Athens Technopolis Jazz Festival
Greek musician Petros Klampanis. Photograph: George Lizardos

The rising star of Petros Klampanis

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Music composer, bassist and jazz performer, Petros Klampanis is quickly becoming a household name in Greece and highly acclaimed within the international jazz scene. Having grown up on the Greek island of Zakynthos, he was surrounded and influenced by the overlap of Mediterranean and Balkan folk music.

 

“The reason I fell in love with jazz is the freedom of expression it gives the performer each time. I got that bug very early in my life, ever since I started playing music. If I was to describe my music, I would call it a fusion of styles, not from the eighties or the nineties though… mainly jazz and jazz improvisation, classical music such as romanticism, and world music. To be precise, the music of my country, Greek music.”

 

Petros Klampanis Greek Jazz

Photo: Aline Fournier

Klampanis withdrew from the Polytechnic School in Athens to pursue double bass performance studies at the Amsterdam Conservatory in 2005. He later completed his formal studies at the Aaron Copland School of Music in New York and went on to perform alongside some of the city’s renowned jazz musicians, including saxophonist Greg Osby, pianist Jean-Michel Pilc, and drummer Ari Hoenig.

His relationship with Greg Osby led to the release of his début album, Contextual, on the saxophonist’s Inner Circle Music label. The album was praised by acclaimed bassist Arild Andersen which he described as, “one of the most exciting projects I have heard from a bass player in years.” Klampanis has received equal praise for his playing and composing. Fellow bassist Drew Gress notes his “aggressive melodicism, beautiful intonation, and uniquely personal string writing.” In 2012, Klampanis was invited by the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra for a series of concerts throughout Latvia. His arrangement of the Greek folk song “Thalassaki” was recently performed by the Greek Public Symphonic Orchestra in Athens, with whom Klampanis performed in 2013.

Klampanis’ latest album Chroma is a vivid colour palette inspired by the diverse experiences of Klampanis’ musical journey through life, with traditional Mediterranean and Balkan sounds and brings in diverse influences from the jazz scene in New York where he now lives. Hear or download it on itunes here.

 

Klampanis regularly visits and performs live in Athens. See our events page for full listings.

 

This video forms part of a series developed by LoveGreece.com that is inspired by the dynamism and creativity of the Greek entrepreneurial spirit. Founded in 2013, the initiative aims to boost and promote Greece’s image abroad by profiling talented and successful entrepreneurs and professionals. With their ethos and vision, these pioneering Greeks are an important part of Greece worth sharing with the world. Powered by Gina Mamidaki, founder of the G & A Mamidakis Foundation.

CREDITS: Direction & Post Production: Vassilis Tsapopoulos | Camera-Camera Directorate: Andreas Stanotis | Journalist: Giorgos Mitropoulos | Production Manager: Fotini Dafoti

 

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