Don Stavrinos – Trompete
Giannis Despotakis – percussion, Stimme
Natalia Manta – digital processing, visuals
Philip Zoubek – Piano, präpariertes Piano
Hayden Chisholm – Altsaxophon
Sebastian Gramss – Bass

Die drei deutschen Musiker Hayden Chisholm, Philip Zoubek und Sebastian Gramss reisen für eine Kooperation mit 3 griechischen Künstlern im Dezember 2019 nach Athen. Dort erarbeiten sie ein gemeinsames Programm mit Musik und Visuals, welches nach vier Probe-Tagen am 20. Dezember 2019 im UNDERFLOW CLUB in Athen urauffgeführt wird.
Danach reisen die sechs Musiker*innen/ Künstler*innen nach Deutschland, um am 22. Dezember 2019 im Kölner LOFT die gemeinsamen Arbeiten zu präsentieren.

Gefördert von :

Bios:

Philip Zoubek – Piano www.philipzoubek.com
Philip Zoubek is an Austrian piano player and composer from Tulln. He studied jazz-piano in Vienna and Cologne, where he lives since 2001. Few others explore so greatly the variety of sounds of the piano, making him the exceptional pianist both among the distinguished Austrian improvisers and within the Cologne scene. Starting from „traditional“ preparation techniques a la Cage, Philip Zoubek has a wide arsenal of preparation material (aluminum pots, plastic utensils, glass jars, etc.), from the rich tone of a noise-like percussion up to electronic sounds. Zoubek worked with Louis Sclavis, Rudi Mahall, Michael Moore, Michael Vatcher, Simon Nabatov, Frank Gratkowski, Wilbert De Joode, Thomas Lehn, Clayton Thomas, Paul Lytton, and many others.

Don Stavrinos – Trumpet https://donstavrinos.tumblr.com
Don Stavrinos lives in Athens. He is the founder and owner of Studio Ennia (Studio Nine), a DIY recording studio which also hosts live improvisational concerts. As a musician he is working with dancers, choreographers, visual and performing artists, poets and musicians of a wide spectrum. He has performed in a variety of spaces, from squats and street performing events to taverns and bars, theaters and stadiums…
He is a founding member of the music collective “Meating For Business” for which Dimitris Vrakas filmed the documentary “Out Of The Norm”, played at In Edit Festival, Olympion Theater and Embros Theater. He has also collaborated and performed with the following artists: “Hainides”, “CHICKN”, “KRAAK”, “Kilimanjaro”, “Aera Patera”, “Agios Lavrentios Brass Band”, “Mode Plagal”, Yiagkos Cheretis, Dimitris Poulikakos, Alexis Daras, Sofia Simaki, Androniki Marathaki, Nadia Zahoor, Nikolas Skordas, “Multiversal” collective, Irini Drakou, Ilan Manouach, Hanna Schorken, Alex Maguire, Joe Tornabene, Gregoire Tirtiaux, Apostolos Kaltsas, Michalis Katachanas, Nikos Touliatos, Antonis Anissegos, Stephanos Chitiris etc.
soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/antonis_stavrinos
youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcx2xEWiAUPLRsI0EjBUTRw
discogs: https://www.discogs.com/artist/5729774-Don-Stavrinos
fb: https://www.facebook.com/DonStavrinos & https://www.facebook.com/studio9athens/

Sebastian Gramss – Double Bass
Sebastian Gramss (Cologne, Germany) is a German double bass virtuoso and composer of jazz and contemporary music. In 2013 and 2018 he received the ECHO Jazz award (national instrumentalist of the year). He studied double bass and composition at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and at the Cologne University of Music. Gramss released more than 25 CDs under his name. He’s been an inspiring and innovative presence in the world of jazz with his band UNDERKARL for the past 25 years, and recently with his new trios SLOWFOX (with Hayden Chisholm & Philip Zoubek) and FOSSILE 3 (with Rudi Mahall & Etienne Nillesen).
His bass activities include his solo works (Atopie), a long term bass duo series (started with Stefano Scodanibbio in 2008, and continued with Barre Phillips, Tetsu Saitoh, Mark Dresser, Barry Guy, William Parker and Joelle Lenadre in over 50 concerts, several quartets and the international double bass orchestra BASSMASSE with up to 50 bass players. Gramss has composed for radio drama, movies and theatre and – among others – for choreographer Pina Bausch, and recently with/for the Ensemble Modern.
He teaches at the Cologne University of Music and University of Osnabrück, and gives master classes around the world. Extensive touring with his music has led him to venues and festivals all over the world, including Japan, India, South America, Russia, USA, Africa, and Australia. He was the co-creator and the curator/ director of SAMUR (South Asian Music Residency) in India in 2016 and 2017.

