 1962, moved to Boston in 1985. Prior to that, studied piano and performed in various jazz groups in Athens while pursuing a degree in Economics. Earned BM and MM degrees in music from Boston's New England Conservatory while studying with Paul Bley, Jimmy Giuffre, George Russell, Dave Holland and Joe Maneri (composition). Studied and performed extensively Thelonious Monk’s and Lennie Tristano’s music and in 1991 compiled a collection of all of Monk's compositions.		photo by Iztok Zupan Quotes: "Over the course of nearly 20 years and approximately that many recordings, Karayorgis has established himself as one of the singular, and significant, pianists of his generation." Art Lange " ... by this stage, Karayorgis has developed a powerful piano language of his own and this is its definitive statement to date." The Penguin Guide To Jazz Recordings, (8th Edition) in reference to solo piano CD "Seventeen Pieces" (2004). Dec 2005 Boston Globe article Point Of Departure roundtable moderated by Bill Shoemaker A great write-up from Chicago Reader's Peter Margasak (June 2013) A bounty of brilliance from Boston pianist Pandelis Karayorgis


	>DISCOGRAPHY • Climbing To Sleep, Pandelis Karayorgis Trio / Julia Werntz / Eric Moe, Driff Records 2502, 2025 • Atmos, with Noah Campbell and Brittany Karlson. Driff Records 2503, 2025 • Out From Athens, with George Kokkinaris. Driff Records 2402, 2024 • Truss, with Dave Rempis, Jakob Heinemann and Bill Harris. Driff Records 2401, 2024 • The Hasaan, Hope & Monk Project, with Nate McBride, and Luther Gray. Driff Records 2201, 2022 • Duals, with Jeb Bishop and Damon Smith. Driff Records 2203, 2022 • Water Lilies, with Nate McBride, Kresten Osgood, Forbes Graham and Jeb Bishop. Driff Records 2201, 2022 • 10db, By Jeff Platz with Jeff Platz, Matt Crane and Nate McBride (Digital release, 2020, Bandcamp). • Precipice, Cliff Trio with Damon Smith and Eric Rosenthal, Fundacja Sluchaj! FSR 09, 2020 • Cutout with Jorrit Dijkstra, Jeb Bishop, Nate McBride, and Luther Gray. Driff Records 2001, 2020 • CliffPools, Double Trio with. Nate McBride, Damon Smith, Luther Gray, and Eric Rosenthal. Driff Records 2002, 2020 • Pools, Trio with. Nate McBride and Luther Gray, Driff Records 1802, 2018 • Cliff, Trio with Damon Smith and Eric Rosenthal, Driff Records 1503, 2018 • Filter, The Diagonal, not two Records 978-2, 2018 • Bathysphere, 15-member ensemble, Driff Records 1502, 2015 • Matchbox, Quartet with Jorrit Dijkstra, Nate McBride and Curt Newton, Driff Records 1501, 2015 • Afterimage, Pandelis Karayorgis Quintet (with Dave Rempis, Keefe Jackson, Nate McBride, Frank Rosaly), Driff Records 1404, 2014 •The Whammies Play The Music Of Steve Lacy (Live )vol.3, The Whammies (with Jorrit Dijkstra, Jeb Bishop, Jason Roebke, Han Bennink, Mary Oliver), Driff Records 1401, 2014 • Circuitous, Pandelis Karayorgis Quintet (withDave Rempis, Keefe Jackson, Nate McBride, with Frank Rosaly), Driff Records 1304, 2013 • Cocoon, Pandelis Karayorgis Trio, Driff Records 1302, 2013 • The Whammies Play The Music Of Steve Lacy vol.2, The Whammies (Jorrit Dijkstra, Jeb Bishop, Nate McBride, Han Bennink, Mary Oliver), Driff Records 1303, 2013 • Window And Doorway, Gregorio/Swell/Karayorgis, Driff