Thursday, September 14, 2017

NEW Truth Revolution Records Album: Mike Boone Quartet - Beneath the Surface (2017)


Truth Revolution Records announces the release of bassist Mike Boone’s debut album Beneath the Surface on September 15.

FEATURING:

JOHN SWANA, TIM BREY, ANWAR MARSHALL, MEKHI BOONE

“Respected in Philadelphia for his commitment to the jazz scene there, as well as for his dedication to assisting younger musicians, Boone’s years of professional experience has allowed him to immerse himself in the music to the extent that he becomes the instrument to the music’s message.”

As the title suggests, there is more to Beneath the Surface than meets the eye.

For example, Mike recorded the gig in secret unbeknownst to his bandmates. After hearing the outcome he thought, it “felt good.” Also, with some “surgery” it would make an excellent CD.

Beneath the Surface captures the Mike Boone Quartet live at Chris’s Jazz Cafe where local followers listen to the music and cheer the group on at one of the last venue that focuses on jazz.

The repertoire includes covers including John Coltrane’s “Central Park West,” played in 6/8 rhythms with two alternating keys; Freddie Hubbard’s blues-tinged “Byrdlike” and Sid Simmons’ uplifting “Keep the Faith” and Boone’s straight-ahead “B-n-R.”

And original compositions such as the title track, which is built on the chord changes to Joe Henderson’s “Inner Urge;” the lively “Up Jumped Bootsie” and the harrowing, “Angst.” Other tracks include “Firm Roots (insert Pt. 1 and 2).

The band consists of John Swana on valve trombone and EVI; Tim Brey on the piano; drummer Anwar Marshall. Also, drummer Mekhi Boone (Mike’s son) appears on three tracks.

“I’ve known John since my early years in Philly,” says Mike. “He’s my horn player of choice forever. I met Tim and Anwar while they were students at Temple and University of the Arts, respectively. They are the top young guys on their instruments in Philly. We’ve been together for about four years, playing wherever and whenever we can.”


Additionally, Mike started out as a classical pianist and switched to the bass in high school. He graduated from Eastman, where he began playing jazz. Also, he was a member of the Buddy Rich Big Band (1982, ’85, ’86). He moved to Philly in 1984, where he learned about jazz from the “old heads.” Also, he was a member of the house band at Ortlieb’s Jazzhaus for almost fifteen years.

He has worked with Joey Defrancesco, Ben Vereen, Buddy Rich, Leslie Uggams, James Moody, Clark Terry, Joe Henderson, Donald Byrd, Dakota Staton, Al Grey, Shirley Scott, Uri Caine, Orrin Evans and Joe De Francesco. Also, he has mentored countless young jazz players on the Philly music scene.

He taught at the Kimmel Center Summer Program and served as the Professor of Jazz Bass at Temple University.

“Even though the CD has my name on the cover,” says Mike, “it’s a group effort. John, Tim, Anwar, and Mekhi have taken the music and made it their own. It’s different each time, and better.”

For Mike Boone, Beneath the Surface is much more than just a jazz recording. “It could apply to life itself … it’s more about substance as opposed to appearance.” Something to consider as you listen and enjoy the best that Philly has to offer.

1. Up Jumped Bootsie
2. Beneath The Surface
3. Central Park West 09:09
4. Firm Roots insert pt 1
5. Angst
6. Firm Roots insert pt 2
7. Punjab
8. Byrdlike
9. B-n-R
10. Keep The Faith

This live record from Philly jazz bass icon Mike Boone is his fifth as a leader, and his debut on the TRR label. It’s a well-balanced combination of classic jazz covers and originals, and the EVI (Electronic Valve Instrument) makes for a brand new take on the Jazz Quartet format. 

“On three cuts, my son, Mekhi Boone, is on drums. I've know John [Swana] since my early years in Philly. He's my horn player of choice forever. I met Tim and Anwar while they were students at Temple and University of the Arts, respectively. They are the top young guys (under 30) on their instruments in Philly. We've been together for about 4 years, playing when we can. 

As far as the title, it could apply to life itself. It's more about substance, as opposed to appearance.”



