Born and raised in Athens, Greece, he was at first influenced by his country's rich cultural and musical heritage. He went on to study in depth the full spectrum of Greek music , widely known for its rhythmic complexities and odd time signatures, while at the same time he explored a variety of musical styles from all over the world, enriching his musical vocabulary and broadening his artistic perception.
Over the years George Maniatis has performed, recorded and toured with some of the biggest industry names in Greece, establishing himself as one of the country's most in demand drummers. He has worked with everyone from pop-star Anna Vissi, Greece's best-selling female artist of all time, multi-platinum artists Katy Garbi and Notis Sfakianakis to reknown composers Yiannis Spanos, Christos Nikolopoulos, Antonis Vardis,Stamatis Kraounakis and Yiorgos Theofanous.
Other collaborations include performances with the State Orchestra of Greek Music(KOEM), National Symphony Orchestra's conductor Andreas Pylarinos, film and TV composer Evanthia Reboutsika,accordeon player/composer Zoe Tiganourgia, legendary lyra player/singer Psarantonis, Laiko style artists Manolis Mitsias and Dimitris Basis,bouzouki (traditional Greek string instrument) virtuosos Panagiotis Stergiou and Christos Olympios, Entehno style artist Orfeas Peridis, rock pioneers Haris and Panos Katsimihas, singer/songwriter Kostas Tournas,Flamengo group Nuevo Ritmo and Martha Moreleon's La Banda Loca, to name a few.
George toured the USA and Canada with Katy Garbi and Pashalis Terzis in 2002, Southern Russia with Vasilis Lekkas in 1999 and Australia with Anna Vissi in 1997.
George Maniatis has worked as a drum instructor at Athens' prestigious Art Music School and Musical Praxis, a branch of London College of Music. He has also performed clinics and workshops all over Greece.
He has appeared in numerous TV shows and is featured in Katy Garbi's latest DVD release “The Video Collectionâ€, as well as in Vasilis Lekkas' music video for the song "Magiko Nisi". George was the drummer in the house band for the live TV competition “Talent Showâ€, for one season.
In the jazz field, George Maniatis has been a key member of the Greek jazz community, having led his own quartet and performed as a sideman with the best musicians of the country. His long term collaboration with bassist Yiorgos Fakanas, one of Greece's most important jazz and contemporary music composers, led to the recording of CD “Echoesâ€, alongside legendary trumpet player Wallace Roney.He has also worked with Australian jazz/fusion guitar player Brett Garsed.George had the honour to perform with master jazz guitarist Mike Stern, in Athens, in 2003.
George relocated to New York in the fall of 2006, to expand his musical experience and continue growing as a musician. Shortly upon his arrival, he started performing with the likes of: Grammy-Award winning bass player John Benitez, Brazilian sax/flute player Ze Luis,Brazilian bass player Fernando "Sizao" Machado, Cuban piano player Osmany Paredes , Cuban bass player Yunior Terry, and West-African guitar player Abdullaye Alhassane. He has appeared on TV with Carol Sudhalter's jazz quartet, played with The Deciders rock musical and is the drummer for the Blue Nitrous Big Band. After performing with World-music star King Mensah (voted 2 times Best African singer), George was invited to join the band for their up-coming US tour.
George Maniatis has studied privately in Athens with Fontas Hatzis and John Floros, in Boston with John Ramsey and Lenny Nelson and in New York with Jeff Tain Watts.
In 1993 George was awarded a scholarship from Berklee College of Music.
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