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Pianist
Pandelis Karayorgis, bassist Nate McBride and drummer Randy
Peterson formed the Pandelis Karayorgis Trio from 1997 to 2005. Together they recorded three CDs: Heart & Sack (Leo Lab ) in 1998, Blood Ballad (Leo Records) in 2001 and Carameluia (Ayler Records) in 2005.
The trio has been featured by Kevin Whitehead
on NPR's Fresh Air and has received critical acclaim internationally,
including several critics' "best of the year" picks.
Jazz Times lists Blood Ballad on
its Critics' Picks 2001 list while the Boston Phoenix calls this trio
one "of the best in the world" and lists Heart And Sack on its top-10 choices for 1998 saying: "Karayorgis combines Lennie
Tristano's sense of linear propulsion with Paul Bley's conception of the
piano trio as a free-flowing three-way conversation. That makes for a
coiled, winding and unwinding sense of swing driven by Karayorgis's prickly
lines and expansive harmonies, bassist Nate McBride's mix of gestural
abstractions and deep-walking, and drummer Randy Peterson's ability to
drop the downbeat anywhere, confounding expectations and drawing you into
this band's remarkable pulse."
In the liner notes to Heart And
Sack, John Corbett describes the recording as "a profoundly subtle
work that sounds fresh and original despite the fact that it occurs within
the confines of one of the oldest and most cliché-encrusted musical
vehicles: the piano trio."
In November 2004, the trio traveled to Europe
for their first overseas tour. In February 2005, the trio performed in
Chicago and recorded their third CD, "Carameluia."
They were invited back in October 2005 to perform at the Hungry Brain's
Phrenology Festival.
Since 2005 the Pandelis Karayorgis Trio has often performed with different rhythm sections. One variant of the trio with drummer Curt Newton and bassist Nate McBride is the mi3, a collaborative group that sometimes uses the Fender Rhodes. Other current members are bassist Jef Charland and drummers Curt Newton or Luther Gray. Here's an excerpt from a recent live review of the trio
by Stu Vandermark:
"So here they were again [Jef Charland and Luther Gray], this time playing at the Lily Pad with one of the most important jazz pianists working anywhere today, Pandelis Karayorgis. They played music by all three musicians and even one by Monk (no surprise, of course), and all of it was thoroughly challenging to an almost packed house. It was nearly as enjoyable witnessing the genuine enthusiasm of the crowd as it was to catch these guys nail the music. What they do is show the possibilities of a piano trio at its best. And they do it every time."
Stu Vandermark, Boston Jazz Scene, January 2011
The Boston-based pianist-composer helms one of the best progressive piano trios anywhere. His cerebral, kinetic, witty, and propulsive playing and writing build on the foundation of greats such as Thelonious Monk and Cecil Taylor.
Kevin Lowenthal, Boston Globe, June 2009
" … these guys are as connected in musicianship as a piano trio can be. They think, breath, anticipate, and play as one--in the best sense. … Right in the pocket of empathy and insight ... "
Stu Vandermark, Boston Jazz Scene, May 2010
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"
... just about perfect ... deathlessly hip"
Boston Phoenix
"Let's
get straight to the point: this is an impressive record. Enjoyable and
satisfying too. Karayorgis' chops are undoubtedly robust, as he proves
up front with the vaguely Cecil Taylorish "Cracks", but what
holds the attention overall is the air of deep thoughtfulness. ... Karayorgis
demonstrates the ability, like Monk and Taylor (and Ellington), to exploit
the percussive potential of the piano whilst honouring the richness of
its resonance and the range of its colours. Coltrane's "One Up",
the only track not composed by Karayorgis, gets a fiercely physical workout,
then ends this superb album by simply and surprisingly evaporating."
Barry Witherden, JazzReview
"Pandelis
Karayorgis is a stealthy pianist. ...If you thought the jazz piano trio
format had atrophied long ago, think again."
Bill Shoemaker, The Wire
"McBride
is an obscenely talented bassist, whose chops are matched well by his
earthiness and invention."
Jason Bivins, Cadence
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"...
