Friday 25/9
Accordion goes Jazz
GoJam
GoJam consist of four active members of Athens’ music community. It is the oldest jazz band in the greek music scene
that has accordion as an axis. They perform for the first time in Thessaloniki, presenting their own compositions,
as well as music of the most important jazz accordionists.
Giorgos Tsiatsoulis, accordion
Lefteris Havoutsas, guitar
Petros Varthakouris, double bass
Giannis Aggelopoulos, drums
Patio of the Museum of Byzantine Culture
time: 21:00
free entrance (booking is required)
that has accordion as an axis. They perform for the first time in Thessaloniki, presenting their own compositions,
as well as music of the most important jazz accordionists.
Giorgos Tsiatsoulis, accordion
Lefteris Havoutsas, guitar
Petros Varthakouris, double bass
Giannis Aggelopoulos, drums
Patio of the Museum of Byzantine Culture
time: 21:00
free entrance (booking is required)
BIOGRAPHY
GoJAM
The idea of creating the band arose from the need to express the musical and artistic concerns of the company, through a collective way that embraces everyone’s different aesthetics and approaches to music. With improvisation as the dominant element and "vehicle", the compositions of each member - artist coexist creatively in an "arrangement" of folk, pop and jazz sounds from all over the world. The purpose of the group is to form a new musical proposal and to create a new sound and a new aesthetic in the music scene. GοJAM GROUP is an effort to bridge musical cultures through the prism of jazz. The band was created in 2002 by accordionist George Tsiatsoulis. Initially the repertoire included only covers of pieces by great Jazz composers, as well as re-performances of compositions by great accordion and bandoneon soloists (Galliano, Piazzolla, etc.). Soon the need for personal and deeper artistic expression led to the creation of original compositions and consequently to the formation of a special character of the band, each member of which actively participates with his personal compositions.
Giorgos Tsiatsoulis
George Tsiatsoulis was born in Athens in 1975. He has been playing the accordion since the age of eight. He started studying classical music. At the same time, he showed intense interest both in jazz and greek folk music tradition, as well as in musical idioms of other countries that contain the element of improvisation. In 2006 he created the GoJam Group, a quartet of greek jazz music, which was the main place of expression of his artistic concerns. In 2012 he became a member of Gadjo Dilo, with whom he played in Greece and abroad until 2019. From 2020 he officially became a member of the band Manouche Drome, which is active in the field of gupsy jazz, playing rhythm guitar.
Lefteris Havoutsas
Lefteris Havoutsas was born in Piraeus in 1968. He has been playing the classical guitar since he was 13 years old, having a special interest in flamenco. At the same time he started playing oud, bouzouki and violin, studying the traditional musical idioms of Greece.
Petros Vathakouris
Petros Varthakouris was born in Paros in 1974. He started playing music at a very early age (7 years old) playing the piano and showing a special interest in jazz. 10 years later he turned his interest to the guitar and then to the electric bass, while studying jazz harmony. He ended up playing the double bass at the age of 26, which remains his great love to this day.
Giannis Aggelopoulos
Giannis Angelopoulos was born in Veria in 1973. He started playing the snare drum in the municipal philharmonic and very soon (13 years old) he played drums. He studied in Athens and at the Rotterdam Conservatory, where he graduated in 2002. He lives and works in Athens and is active as a composer with the nickname: Jan Van de Engel.