Records 1301, 2013 • The Whammies Play The Music Of Steve Lacy, The Whammies (with Jorrit Dijkstra, Jeb Bishop, Nate McBride, Han Bennink, Mary Oliver), Driff Records 1201, 2012 • Instruments Of Change, Construction Party (Forbes Graham, Dave Rempis, Pandelis Karayorgis, Luther Gray), not two records 852-2, 2012 • System Of 5, Pandelis Karayorgis Quintet, Hatology 682, 2011 • Betwixt, the mi3 (Karayorgis/McBride/Newton),Hatology 652, 2008 • Free Advice, the mi3 (Karayorgis/McBride/Newton), Clean Feed CF098CD, 2007 • Carameluia, Pandelis Karayorgis Trio (with Nate McBride and Randy Peterson),Ayler Records, aylDL-076, 2007 • Foreground Music, Pandelis Karayorgis/Ken Vandermark, Okka Disk, OD12065, 2007 • Chicago Approach, Guillermo Gregorio/Pandelis Karayorgis/Nate McBride, Nuscope 1019, 2007 • We Will Make A Home For You, the mi3 (Karayorgis/McBride/Newton), Clean Feed CF039CD, 2005 • Seventeen Pieces, Pandelis Karayorgis, solo piano, Leo Records CD LR 417, 2004 • Disambiguation, Pandelis Karayorgis/ Mat Maneri Quintet (with Tony Malaby, Michael Formanek and Randy Peterson), Leo Lab CD334, 2002 • Blood Ballad, Pandelis Karayorgis Trio (with Nate McBride and Randy Peterson), Leo Records CD325, 2001 • No Such Thing, Ken Vandermark, Pandelis Karayorgis and Nate McBride, Boxholder BXH 018, 2001 • Let It, Pandelis Karayorgis and Nate McBride, Cadence CJR 1115, 2001 • Red Cubed, Guillermo Gregorio (with Mat Maneri), hatOLOGY 531, 1999 • Heart And Sack, Pandelis Karayorgis Trio (with Nate McBride and Randy Peterson), Leo Lab CD048, 1998 • Lift & Poise, Pandelis Karayorgis/Mat Maneri (with Joe Maneri and John Lockwood), Leo Lab CD041, 1998 • Approximately, Guillermo Gregorio (with John Lockwood, Mat Maneri and Eric Pakula), Hat Art 6184, 1996 • Lines, Pakula/Karayorgis Quartet, Accurate AC-5014, 1995 • In Time, Mat Maneri/Pandelis Karayorgis, Leo Lab CD002, 1994 • Between Speech And Song, Pakula/Karayorgis/Rosenthal Quartet, Cadence CJR 1055, 1994 • The Other Name, Pandelis Karayorgis, Motive MP001, 1992 • Hand Made, Pandelis Karayorgis, Lyra/OM 053, 1989		>EDUCATION • New England Conservatory of Music, Master of Music in Jazz Performance, Academic Honors, 1993 • New England Conservatory of Music, Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance, 1989 • TEACHERS Jazz: Paul Bley, Geri Allen, Dave Holland, Stanley Cowell, John McNeil, Cecil McBee Composition: Joe Maneri, William Thomas McKinley Jazz Ensembles: George Russell, Jimmy Giuffre, George Garzone >TEACHING EXPERIENCE • Buckingham, Browne & Nichols School, Cambridge Mass., director of jazz ensembles, 1996 to present • Suffolk University, Boston Mass., director of jazz ensemble, 2016 to present • Shady Hill School, Cambridge Mass., director of jazz ensembles, 2009 to present • New England Conservatory of Music, Boston Mass., director of the Thelonious Monk Repertory Ensemble, 1992-93
			Other bios: All Music Guide Penguin Guide To Jazz (8th ed.) Muze Encyclopedia of Popular Music (2002 bio) Wikipedia
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Other bios: All Music Guide Penguin Guide To Jazz (8th ed.)

Muze Encyclopedia of Popular Music (2002 bio)

Wikipedia

Other bios:
All Music Guide

Penguin Guide To Jazz (8th ed.)