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02/24 Sunday
7:00 PM Pandelis Karayorgis Trio
http://karayorgis.com
Bassist Jef Charland and drummer Luther Gray, one of the best and most in-demand rhythm sections in Boston, team-up with pianist Pandelis Karayorgis for an adventurous set of mostly original jazz compositions.
Pandelis Karayorgis:
b. Greece. A highly original pianist, since his early dawning in the Boston, Massachusetts, USA, area Karayorgis has attained a considerable international reputation owing to appearances at festivals and tours of clubs in Europe and America. At venues such as these, and on numerous recording dates, he has appeared with artists such as Mat Maneri, Joe Maneri, Ken Vandermark, Tony Malaby, Michael Formanek, John Lockwood and saxophonist Guillermo Gregorio, playing on the latter's Red Cube(d) in a trio which also included Mat Maneri. Karayorgis has also led or co-led his own groups, their albums attracting very favourable critical attention. Critics have drawn attention to the ability of Karayorgis and his musical companions to skate perilously close to the edges of musical catastrophe, the resulting successes being testimony to their flair, skill and technical prowess. As Alex Henderson commented in Jazziz magazine, " . . . Karayorgis is a brave soul who has . . . fashioned a radical sound of his own . . . definitely original . . . undoubtedly worth the ride." References to Thelonious Monk and Lennie Tristano, Cecil Taylor and Andrew Hill sometimes appear in accounts of his playing but these are valid more as reference points than as true stylistic touchstones.
It might be more accurate to suggest that Karayorgis brought to turn-of-the-century jazz piano hints of how those earlier innovators might have played had they been up-and-coming now rather than then. To quote Billy Taylor, in a blindfold test carried out by Bill Milkowski in JazzTimes, "I have no idea who this is but it is really very clever, very refreshing." Clearly, Karayorgis is intent on pushing the envelope of improvised music, and is very capable of achieving his aims.
Luther Gray:
Drummer Luther Gray was born March 10, 1972 in New Orleans, LA. His family moved to Washington, D.C. where, as a teenager, he started playing drums in punk rock bands. Though largely self-taught, his musical training involved drum lessons from Kim Martin, Larry Bright, Steve Bagby, and Mickey Newman. In 1995 he graduated the University of Miami with a Bachelor of Music, after which he taught privately and performed in the Washington , D.C. area with, among others, Butch Warren, Cecil Payne, Webster Young, Tsunami, Liquorice, Peter Edelman, Jenny Toomey, Bob Butta, and Buck Hill. Since moving to Boston he has resumed teaching private drum lessons and has played with Joe Morris, Jay Hoggard, Joe McPhee, Timo Shanko, Cameron Brown, Allan Chase, Joseph Daly, Sabir Mateen, Roy Campbell, Ida, Geoff Farina, Andrew White, Rob Brown, Bill Lowe, Greg Abate, Raqib Hassan, Bill Pierce, Mitch Seidman, Steve Swell, Joe Beck, Fred Anderson, Ken Vandermark and many others. In addition to his performing schedule Luther teaches art and music at an after-school program for elementary school children.
Jef Charland:
A native of Gardner MA., Jef’s first instrument was trumpet. Later he studied guitar at Berklee with Jon Damian and played in the house band at Wally’s in Boston. After graduating from Berklee he picked up the bass and has become a fixture on the jazz scene playing regularly with the Masked Marvels, the Andy Voelker Trio, Gypsy Schaeffer and at jazz jams at the Center for Arts in Natick, Costello’s and Matt Murphy’s Pub.