Mike Boone: Basses 
John Swana: Valve trombone, EVI 
Tim Brey: Piano 
Anwar Marshall: Drums 
Mekhi Boone: Drums tracks 4, 6, 9 

Produced by: Mike Boone and 
Sean Svadlenak 
Recorded at: Chris’ Jazz Club, 
Philadelphia, PA (2016) 
Recorded by: Sean Svadlenak 
Edited and mixed by: Mike Boone 
and Sean Svadlenak 
Mastered by: David Lackner/Galtta 
Cover photo by: Mackenzie McAlpin

Un Blonde streams "Good Will Come To You" and premieres re-mastered single on The Fader

Photo: Sebastian Buzzalino / Unfolding Creative Photo

Un Blonde streams “Good Will Come To You”
on CBC Music in advance of September 22nd release on Flemish Eye
Fader premieres “I Felt the Evening Come Through the Window” from the album, now remastered and will be on vinyl for the first time.

A few weeks ago, Flemish Eye announced that they would be working with Montreal-based mastermind Un Blonde, starting with releasing his latest album, the brilliant ‘Good Will Come To You’ on September 22nd. Starting today, Un Blonde fans can stream the entire record on CBCMusic “First Play”.

CBCMusic calls the album “a veritable sound collage that belongs to no particular genre” and is “ deceptively detailed and layered”.  Listen Here >

Yesterday, The Fader premiered the remastered “I Felt the Evening Come Through the Window” from the album, and the single is also available everywhere on streaming services leading up to the full album release. Un Blonde’s acclaimed album was originally issued in a very limited cassette-only run (on Egg Paper Factory) and sold out immediately. Now newly remixed and remastered, the album will get a full release worldwide digitally and be available everywhere for the first time on vinyl with a bonus download of B-sides.

Pre-order the album here >

Un Blonde is the solo project of Montreal-based musician, producer, and composer Jean-Sebastian Audet. Over the course of a steady stream of self-produced albums and EPs, he laid down the framework for a constantly mutating series of musical environments, which forge highly unique connections between hints of contemporary r&b, cubist avant-funk, low-key soul, indie pop, and confessional songwriting. This heady mixture spilled over into Good Will Come To You, a brilliant, 21-song widescreen presentation of Audet's concepts, which landed him a spot on the Long List for that year's Polaris Music Prize and further cemented his growing reputation as one of the most compellingly original new artists to emerge in recent years. Upon the album’s initial ultra-limited release, The Fader opined that “Jean-Sebastian Audet's layered vocal harmonies are transcendent … they seem to guide him from an apartment and into the streets of Montreal, where he finds his own rhythm in the music, as he has always done.”

The album artwork - an important facet of Audet’s overarching artistic vision - has been reworked for the LP / CD formats and looks better than ever. And, as a bonus for purchasers of the LP version, we are thrilled to include a bonus download-only album of extra material from the ‘Good Will Come To You’ sessions, including B-sides and alternate versions of album tracks. Some eager customers will even be able to find a cassette version of the bonus tracks in limited retailers and in the Flemish Eye online store.


Tour dates
Un Blonde is also supporting ‘Good Will Come To You’  with a series of dates with Flemish Eye label-mate and old friend Chad VanGaalen.

Sep 15 :: Montreal, Québec, Canada :: Pop Montreal Festival
Nov 30 :: Toronto, Ontario :: Lee's Palace *
Dec 1 :: Detroit, MI, USA :: El Club *
Dec 2 :: Chicago, IL, USA :: Empty Bottle *
Dec 3 :: Indianapolis, IN, USA :: Hi-Fi *
Dec 5 :: Pittsburgh, PA, USA :: Club Cafe *
Dec 6 :: Brooklyn, NY, USA :: Rough Trade NYC *
Dec 7 :: Boston, MA, USA :: Great Scott *
Dec 9 :: Ottawa, Ontario :: The 27 Club *
*with Chad VanGaalen