Natalia Manta – Digital Processing / Visuals http://nataliamanta.com
The visualization aspects of her work is a mixed technique of analogue projection and digital software. Natalia uses two sources of projection that project in one frame in the end. This is the main frame-display that the spectator receives. These two parts, the analogue and the digital one, contain: Analogue: One typical analogue slide projection, one surface of glass that she fills with water most of the times and different kind of materials (inside) such as liquid color or different kind of objects above it (hand-painted slides, metal strings, fabrics, little mirrors, etc.)
Digital: One digital projector, one laptop, one digital pen. Most of the time she uses Photoshop so she can project overlapping or continuous images, such us a live animated stop motion. She also uses the digital pen for live drawings. Other times she uses Arenas software (such as Resolume), to mix videos that she creates, some digital filters, different timelines, stable images and live drawing with the pen too.
Due to these techniques the final sense of this visual projection reminds of a paradox collage between a floating space suspended between dream and reality. Main idea is to create an immersive improvisation where the sounds and the images interact with each other in a synesthetic correspondence.

Hayden Chisholm – Saxophone
Hayden Chisholm (1975) is a New Zealand saxophonist and composer. After studying in Cologne with a DAAD scholarship he continued his music studies in Japan in India. In 1995 he developed a new microtonal system he termed „split scales“ for saxophone which he revealed on his debut solo CD „Circe“. Since then his compositions have been recorded by BBC and WDR radios and he has toured and recorded extensively worldwide.
He has created music for several Rebecca Horn installations as well as composing scores for her films. In 2008 he was assistant director in the Salzburger Festspiele. He has taught at Universities throughout the world and gives yearly master classes in Greece. He curates the annual Plushmusic festival in Cologne and Bremen.
2013 he released the 13 Box Set „13 Views of the Heart’s Cargo“ and received the German SWR Jazz Prize. In 2015 he was „Improvisor in Residence“ in Moers and opened the Moers Jazz Festival. In 2016 he released his second 13CD box „Cusp of Oblivion“ on the Moontower Foundation Edition and directed his first short film „Sisyphus Runs“.

www.haydenchisholm.net
www.softspeakers.com
www.sisyphusruns.com

Giannis Despotakis – Drums,voice
Born in Athens/Greece. His origins lay inside the triangle that unites Piraeus, Crete and Istanbul (a.k.a Konstantinoupoli).
Milestones:
a) Amsterdam where he decides to dedicate himself into musical expression, starts becoming a sound giver, stops being a sound receiver (a.k.a sound engineer) and starts making his first steps as a drummer, performer as well as a busker-street musician.
b) Berlin where he gets to meet with performers, improvisers and get in touch with a social current that over shook him having as a result to remain over shocked ever since.
c) Athens and Music Village in Pelion – Athens is the birthcity and base of Yiannis Despotakis and Music Village in mount Pelion is where some of the most essential things where forged and still are growing stronger and stronger.
One of the things that have radically helped his psycho synthesis is getting involved for the past 12 years with traditional Mongolian singing ( a.k.a overtone singing – Khoomei ) because it purifies and crystallizes all the inner energy channels ( a.k.a chakras ). In 2007 he met with the remarkable Hayden Chisholm (Nzl) and the fall inside the rabbit hole began. Since 2009, Hayden and Yiannis work strongly together. In December 2017 they had their first album release as a duet. The flame is rocking strong and the rabbit hole gets deeper and deeper.
From early 2013 along with soul brother Don Stavrinos (Gr) they give concerts of free Biomatic (anc. greek BIOS=LIFE , experiential) improvisation either as a duet or in larger ensembles. The source of their inspiration is the street and reality itself.They call it “Meating for Business”.
Founding member of the Aghios Lavrentios Brass Band – the only brass band in the world with no actual brass that was forged in Mount Pelion during Music Village – they‘ve been “bombing” audiences around the Earth since 2009 with pure Global/Balkan/New Orleans/Greek traditional music and pure love.
He gives workshops regarding: traditional mongolian overtone singing – vocal and mental liberation – experiential improvisation. Within the continuous transformation of the „form“ he remains a continuous investigator of the true sound of his existential discoveries.
Studied Tabla under: Satnam Ghai (IND), Nihat Yersaloglu (TUR). Studied drums under Nikos Kapilidis (GR).
Studied electric guitar under Kostas Mouzis (GR).
Seminars by : Joe Zawinul, Rashid Ali, Lenny White, Steve Gadd, Garry Novak, Jeff Berlin, Paul Vertigo,
Clarence Penn, Kostas Anastasiadis
Collaborations with :
Antonis Anissegos,Savina Yannatou,Garreth Lube, Michalis Siganides,Sebastian Gramss,James Wylie,
Zakari Frantz,Phillip Zoubek, Fausto Sierakowski, Dimitris Pantelias,Stathis Diamantides, Moritz Koether, Vago Tedosio,Stelios Michas, Yannis Anastasakis, Athina Kyrousi, Markus Krispel, Norbert Stammberger, Mathias Guerra, Joe Tornabenne and many others

meatingforbusiness.tumblr.com

meatingforbusiness.bandcamp.com