Pandelis Karayorgis

Gary Sisco · December-31st-2005, 09:11 AM

Any Karayorgis fans here? I assume there are. I only just heard him last night for the first time, on his "17 Pieces," solo piano. Fabulous! I really dug his touch, approach, and taste.

Just ordered two more of his this morning, based on last night's listening.

I know nothing of him and his history so any information is welcome.

Thanks.

gnhrtg · December-31st-2005, 09:35 AM

I don't know more than you do, Gary, but he has a well-designed and pretty informative website.

I only have Heart and Sack on Leo, with his then working trio (Nate McBride and Randy Peterson). I like it plenty, the whole approach yes, but Karayorgis's playing in particular, and have been meaning to get more for a while. I've read a lot of good things about Lift and Poise so next for me is either that or 17 Pieces. The latter because there are four video clips of him playing solo on his website and it's difficult not to get interested in his solo work after listening to those, especially Criss Cross.

Gary Sisco · December-31st-2005, 10:03 AM

Heart And Sack is one of the two I ordered this morning.

al j · December-31st-2005, 01:23 PM

He's tied in pretty well with Randy Peterson and Mat Maneri, and they've made some exceptional music together in different variations. That was some years ago though and I'm sad to say I haven't kept up with Karayorgis' music too much. My favorite is probably a duo record he did with Nate McBride, a Cadence joint recorded in one of the two's living room, but the title escapes me.

Gary Sisco · January-1st-2006, 08:03 AM

He's in good company, then.

LeMo · January-1st-2006, 01:18 PM

The little that I've heard of the guy is a must.

His trio with Nate McBride & Randy Peterson is a very fine one.

From the two records they made on Leo, I prefered "Blood Ballad" (2001) a little more than "Heart & Sack" (1998), but they are both fine.

"No Such Thing" on Boxholder (2001) with McBride again and Ken Vandermark is also an excellent record who is clearly in the Jimmy Giuffre/ Paul Bley/ Steve Swallow lineage.
The record can really compete with the Paul Bley/ Evan Parker/ Barre Phillips Trio who recorded at the same period on ECM.

I'm going to look for the solo that Gary mention.
On which label it is?

Gary Sisco · January-1st-2006, 02:10 PM

It's on Leo, LeMo.

John P. Cooper · January-1st-2006, 02:22 PM

Greek/Am dude. I thought that sounded like a Greek name.

me wag · January-1st-2006, 02:37 PM

Karayorgis is someone who's music I've been in the process of discovering the last couple of years or so myself. It started for me when I bought the Pandelis Karayorgis/Mat Maneri album Disambiguation (Leo) because it had two of my favorite musicians, Maneri and Tony Malaby, and got sidetracked by the incredible playing of Karayorgis. It still remains my favorite by him and is a great place to hear Malaby as well, who fits very comfortably, I think, in the Mat Maneri/Randy Peterson aesthetic. It also has Michael Formanek on bass so you really can't go wrong here and, thankfully, it doesn't.

I should point out that, personally, I was somewhat disappointed by Seventeen Pieces. It never has quite grabbed me like I would've hoped or was expecting despite repeated listenings. I'll have to give that another listen.