born in tbilisi, republic of georgia. grew up in musical household. studied classical piano under strict communist regime with spanking and ear pulling on a daily basis, which inspired him to seek freedom through voice (bel canto with maestro nodar andguladze), trombone and later saxophone. saxophone became his main source of freeing spirit through blowing, the method practiced by the ancient nations and some voodoo practitioners. because of growing up in very strict communist society and spending two years of mandatory service in soviet red army, niko defies all forms and restrictions either musical or governmental with motto "freedom to masses", plus-"legalize it", "no to religion", " religion is opium for closed minded and depressed", " no to antidepressants and yes to public health reform","free health care for all", colors make world beautiful, don't be color blind", "government is to serve the people and not people to serve the govenment, it applies to gwb too"....gwb is not a band, unlike mmw... "please listen to mmw, not gwb"...
since defecting from ex soviet union at the begining of it's breakdown in summer of 1991 , niko led bohemian lifestyle and studied music in new orleans until his later move to nyc in winter of 2003. with greater appreciation he always is thankful to the city of new orleans, all the musicians of new orleans and especially the faculty of loyola university and university of new orleans jazz studies, personally: ed peterson, ellis marsalis, michael pellera, tony dagradi, john mahoney, johnny vidacovich, steve masakovski, ricky sebastian, sanford hinderlie.
niko had performed in many venues in new orleans and around the u.s. - tippitina's, maple leaf, cafe brasil, old point bar, dragon's den, fly me to the moon saloon, sherpa and yeti, dba, blue nile, spotted cat, check point charlie's, le bon temps roule, cumberland's, jake's roadhouse, zephir, broadway studios, b.b. king's, tribeca rock club, harry o's, cafe felix, one step down, arlene's grocerie, carnegie hall, carnegie club,..
also 2002 salt lake city winter olympic games, new orleans jazz fest late night shows, north beach jazz fest, charlotte city fest, french quarter fest...
niko was a member of new orleans juice, ya ya sol, kevin o'day's live animals, headlined his project 'nomofo'... and had appeared with michael ray, stanton moore, galactic, george porter jr., moore and more, papa grows funk, russell batiste's orchestra from da hood, bonerama, freddy omar con su banda, chevere, los vecinos, tim green, cheme, afroskull, truth groove, george mel, mark rapp quartet, robert wagner, morning forty federation, smack darts, mark stone, sol faya, classical pianist tamara curdadze, red army brass band (stationed in the woods of belarus, ex soviet union), tbilisi technical university big band,...
in new york he developed heavy addiction to pool and right now he tries to master the game through competing in tri-state tour, hanging out with players and hustlers and playing some local tournaments, using amsterdam billiards and masters billiards as home rooms.
niko as 'vlad' can be seen in andy biscontini's every dog's day, an indie feature film shot in dumbo by andy and co. in very unique style and ways with many of new york's own creative people with different backgrounds.I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4
