>the Pandelis Karayorgis Trio

     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.

November 2004 tour:
click here for tour info and photos

"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

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

photo by Iztok Zupan

Pandelis Karayorgis (piano)
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 couple of 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 recently 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, Charles Waters and the TILT Brass band.

Lately working on composing and arranging for a quintet formation. Presented two such concerts in Chicago and one in Boston during the last year. The latest CD is "Free Advice" (Clean Feed, 2007) with Curt Newton and Nate McBride and “Betwixt” with the same group is expected to be released by HatOLOGY in June 2008.

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).

Discography:
• 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

photo by Iztok Zupan

Nate McBride (bass)
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:
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)

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