Un Blonde : Good Will Come to You

1 Celebration
2 On My Grind
3 Open Sesame
4 I'm Free
5 Rain Will Not Change
6 I Felt The Evening Come Through The Window
7 Brand New
8 Exercise A
9 Staying In Line
10 In Harmony
11 Who I Am
12 Take Me Higher
13 The Real Way
14 Heat Of The Afternoon
15 A Level Playing Field
16 No Fronting
17 The Time It Takes
18 True Love
19 Look At Me Deep (Mutual Love)
20 Rain Cannot Change
21 Trust Your Judgement

More about Good Will Come to You

Un Blonde is the solo project of Montreal-based musician, producer, and composer Jean-Sebastian Audet, whose world is a constantly mutating series of musical environments, forging brilliant connections between contemporary r&b, cubist avant-funk, low-key soul, indie pop, and confessional songwriting. This heady mixture spilled over into Good Will Come To You, an album released last year as a quick-to-sell-out limited run tape. Now, as the first fruit of his newly-minted signing with Flemish Eye Records, the fully remixed and remastered album will be made available once again on LP and digital formats.

Good Will Come To You is a brilliant, 21-song widescreen presentation of Audet's concepts, which NOW Magazine called his “most focused and fragile record yet” in their glowing 5-star review. The album landed him a spot on the Long List for last year's Polaris Music Prize and further cemented his growing reputation as one of the most compellingly original new artists to emerge in recent years.

The music of Un Blonde is conceptualized, written, and recorded completely by Audet himself in apartments and rehearsal spaces around Montreal, with a very simple and limited recording setup. While some artists might find such a minimal gear setup to be a hinderance, for Audet it is a key part of his ability to most fully express his ideas. “I spend every day waiting for things to say, and saying them right away”, he says, and it’s this 24/7 access - along with his unencumbered and unfussy recording means - that allowed him to explore this process on Good Will Come To You. The Fader noted that “Audet's layered vocal harmonies are transcendent … they seem to guide him from an apartment and into the streets of Montreal, where he finds his own rhythm in the music, as he has always done.”

In the live realm, Un Blonde exists as a series of constantly shifting permutations, adding and subtracting members to find the right sound. Over the years, the band’s live scope has ranged from large ensembles featuring extra drummers, percussionists, and guitarists, to a stripped-down trio that focuses on group improvisation to raise existing material to new heights. Audet’s live accomplices include players from some of the finest contemporary indie acts going, including members of Nap Eyes, Homeshake, Lab Coast, Monomyth, and Tough Age.

Good Will Come To You comes out on September 22nd on LP and digital formats — the former featuring newly reworked album art and a bonus download-only album of b-sides and alternate versions. Un Blonde will be appearing across Canada and the US throughout the rest of the year.

Irène Schweizer & Joey Baron – Live! (INTAKT RECORDS 2017)




A meeting of two jazz giants: In 2015, Joey Baron, one of the most sought after drummers on the New York scene met the First Lady of European jazz, Swiss pianist Irène Schweizer, in concert in Zürich. During his long career Baron has played with bands such as Naked City and Masada and worked with musicians Dizzy Gillespie, Chet Baker, Joe Lovano, Bill Frisell and Marc Ribot.

Schweizer had already performed and recorded with the best drummers on the planet: Pierre Favre, Han Bennink, Louis Moholo-Moholo, Günter "Baby" Sommer, Andrew Cyrille and Hamid Drake.

The performance of the two was one of the highlights of the Unerhört-Festival in Zürich, 2015. Their encounter had every-thing you could hope for: energy, drive and mesmerizing exchanges paired with the magical tunes Schweizer is famous for. "This beautiful recording documents a marvellous evening in Zürich," John Corbett writes in the liner notes.


Irène Schweizer: Piano
Joey Baron: Drums

1. Free for All (Irène Schweizer) 7:59 
2. Up the Ladder (Joey Baron) 2:22 
3. String Fever (Irène Schweizer) 7:59 
4. Jungle Beat II (Irène Schweizer) 10:49 
5. Saturdays (Joey Baron) 4:14 
6. Blues for Crelier (Irène Schweizer) 3:34 
7. The Open Window (Joey Baron) 3:57

Recorded live November 27, 2015, at unerhört!-Festival Rote Fabrik Zürich. Recording engineer: Martin Pearson. 
Recording producer SRF 2 Kultur, Peter Bürli and Intakt Records.
Mixed December 9, 2016, by Irène Schweizer, Joey Baron, Patrik Landolt at Hard Studio Winterthur. 
Engineer: Michael Brändli. Mastered by Michael Brändli. 
Cover art and graphic design: Jonas Schoder. Photo: Michelle Ettlin. Liner notes: John Corbett. 
Produced and published by Intakt Records, Patrik Landolt.


