MUSIC INFO
We have FIVE pieces for you to listen to - that is why you see the slider to the far right side of the myspace standalone player - and a few videos to the left of the page, at "Sounds like". The non-visible piece on the music player above is the fifth one - you can just use the slider to scroll down to it.
The first piece on the player is the first two parts of our studio version of "Elysium" by Branford Marsalis (the whole piece has five parts in our version).
The same piece is also the first three video clips to the left of this page (it was far too long for just one video, so I had to cut it in three segments.) - obviously the live version, as opposed to the studio version of the music player. The performance took place on the 20th of May 2007 at Half Note jazz club in Athens, Greece, as a part of the "Take Five" project.
Now back to the music player above. The second piece is the first part of Chick Corea's "New Life", which we (NUKeLEUS) have changed in quite a few ways...
The third piece is "You and the night and the music" (Scwhartz - Dietz); again, we interpret it in a more-or-less uncommon way. Hope you like it!
Next, we have the first part of Chick Corea's "Make a Wish". The original Part I, the prelude, is played by Ms. Lefki Kolovou (cello) and yours trully (piano). Then, we have a small sample of the main theme...
The last piece is the jazz standard "Oleo" by Sonny Rollins.
The five videos below the three-part "Elysium" clip are, to a greater or lesser degree, partial clips.
The first one is from a rehearsal we did at Macia Studios, a certain Friday in May 2008. It is a part from an amalgam we did on a traditional theme called "Karagiozis" (meaning "man with black eyes") and a Russian folk tune called "Ochen Chorneye" ("Very black", meaning eyes).
The second one is a live rendition of "Bye Bye Blackbird" from the same Half Note gig as "Elysium".
The third one is "Pendulum", composed by one of my most favorite pianists, Mr. Richie Beirach. We have slightly rearranged it.
The fourth one is a medley of various drums solos and trades, which ends with a part of our rendition of "All Blues" by Miles Davis.
The last one is the keyboard solo of a song composed by Nick Kapilidis, called "Enan aima eimes". It is from a live performance with Nick Kapilidis and the Jazz Utopia at the 2007 Athens Jazz Festival.
Hope you like them...
A few facts...
My name is Sami - Vasileios Amiris (plain "Sami" will be just fine...), and I am a pianist - composer - theorist, and also a mathematician. This is a small bio .
I teach in Muse .
The band I am a member and co-founder of is called "NUKeLEUS" . The other members:
Yiannis Stavropoulos (drums),
Pericles Trivolis (ac.bass)
and a few special guests, like
Filippos Poulimenos (sax),
Robin Hilary Ashe-Roy (flute),
Lynn Dobson (sax,flute), etc.
Our debut CD will soon be released. It is entitled "Masterpieces Revisited" and it is a collection of some less-played pieces in the overall repertoire of western improvised music, with the addition of a few jazz standards. A small sample is available at the top of the page, via the standalone player.
During the past year, we appeared in Parafono jazz and blues club
every Tuesday night. Here is our page in their site - it contains photos, bios of all members, links to interviews in difono and Kathimerini (only in greek for the time being), a passage written about us by Robin Hilary Ashe-Roy, and a small live video sample .
We have also been interviewed by Athens Voice .
We have taken part in quite a few festivals, such as Muse Festival 2006 in A.C.S. , Drummer's Day 2007 festival in the Art Music School (Y. Fakanas) , Take Five Project in Half Note jazz club , Jazz Steps, etc.
Individually, I will be the piano teacher in the 6th International Summer Jazz Academy hosted by the Ionian University in Corfu from the 18th to the 24th of July 2008, along with some great people, like Mark Murhpy, Chico Freeman, Ron McClure, Richard Smith, Jukkis Uotila, Jari Perkiomaki, Dimos Dimitriadis and Vasilis Rakopoulos.
In the past, I have appeared in the 2007 Novi Sad Jazz Festival , as a lecturer for the Panonian Bridge Workshop, alongside Sean McGowan , Vladimir Samardzic and Amar Cesljar . I have also appeared in quite a few jazz festivals as a sideman, like the 2007 Athens Jazz Festival and the 2007 Durres Jazz Festival, as a sideman for Nick Kapilidis and the Jazz Utopia , the 2007 Santorini Festival with Stratos Vougas , the 2005 Guru Jazz Festival with Antonis Ladopoulos , etc.
Also individually, I was interviewed by Jazz'n'Tzaz magazine, in the June 2007 issue. The same issue contains a review of the Take Five Project in the Half Note , and a part of the review is on Nukleus. I have also been interviewed individually by Athens Voice .
I have shared the stage with David Garibaldi , Dom Famularo , Marko Djordjevic , Walfredo Reyes Jr. , Rex Richardson , Juliet Kelly , Reiner Witzel , Vassilis Rakopoulos , Yiotis Kiourtsoglou , Lefteris Christofis , etc. On CD, I have colaborated with Yiotis Kiourtsoglou — I appear in his debut cd "Hapopsis" , with NYN in "Winning the game", etc.
Currently, I am collaborating with my long-time friend and drummer - extraordinaire Zack Pinakoulakis in his trio (we have actually been playing systematically together since 1996!). Hopefully, a CD will be released sometime soon.
I am also taking part in a few very exciting projects, like Antonis Ladopoulos Quartet , Takis Paterelis group , Nick Kapilidis and the Jazz Utopia , Yiannis Floros Quartet , etc.
Gems on the Net...The Weird Metronome is a beautiful metronome program, that can be of great use to anyone trying strange rhythmic stuff - I personally use it all the time. Plus, its free! Congratulations to David Johnston for the excellent programming, and a thank you for providing it for free for everyone to use!