Peterson, one of the great jazz drummers to emerge in the past couple of
decades."
Harvey Pekar, Jazz Times
Boston-based pianist Pandelis Karayorgis rarely performs
in Chicago, but perhaps that will change now that Nate McBride, his longtime
bassist, has moved here; he's in town now to record with McBride and the
superb drummer Randy Peterson. On that trio's most recent recording, Blood
Ballad (Leo), released in 2001, Karayorgis synthesizes the styles of Thelonious
Monk, Lennie Tristano, and Andrew Hill in wonderfully dense and dark improvisations,
melding carefully burnished, sorrowful melodies and mile-deep harmonic
movements. Thanks to the nimble rhythm section, songs collapse and resurrect
themselves with striking fluidity, gracefully swinging one moment and
splattering in free time the next. But the trio never loses its control
of the music.
Peter
Margasak, Chicago Reader
"...
McBride has a hefty sound and deft touch (the bassist wowed the pants
off a crowd when this trio [Joe Morris Trio] played live in Chicago last
year)."
John Corbett, Downbeat
more reviews
on the CD pages:
Heart & Sack
Blood Ballad
Carameluia
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 photo
by Iztok Zupan
Born in Athens, Greece in 1962. Prior to moving to the U.S. in 1985, performed in small jazz groups 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) among others. Studied and performed extensively the music of Thelonious Monk and Lennie Tristano and in 1991 compiled a collection of all of Monk's compositions.
In the last twenty years mostly led or co-led groups whose recordings have often been voted into reviewers' top-10 lists in magazines such as Coda, Cadence, Jazz Times and Jazziz. Performed and recorded with Mat Maneri, Joe Maneri, Ken Vandermark, Tony Malaby, Michael Formanek, John Lockwood, Randy Peterson and Guillermo Gregorio among many others. Numerous performances at festivals and clubs in Europe and the United States. Recordings appear on labels such as Leo Records, Hat Art, Clean Feed, Nuscope, Boxholder, Okkadisk, Cadence, Accurate, Leo Lab, Ayler and HatOLOGY among others.
In the nineties worked closely with violinist Mat Maneri producing several recordings on Leo Records mostly in duo format, but also featuring Tony Malaby, Michael Formanek, Joe Maneri, John Lockwood and Randy Peterson. During the same time also co-led a group featuring much of the Tristano repertoire and originals with which two CDs were made and a trip to Europe in 1997 as well. Also, in 1998 released first trio CD "Heart And Sack" to wide critical acclaim (among others it was featured on National Public Radio's program Fresh Air).
In the past few years toured and recorded in duo format with Ken Vandermark (there is also a 2001 trio CD with Vandermark and McBride) and also with Guillermo Gregorio (with whom there are two previous HatArt collaborations). Performed also with Dave Rempis, Josh Abrams, Jeff Parker, Jeb Bishop, Tim Daisy, Jason Stein, Mike Reed, Josh Berman, Keefe Jackson, Nori Tanaka, Daniel Levin, Frank Rosaly, Charlie Kohlase, Luther Gray, Jef Charland, Forbes Graham, Matt Langley, Jeff Galindo, Chad Taylor, Jason Adasciewicz, Charles Waters and the TILT Brass band, Chris Lopes, Okay Temiz, Hans Koch, Michael Griener, Jan Roder, Floros Floridis , Jorrit Dijkstra, Jacob William, Laurence Cook, Eric Hofbauer, James Falzone, Steve Swell.
A new quintet album, System of 5, featuring all original compositions and arrangements,has just been released by hatology. Also in the spring of 2011, a quartet album featuring Dave Rempis, Forbes Graham and Luther Gray will be released on not two records.
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).