François Tusques - Free Jazz (FINDERS KEEPERS RECORDS 2017)



As Finders Keepers disobedient little-sister-label reaches her 20th (release) anniversaries Cacophonic Records are proud to present a record that will not only leave rare record collectors salivating but will open ambitious ears to a truly pioneering album from the seldom celebrated and individualistic micro-genre that is French free Jazz. Comprising some of the earliest uninhibited performances from key musicians behind records by Serge Gainsbourg, Jef Gilson, Triangle, Don Cherry, Barbara and countless other groundbreaking European jazz records and freakish films, this LP captures the birth of an exciting movement that would soon earn its Parisian birthplace as the go-to European spiritual home of improvised and avant-garde music. Spearheaded by polymath pianist and composer François Tusques this 1965 French LP coined the phrase “free jazz” before the American genre of the same name had fully taken shape and packed its suitcase; laying the foundations (alongside Jef Gilson’s Enfin!) for a unique satellite brand of jazz that would later provide visiting afro American avant-gardeners with a vibrant Parisian platform.  Having recorded a very rare single in celebration of the architect Le Corbusier in late 1964 Tusques was lucky enough to play live with Don Cherry (a key player on Ornette Coleman’s 1961 Free Jazz LP) thus planting a pedigreed seed for this vibrant cultivar.

With this record we not only hear the unique differences within the Gallic approach to the art form (combining masterful sombre cinematic changes with aerated free-form percussion and erratic reed and brass) but we also get to witness the early lesser savoured secret ingredients that would carry France’s mainstream pop culture into truly uncharted and unrivalled territories throughout the following decades. Best known to faithful Finders Keepers fans as the soundtrack composer to the horrortica films of Jean Rollin, Tusques is joined here by sax and flute player Francois Jeanneau, who’s electronic jazz album Such A Weird Plane” would later lead to his own band Triangle gaining recognition as France’s leading French language prig-jazz-rock act.  Featuring three players from the aforementioned Enfin! LP by French jazz pioneer and producer Jef Gilson, Free Jazz combines the skills of Jeanneau, with clarinet player Michel Portal (Gainsbourg Percussions/Claude Nougaro) and trumpeter Bernard Vitet (whose avant-garde appearances on the Futura label are indispensable). In addition to this, Free Jazz also boasts the inclusion of Tusques’ sidekick and double bass master Bernard “Beb” Guérin (of Sonny Sharrock Monkey-Pockie-Boo infamy) who had also appeared on the earlier Don Cherry/Le Corbusier recording providing further kudos to this LPs historical importance. 

It is by no coincidence that this carefully selected ensemble would around this time become enlisted as the backing group for politically driven singer-songwriter Colette Magny (an action which would arguably later influence Brigitte Fontaine’s choice to adopt The Art Ensemble Of Chicago as her backing band after the Actuel records Pan-African Jazz festival and record series). The fact that Colette Magny would provide the art direction for this very LP is a cute small-print signifier of this LPs intended manifesto status. This album also captures a rare glimpse of percussionist Charles Saudrais in free-form mode after his departure from the Barney WIlen Quartet (Moshi) - an inclusion that would surely galvanise the relationship between WIlen and Tusques resulting in the follow-up record Nouveau Jazz for actor Marcel Mouloudji’s privately funded Disques Mouloudji label (on which both rare LPs were originally pressed). 

