Pandelis Karayorgis

Pandelis Karayorgis
Background information
Born	1962
Origin	Athens, Greece
Genres	Jazz, post-bop, avant-garde jazz
Occupation	Musician
Instrument	Piano
Years active	1989–present
Labels	Cadence, Leo, Clean Feed, hatOLOGY, OkkaDisk, Not Two, Driff
Website	Official Website

Pandelis Karayorgis (born 1962) is a Greek-born and Boston-based pianist, composer and educator.

Karayorgis was born in Athens, Greece in 1962. He began classical piano lessons at the age of 9, but by the end of high school he was in love with jazz and beginning to play gigs while pursuing a degree in economics. In 1985, Karayorgis went to Boston to attend the New England Conservatory, where he earned BM and MM degrees in music while studying with Paul Bley, Jimmy Giuffre, George Russell, and Joe Maneri among others.^[1]

He studied and performed extensively the music of Thelonious Monk and Lennie Tristano. In the nineties, he worked closely with violinist Mat Maneri producing several recordings mostly in duo format. During the same time, he also co-led a group with Eric Pakula featuring much of the Tristano repertoire, and collaborated with Argentine saxophonist and composer Guillermo Gregorio.^[2]

He recorded for labels such as Cadence, Leo, Nuscope, OkkaDisk, Clean Feed, hatOLOGY, Not Two, and Driff, an artist-run label co-founded by Karayorgis and Jorrit Dijkstra. Some of the most extensive recording/performing collaborations have been with Nate McBride, Curt Newton, Luther Gray, Jef Charland, Randy Peterson, Ken Vandermark and Dave Rempis. His projects include the Pandelis Karayorgis Trio, the electric trio mi3, the quartet Construction Party, the quintet System of 5, and the Whammies, a group dedicated to the music of Steve Lacy.^[2]

With The Whammies

• The Whammies Play the Music of Steve Lacy (Driff, 2012)
• The Whammies Play the Music of Steve Lacy, Vol. 2 (Driff, 2013)
• The Whammies Play the Music of Steve Lacy, Live Vol. 3 (Driff, 2014)

With Guillermo Gregorio

• Approximately (hatART, 1996)
• Red Cube (hatOLOGY, 1999)

• Official site
• A bounty of brilliance from Boston pianist Pandelis Karayorgis at Chicago Reader
• Pianist focuses on the essentials at The Boston Globe