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Discography:
Betwixt, Karayorgis/ McBride/ Newton (the mi3),Hatology 652, 2008
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 photo
by Iztok Zupan
Born 5 May, 1971 in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, bassist Nate McBride was raised in Seattle and lived there until moving to Boston to attend college in 1990. While working on degrees in English and music- including bass studies with Cecil McBee and Donald Palma- he gained extensive performance experience in Boston’s jazz and improvised music scene. This period saw the beginning of several long-running collaborations which would prove critical to his development as a musician, including those with drummer Curt Newton, guitarist Joe Morris, pianist Pandelis Karayorgis and reedist Ken Vandermark. For the decade following college Nate was recording, performing and touring widely in the U.S. and Europe with those musicians and others, while sustaining an active performance schedule in Boston.
In the early years of the 21st century Nate co-founded, organized and managed the Modern Improvised Music series (a Boston concert program featuring local and international artists which continues to be a critical part of that city’s musical landscape), while pursuing increasingly intensive work with his musical associates.
Among his musical influences are the instrumentalist/composer/bandleader model exemplified by Charles Mingus and Duke Ellington, the flexible and propulsive music of blues guitarists such as Skip James and Fred McDowell, the energy and DIY ethos of punk rock, Baroque music, and the forward thinking approach of the AACM. In late 2004, Nate relocated to Chicago, and performs on an ongoing basis with his own Boston-based Quartet; the Pandelis Karayorgis Trio; the mi3; Tripleplay; Spaceways, Inc.; FME; and Bridge 61. As well as those musicians already cited, he has appeared on record or in concert with a variety of other improvisers, including Mat Maneri, Joe McPhee, Paal Nilssen-Love, Jim Hobbs, Charlie Kohlhase, Allan Chase, Satoko Fujii, James Rohr, and Hamid Drake.
Discography:
Betwixt, Karayorgis /McBride /Newton, (hatOLOGY)
Free Advice, the mi3 (Clean Feed)
Carameluia, Pandelis Karayorgis Trio (Ayler Records)
Chicago Approach, Guillermo Gregorio/Pandelis Karayorgis/Nate McBride (Nuscope)
We Will Make A Home For You, the mi3 (Clean Feed)
Spaceways Incorporated, Ken Vandermark (Atavistic)
Tripleplay, Ken Vandermark (Boxholder)
Antennae, Joe Morris Trio (Aum Fidelity)
Let It, Pandelis Karayorgis and Nate McBride (Cadence Jazz Records)
You Be Me, Joe Morris Quartet (Soul Note)
Symbolic Gesture, Joe Morris Trio (Soul Note)
Racket Club, Joe Morris, Jim Hobbs, Steve Norton (About Time)
Utility Hitter, Barrage Double Trio with Ken Vandermark (Quinnah)
The Vision, Cornelius Claudio Kreusch Trio featuring Marvin "Smitty" Smith (Enja)
Riot Trio, James Rohr (Day Job)
Lines, Pakula/Karayorgis Quartet (Accurate)
Blood Ballad, Pandelis Karayorgis Trio (Leo Records)
No Such Thing, Ken Vandermark/Pandelis Karayorgis/Nate McBride (Boxholder)
Heart And Sack, Pandelis Karayorgis Trio (Leo Lab)
Nate McBride's MySpace page
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photo by
Iztok Zupan
Randy Peterson has concertized in America and
Europe to critical acclaim, particularly as a member of the Joe Maneri Quartet,
with which he has recorded for labels such as ECM, Hat Art and Leo among
others. His work with Mat and Joe Maneri has been reviewed in the New York
Times as well as in most major jazz publications both national and international.
Discography:
Tenderly, Joe Maneri Quartet (HatOLOGY)
Fifty-one Sorrows, Mat Maneri Trio (Leo)
So What?, Mat Maneri Trio (HatOLOGY)
Coming Down The Mountain, Joe Maneri Quartet (Hat Art)
Let The Horse Go, Joe Maneri Quartet (Leo)
Acceptance, with Ed Schuller, Gary Valente and John Dirac (HatArt)
Feverbed, The Mat Maneri Trio, featuring Ed Schuller and Randy Peterson
(Leo)
In Full Cry, the Joe Maneri Quartet with Cecil McBee (ECM)
Get Ready To Receive Yourself, Joe Maneri Quartet (Leo)
Dahabenzapple, Joe Maneri Quartet with Cecil McBee (Hat Art) |
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