Presented here on vinyl for the first time since its original ultra rare micro-press (original copies now fetching upwards of 1000 euros) the Cacophonic release is taken directly from François Tusques very own master-tape archive, allowing Finders Keepers access to two rare original out-takes which did not appear on the original LP. With a characteristic keen eye for detail Cacophonic are delighted to present this LP in authentic packaging complete with external seams and a facsimile of the original Tusques-penned booklet, which, after 52 years, still evades the most fastidious collectors trying to unite mint copies with this oft estranged pictorial pamphlet. This glimpse into a seldom documented underground of a domestic, revolutionary, uncompromised spiritual art-form successfully reveals the other-side of abstracted French music which alongside musique concrète, protest pop, symphonic rock and Zeuhl-skool electronic prog created a homegrown, self-contained music industry that went on to influence a universe of Gallic magnetic inspiration.  “This is free jazz, Jim; but not as we know it.”

1. Description Automatique D'un Paysage Désolé 1 12:47
2. Souvenir De L'OIseau 05:41
3. Souvenir De L'Oiseau 2 02:39
4. Description Automatique D'un Paysage Désolé (Autre Version) 05:11
5. La Tour Saint-Jacques 12:35
6. Souvenir De L'Oiseau 3 02:42

Béla Szakcsi Lakatos - Density of Standards (BCM RECORDS 2017)



A BMC Records korongjain elvétve találkozhatunk ilyen töménységben az untig ismert örökzöldekkel, mint amit Szakcsi kvartettje élén kiválogatott nekünk. Na de pont ő? A magyarországi jazz-rock úttörője, a Gypsy Jazz megalkotója, balettek, és musicalek zeneszerzője, két igencsak emlékezetes avantgárd improvizációs duólemez alkotója (Kathy Horváth Lajos hegedűssel, illetve Lukács Miklós cimbalomművésszel), a Climate Change együttes vezetője és artisztikus szólólemezek előadója?

Pont ő. Szakcsi és a mainstream jazz mindig elválaszthatatlanok voltak, miért változott volna ez meg most, amikor ő a magyar jazz doyenje, a Nemzet Művésze cím egyedüli jazzelőadó kitüntetettje, amikor van mire visszanéznie, már mindkét fia karriert csinált jazz-zongoristaként, hogy a Szakcsi Generation Band negyedik zongoristájáról, Oláh Kálmánról ne is beszéljünk?

Zipernovszky Kornél

01. Someday My Prince Will Come (Frank Churchill / Larry Morey) 7:08
02. Body and Soul (Johnny Green / Edward Heyman, Robert Sour, Frank Eyton) 11:00
03. Summertime (George Gershwin / DuBose Heyward) 6:35
04. Mood Indigo (Duke Ellington, Barney Bigard / Irving Mills) 5:31
05. Bye Bye Blackbird (Ray Henderson / Mort Dixon) 7:12
06. Autumn Leaves (Joseph Kosma / Jacques Prévert) 5:51
07. Green Dolphin Street (Bronisław Kaper / Ned Washington) 5:54
08. Over the Rainbow (Harold Arlen / E.Y. Harburg) 6:24
09. Days of Wine and Roses (Henry Mancini / Johnny Mercer) 6:15

Alto Saxophone – Christophe Monniot
Artwork – Greenroom (2), László Huszár
Double Bass – József Barcza Horváth
Drums – Elemér Balázs
Piano – Béla Szakcsi Lakatos


Banda Magda - Tigre (Stories of Courage & Fearlessness) GROUND UP MUSIC / VERVE RECORDS 2017




Tigre Burning Bright: Banda Magda’s Cinematic Tales of Courage and Persistence

“An artist who fires on all artistic cylinders” -- NPR

“fresh and retro-hip cool” -- KCRW

The lightbulb went on. Composer, multi-instrumentalist, and firecracker performer Magda Giannikou suddenly understood: The world needed more light, and she was determined to bring it.

That spark of insight, nurtured by a diverse, close-knit band, grew into the rainbow-bold meditations on courage, confidence, and resisting fear on Tigre, the band’s third, wildly cinematic album. (September 15, 2017; Verve Label Group) A rallying cry to speak up and stand out, the album presents Giannikou’s most coherent and brightly orchestrated work to date.

Luxuriant string sections and punches of brass, hammered dulcimer and tubular bells, meet maracatu and forro rhythms. Giannikou sings her tales in whatever language feels right, be it French, Greek, Spanish, or Portuguese. The polyglot, global influences meld, however, into breathtaking flights of fancy. “I’ve been surrounded by people from all over the world, my bandmates and collaborators,” says Giannikou. “And the community we have built feels like a rocket of courage.” On Tigre, that rocket growls to new heights of lush, unstoppable boldness.

