The Sound of Color Sessions #3

For the fifth consecutive year, once a month, Jannis Anastasakis invites at KET various musicians and visual artists to improvise and create an in situ audiovisual project.

In the January session he invites Yiorgos Kontrafouris (piano), Stefanos Chytiris (drums), and Natalia Manta (live visuals).

Yiorgos Kontrafouris
Yiorgos Kontrafouris was born in Athens, Greece in 1967. He studied classical piano at the National Conservatory in Athens. At the age of 16, he turned his interest to jazz music and he followed up jazz improvised lessons with Markos Alexiou. He studied also with Jim Beard and Jarmo Savolainen. He holds a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in Jazz Performance from Sibelius Academy in Finland. He has performed as piano or organ player with many famous and outstanding musicians such as: Mark Johnson, Arild Andersen, Marcus Stockhausen, Louisiana Red, Keith Copeland, Andy Sheppard, Ralph Peterson Jr., Bob Brozman, Carla Cook, Alvester Garnett, Stepko Gut, Olivier Gatto, David Liebman, Houston Pearson, Eric Alexander, David Sills, Lou Donaldson, Sam Newsome, Jamie Hadad, Deborah Davies, Benny Golson, Tim Hagans, Bob Shepard, Carmen Lundy, Sheila Jordan, Jukkis Uotila, Wade Mikkola, Takis Paterelis, Stratos Vougas, Dimos Dimitriadis, Lydia Fylipovic, T. Spasov, A. Pacatius. He has been teaching jazz piano and organ for several years in Athenaeum Conservatory in Greece and in Sibelius Academy in Finland and he is currently belongs to the faculty of the Ionian University in Corfu. He has already given Master Classes in various schools in Greece, Ireland, Indonesia, and Estonia so far. He is also the artistic director of the Tinos Jazz Festival.

Stefanos Chytiris
Stefanos Chytiris is a drummer from Athens Greece. He studied Sound Art at Dartigton college of arts in Devon, England and then moved to New York where he studied and worked with American drummer Michael Carvin. Since then he has been involved in New York and Athens improvisation scene, while developing his own work in collaboration with Bram De Looze, Luca Rosenfeld, Daniel Carter, Dre Hocevar, Ingrid Laubrock, Todd Neufeld, Pascal Niggenkemper, Billy Mintz, Tony Malaby. Flux Project – Pyr|n is the first record released in 2014 by drummer Michael Carvin. Egata (double vinyl) record was released in 2017. In 2019 he released 17 Takes cd, recordings with pianist Bram De Looze.
www.stephanoschytiris.com

Natalia Manta
Natalia Manta was born in 1994 in Athens. She was admitted to the School of Fine Arts in the category “Talents”, where she studied during the period 2011 – 2016. Entering the School in 2011, at the age of 17, she wins the second prize in a sculpture competition in Italy titled “Study of Public Space”. She studied with professor George Lappas in the Second Sculpture Lab. She completed her studies and curated her undergraduate thesis under the supervision of Aphrodite Liti. Graduated with a Bachelors Degree of 9.5 (nine and five). She has participated in group exhibitions in Greece and abroad and made her first solo exhibition in October 2017 at the Kappatos Gallery in Athens.

Jannis Anastasakis
Jannis Anastasakis is considered to be in a league of his own as a guitar player, improvisor and soundscape artist in Greece. His unique, in-depth approach of the guitar as an ambient sound generator, and the extended use of effects (he is also the builder and designer of the JAM pedals) and analog synths, results in a very personal sound and delivery, that sets him apart from all other players in his country. He is coming up with unique and fresh sounds that take the music from ambient to psychedelic and off limits to new territory. He has collaborated with great artists such as: Arve Henriksen, Eivind Aarset, Christian Fennesz, Gilad Atzmon, Thodoris Rellos, Savina Yannatou, Floros Floridis, Michalis Siganidis, Lena Platonos, Harris Lambrakis, Haig Yazdjian, Dionysis Savopoulos to name a few.
www.jannisanastasakis.com