Panagiotis Andreou (Multicultural Concepts for Bass) 1

Greek-born bass player Panagiotis Andreou belongs to dynamic group of New York creative musicians redefining the contemporary music scene. A sonic alchemist, he is transforming electronic jazz, Latin and Balkan music through cross-fertilization, freely mixing heavy doses of funk, dazzling vocal improvisations and rhythmic variety across traditional genre boundaries. Al Di Meola calls Panagiotis a “rarity that the music world here needs in his ethnic knowledge and musical diversity!” His remarkable ability to integrate an Eastern European/Balkan harmonic and rhythmic sensibility with the funky polyrhythms of Afro-Cuban music and global jazz is unparalleled. Husnu Senlendirici, virtuoso clarinetist and Turkish icon with whom he has collaborated, has referred to Panagiotis as “a one-of-a-kind bass player” whose “unique finger technique is like making love to the strings.” Cuban master percussionist Pedrito Martinez, another long-time associate, goes as far as to assert that he marks a “new era in the history of latino bass playing.”

Panagiotis is a founding member of a number of outstanding, forward-looking, New York-based bands currently touring worldwide. On the Balkan scene there is the internationally-celebrated New York Gypsy All-Stars, an impressive collage of musicians from Europe, US and the Balkans/Near East that are rocking crowds from New York to Istanbul. This amazing band, which has appeared in important jazz and Gypsy festivals (Antalya, Ankara, NY Gypsy festival), features the award-winning Macedonian clarinetist sensation Ismail Lumanovski, and the Turkish virtuoso kunan innovator Tamer Pinarbasi.

Panagiotis also belongs to the sensational Now vs. Now, a collaborative electronic groove trio with rhythm prodigy Mark Guiliana and keys wizard Jason Lindner. Equally at home peforming in jazz festivals (Jazz a Vienne, NYC Winter Jazzfest) or the indie rock/electronica scene (Rockwood Musical Hall), this band is reinventing improvised music with a specific NYC global flavor. Their 2009 release was produced by Meshell Ndegeocello and mixed by Bob Power (Roots, Eryka Badu), and received a steady stream of accolades from critics, including Josh Jackson from NPR who described the band as “the sound of New York city…the sound of now.”

In 2001, Panagiotis joins forces with Gonzalo Grau to form La Timba Loca, a multi-national Latino dance band, later renamed Gonzalo Grau y La Clave Secreta. La Clave Secreta (LCA) is awarded a 2008 Grammy nomination for their album Fruto Moderno, which features Panagiotis’ composition, “A La Griega.” In 2010, he catches the attention of everyone when the esteemed Latin Jazz Corner blog names him “Latin Jazz Bass Player of the Year,” the first ever bestowed to a Greek-born musician. Panagiotis exudes boundless energy on stage, where he mesmerizes with vocalized bass solos, funky timba-inflected lines and an uncanny ability to create musical bridges across genres. Panagiotis is without doubt a consummate artist, the epitome of versatility, and a world-class virtuoso bass player.