When Giannikou began working on some of the earliest songs that became Tigre, her native Greece was facing a protracted crisis of economic agony. “It’s no coincidence that I started writing these songs when the Greek economy collapsed,” she recalls. “I saw my loved ones in pain. That called for a lot of courage. I was deeply affected.”


Geopolitical factors mirrored the struggles in Giannikou’s artistic life. “That pain back in Greece was paired with being far away, trying to make things happen in New York,” recalls Giannikou. “The band was at a point where it had grown, but it was very fragile. I knew I had to push past this, and find a way forward.”

Giannikou’s response to this fragility was to come out roaring, pushing herself to realize her full musical vision. And vision is the precise word: Giannikou experiences sound and ideas via color, and a synesthetic approach informs her writing, arranging, onstage look, and album-related imagery.

For this album, for the first time, sound and vision carry a timely message: We all have fears and everyone has something that they need to overcome. We all need to draw on our courage to contribute, personally and as a community.

This message, Giannikou feels, is particularly vital for young artists to hear in these fraught, frightening times: “ I feel like now, more than ever, the world needs us to be lights. Fear can cover up a beautiful soul, and the purpose of this album is to firstly encourage people to express their fears, learn about them, and then try to peel them off, one by one and reveal a beautiful, true, confident self. My message to youth is that everyone is by definition - unique. We should never be afraid of being ourselves.” To do that, the formally trained composer and arranger went for the gusto.

Some of Tigre’s brave new shades burst out of Giannikou’s nine-piece string arrangements on songs like “Ase Me Na Bo,” the first time she feels she’s fully melded her orchestra background with her band’s distinct palette. “In Tigre, the string section represents light, courage, optimism. Working on the arrangements has been one of the most time-consuming tasks in the project; I wanted it to be perfect,” muses Giannikou. “One does not get many opportunities to write and conduct a string orchestra, and I wanted to make the most of it!”

The strings burst into full film score-ready glory, while sometimes they hang back creating rich atmosphere (“Tam Tam”). They add just a touch to the hip reimagination of a northeastern Brazilian forro number (“Vem Morena”) or the ethereal tenderness of a ballad (“Thiamandi”). Sometimes, the strings become one set of voices in a complex, hocketting conversation between brass, campy vocal chorus, and madcap guitar (“Tigre Malin” and its soundtrack-worthy offshoots).

Each song, with its distinct sound, tells a different tale of fear and courage. In most, courage wins the day, as Banda Magda unpacks the different facets of hope, persistence, and confidence. Seemingly scattered loves and influences have merged for Giannikou, part of a personal transformation and a bigger movement among passionate listeners away from genre and toward discovery.

“The fact that it’s getting harder and harder to categorize makes perfect sense. Globalization has transformed our sense of belonging from a solid color, to a mosaic. I am all about that. With every new touring destination, assumptions and expectations are weakened. I think confidence is relative to our environment, and that’s why I encourage young people to cultivate a curiosity for the world, and travel, so that they can discover more avenues to a sense of belonging and fulfillment,” she says.

It’s no coincidence that the tiger stars on this album dedicated to confidence. It has prowled playfully through Giannikou’s visual and musical worlds for years. What began as a joke turned into a potent symbol, the pivot of the story laid out in tracks like “Tigre Malin.” After crafting a song in French, Giannikou wanted to make sure the story came through precisely. So she employed her sharpest scoring skills and tapped long-time friend and collaborator, Snarky Puppy’s Michael League, to narrate an introductory piece in English. He was all about it: “Tigre is a badly-needed injection of joy, hope, and courage at a time when the world needs it more than ever,” League notes.

Some of the album proceeds will be donated to the World Wildlife Fund, to protect the beasts that inspired it. Giannikou is working with her illustrator mother to create a children’s book based on the track, as well.


“Tigre is a vessel of many things: the need to share my own fears to my fans, the work that we do as a band melding global music traditions, my passion for string-writing, my duty as an artist to be involved in education and local communities,” reflects Giannikou. “Strong communities, where many voices are raised and heard, help us all. They can allow us all to make our biggest dream the compass of our everyday lives.” 

