OPEN JAZZ FESTIVAL

Nektarios Karatzis & Dimos Gountaroulis

Nektarios Karantzis was born in Athens, originally from Ithaca and lives in Thessaloniki.
Classical and jazz studies in Thessaloniki and Vienna. He has collaborated with the majority of the musicians of the Greek jazz scene
as well as with musicians such as Dee Dee Bridgewater and Evan Parker, with appearances at festivals in Greece and abroad.
With his personal band Terra Incognita he recorded three CDs characterized by a fusion of jazz and classical idioms with the presence of extensive compositions and improvisations.
The recording of the musicalization of excerpts from the ancient text of the Odyssey with the participation of Savina Giannatou is of interest.
Since 2000 he has been a member of the Thessaloniki Municipality Symphony Orchestra.
Self-taught in composition, his work includes works for orchestra, concertos, string ensembles, percussion, solo instruments and chamber music.
Finally, he studied philosophy at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Dimos Gountaroulis Cello player Dimos Gountaroulis plays modern and baroque cello, as well as four-string or five-string piccolo. During his thirty-five-year musical career, he has participated in countless concerts, tours and recordings, playing with leading musicians.

and classical and baroque music ensembles, as well as jazz/improvisational/folk music around the world. Born in 1970 in Larissa and raised in Thessaloniki, where he studied cello with Giorgos Manolas, Ivan Bianchi, Russi Dragnev.

In 1988 he settled in Paris, where he continued his studies with Philippe Muller and Reine Flachot, and began playing jazz and improvisational music. In 1996 he moved to Brazil. He was for a decade a cello professor at the State University of São Paulo – UNICAMP.

In 2003 he won the prestigious Carlos Gomes Award as the best soloist of the year, while in 2008 his recording of Bach’s Suites for solo cello received the Prêmio Bravo de Cultura Award as the best classical music CD of the year.

In 2015 he returned to Greece. He is a cello professor at the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki and artistic director of the Baroque Music Festival of the Thessaloniki Concert Hall. He performs regularly throughout Europe, Latin America, the U.S. and Canada. His discography includes approximately 40 cds.

Gregory Simadopoulos

Ntinos Manos Quintet

The Ntinos Manos Quintet is the personal band of double bassist Dinos Manos, which performs his personal compositions with a lyrical character, influenced mainly by the sound of the European jazz scene.
The band consists of James Wylie – saxophone, Thodoris Kotsyfas – guitar, Leandros Passias – piano, Dinos Manos – double bass and Giorgos Klountzos-Chrysidis on drums.
The material to be presented will mainly contain compositions from the double bassist’s 2nd personal album entitled ‘NORTHWIND’ which was released in September 2024.
The album ‘Northwind’ is the second album by bassist and composer Dinos Manos. It contains ten compositions written by him during the quarantine in Thessaloniki.
The style of the album is quite “dark”, inspired by the feeling of isolation and alienation of man from nature.
The sound and dynamics of the tracks are clearly influenced by the international modern jazz scene, and in particular the inwardness and dynamism of creators such as Brian Blade and Kenny Garrett.
Each track has its role within the album and converses with the others through a unified narrative flow, telling its own unique story.