Tam Tam
Coração
Ase Me Na Bo Overture
Ase Me Na Bo
Muchacha
Vem Morena
Chanson Lev
Reine de Bios
Le Tigre Malin Narration
Le Tigre Malin
Le Tigre Malin Reprise
Venin
Thiamandi

About

Led by Greek-born composer, orchestrator, singer and accordionist Magda Giannikou (Kronos Quartet, Louis CK), Banda Magda moves from samba to French chanson, from Greek folk tunes to Colombian cumbia and Afro-Peruvian lando. Drawing on the band’s global background (Greece, Argentina, Japan, Colombia, USA), the group combines South American rhythms with jazz improvisation, cinematic arranging, sophisticated audience participation, mid-century classics and world “chansons” sung in 6 languages.

Founded in 2010 in New York, Banda Magda has toured in more than 22 countries and 5 continents. This group of close musical friends turn Giannikou’s songs into engaging romps that have won them a spot with Carnegie Hall Musical Explorers Series, Snarky Puppy’s Family Dinner Vol.1 as well as performances at discerning venues and festivals such as WOMAD, Atlanta Jazz Festival, Vancouver Jazz Festival, L’Olympia, Jazz à Vienne, Canarias Jazz, Apollo Hammersmith, The Kennedy Center, Kathmandu Jazz Festival and many more. After their debut album "Amour, t’es là?” and sophomore “Yerakina”, Banda Magda is releasing its 3rd opus, the vibrant, Technicolor "Tigre" on September 15, 2017 on groundUP / Verve Label Group.


MAGDA GIANNIKOU

Composer, arranger, producer, vocalist, pianist and accordionist Magda Giannikou was born in Athens, Greece in the quiet coastal province of Voula. Daughter of a music collector and a music educator, the art form became paramount in her life at an early age.

BANDA MAGDA TOUR


USA

SEP 14 THU New York, NY
TIGRE Premier with Horns! @ Joe's Pub 
Magda Giannikou Ignacio Hernandez Bob Lanzetti Andres Rotmistrovsky Keita Ogawa Marcelo Woloski Justin Stanton Chris Bullock Maz Michael League

SEP 16 SAT Philadelphia, PA
40th Street Summer Series
Magda Giannikou

SEP 20 WED Detroit, MI
Cliff Bells
Magda Giannikou

SEP 21 THU Chicago, IL
Martyrs'
Magda Giannikou Ignacio Hernandez Andres Rotmistrovsky Keita Ogawa Marcelo Woloski

SEP 23 SAT Grand Rapids, MI
Founders Brewing Co.
Magda Giannikou Ignacio Hernandez Andres Rotmistrovsky Keita Ogawa Marcelo Woloski

OCT 18 WED Berkeley, CA
Freight & Salvage

OCT 19 THU Santa Cruz, CA
Kuumbwa Jazz
Magda Giannikou

OCT 20 FRI Los Angeles, CA
The Mint
Magda Giannikou

OCT 21 SAT Phoenix, AZ
The Nash
Magda Giannikou

DEC 7 THU Portland, ME
Port City Music Hall
Magda Giannikou

EUROPE

NOV 1 WED Amsterdam, Netherlands
Paradiso
Magda Giannikou Justin Stanton Ignacio Hernandez Haggai Cohen-Milo Steven Brezet Marcelo Woloski

NOV 2 THU Arnhem, Netherlands
Luxor Live
Magda Giannikou Justin Stanton Ignacio Hernandez Marcelo Woloski Haggai Cohen-Milo

NOV 16 THU Paris, France
The Blue Note Festival
Yazz Ahmed Magda Giannikou

ARGENTINA

NOV 24 FRI Buenos Aires City, Argentina
Bebop Club

NOV 25 SAT Buenos Aires City, Argentina
Bebop Club

JAPAN

DEC 10 SUN 南青山, Japan
BLUE NOTE TOKYO
Magda Giannikou

DEC 11 MON 南青山, Japan
BLUE NOTE TOKYO
Magda Giannikou