mihalis kalkanis

Music on the move

There is a risk in the music of composer and bassist Mihalis Kalkanis, a certain challenge that enables his compositions and his playing to obtain power. He is considered one of the most daring musicians of his generation, as he puts himself in a different environment in every step: First he’s taping his grandma singing a cappella a traditional Greek song and then blends it with electronic sounds; then he’s self-recording an improvisation in an underground car park and immediately afterwards he’s at the southernmost edge of Europe recording another one. Every single note is an artistic experience, as he doesn’t just capture a moment of reality but interprets his reality through musical narratives that keep you in a pleasantly disturbed anxiety, achieving a breathtaking level of emotion. A typical example is the «World Echoes in Athens» project, which began with a year round field recording in open or hidden places in Athens serving as temples where immigrants went to pray. His interpretations seemed like trophies from a hunt of authenticity that first occurred in an actual space and time, and then became completed through recollections of several emotions. Mihalis Kalkanis’ music is a contemporary art form, blending jazz and classical influences with both electronic and Greek traditional elements in an atmospheric and groovy urban context. A bold sound, ready to interact with other artistic forms of expression such as video or photography. Music on the move, unconventional, original and inevitably true.

mihalis kalkanis mihalis kalkanis

BIO

The double bass player Mihalis Kalkanis stands out among the representatives of the new generation of Greek jazz musicians. He comes from a musical family and participates in the most important forms of the genre. He is a particularly daring and creative musician and composer, successfully experimenting and offering us unpredictable music. He dresses his grandmother’s traditional singing with electronic music and he does field recordings in immigrant religious ceremonies, giving us an amalgam of the world’s sounds in the album “World Echoes in Athens”.

His band was chosen as “the new music proposal” of the Athens Technopolis Jazz Festival 2018, while the following year he made a special appearance at the Summer Nostos Festival – SNFCC, with the leading Siberian multi-instrumentalist and composer Nadishana, as his guest. In the same year he appeared in other festivals in Greece and Cyprus, while in October his group was selected first among 300 nominations to appear at the Fira B Festival in Spain.

The highlight of the band’s course so far were the two performances in the Small Theater of Epidaurus (July 24 & 25) with two separate artists as guests, the Armenian oud master HaigYazdjian and avant-garde electric guitarist Giannis Anastasakis. The acclaimed jazz musicians took audiences along for a ride through jazz, ambient, traditional and world music, employing their highly original sound for two spellbinding concerts that were enthusiastically received by audiences and were considered one of last summer’s best musical experiences. The new album is expected in spring 2022.

Discography

  • News

    Keep Dreaming | new single out on March 18 with High Hop Records!!

    https://www.highhoprecords.com/news/mihalis-kalkanis

    «Momentum» – new piece for solo double bass and loops recorded live

     

    We are really delighted to present you our podcast for Megaron the Athens Concert Hall!!

    https://www.megaron.gr/mihalis-kalkanis-group/

     

    Next month, on September 13 of 2021, we are going to present again our project of Athens & Epidaurus Festival «Mihalis Kalkanis Group featuring Haig Yazdjian & Jannis Anastasakis».  This time at the Heraklion Jazz Festival!!

     

    Our next meeting is on July 18 at the magic roof stage of Gazarte in Athens!

     

    Back in Palma / Spain! We are going to perform at the Palma Jazz Festival on July 3!

     

    Happy to perform in Jazz Praxis Festival of Patra on July 2, 2021!

     

    New single is out! «Daydream» with the exceptional Sylvain Fournier on drums and Nicolas Masson on saxophone that I met in Geneva!!

    Daydream Bandcamp

     

    The most important concert of our band so far is coming.. on July 24 & 25 2020 at the magical Theatre of Little Epidaurus with guests Haig Yazdjan and Jannis Anastasakis!! See you there!

     

    Very happy that our band was chosen to perform at the 2nd Music Showcase Greece (December 5, 2019)!

     

    Our band selected to perform at the Fira B Festival of Palma / Spain (October 4, 2019).

     

    Very happy for our first show in Cyprus! We will perform there at the AglanJazz Festival (July 3, 2019).

     

    Mihalis Kalkanis Group together with Siberian composer and multi-organist Nadishana, will create an extraordinary show especially for the Summer Nostos Festival (June 28, 2019) in which music will enter into a dynamic dialogue with video art and narration.

     

    This Sunday (6 Jan 2019) is his first solo double bass concert at the Theatre Odou Kefallinias 12.30 pm. The program includes personal compositions and interpretations of Bach and Tsitsanis!

    More details about this event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1777641222365336/

     

    New single «By Feel»!

    “Live more by feel.. feel more the people around you..” M.

     

    «Mihalis Kalkanis Live» selected as “2018 Upcoming Artist” in the Athens Technopolis Jazz Festival.

     

    New video from our concert (six d.o.g.s 28.04.17)

Emotions

Across eight tracks that combine music from acoustic instruments with electronic and processed sounds, one of Athens’ most prolific jazz figures, Mihalis Kalkanis, sketches a new European sound with melodic motifs that sometimes “touch” the West and others leave a Greek and Balkan scent.

Across eight tracks that combine music from acoustic instruments with electronic and processed sounds, one of Athens’ most prolific jazz figures, Mihalis Kalkanis, sketches a new European sound with melodic motifs that sometimes “touch” the West and others leave a Greek and Balkan scent.

format: LP, CD, Digital

release date: June 10, 2022

label: United We Fly

Bandcamp

Realitat (Music from the Short Film)

Original music composed for the short film Realitat which resented in the context of the exhibition “Ars Electronica Garden Athens: Stories of Athens”

Realitat

Original music composed for the short film Realitat which resented in the context of the exhibition “Ars Electronica Garden Athens: Stories of Athens”

format: Single, Digital

release date: 16 Oct. 2021

iTunes, Spotify

By Feel

Recorded live at Antart Studios (6 Feb, 2018)

Christos Kalkanis // clarinet

Mihalis Kalkanis // double bass

Vagelis Karipis // frame drum

Stavros Lantsias // piano & additional percussion

Sokratis Sinopoulos // lyra

As time goes by I like to remind myself: “Live more by feel.. feel more the people around you..”

By feel

Recorded live at Antart Studios (6 Feb, 2018)

Christos Kalkanis // clarinet

Mihalis Kalkanis // double bass

Vagelis Karipis // frame drum

Stavros Lantsias // piano & additional percussion

Sokratis Sinopoulos // lyra

As time goes by I like to remind myself: “Live more by feel.. feel more the people around you..”

format: single, digital

release date: 2018

iTunesSpotify

Scarborough Tales

This is Mihalis’s first album and constitutes his final project for his MRes in Creative Music Technology at the University of Hull (UK). It has an atmospheric film score feel enriched with some elements of Greek traditional music.

This is Mihalis’s first album and constitutes his final project for his MRes in Creative Music Technology at the University of Hull (UK). It has an atmospheric film score feel enriched with some elements of Greek traditional music.

format: CD, Digital

release date: 2009

iTunesSpotify

A Parking Lot Performance

A Parking Lot Performance is a double bass improvisation recorded live in an underground parking garage of a deprived neighbourhood in Athens The video was directed, shot and edited by Irish Brendan Canty and Conal Thomson.

A Parking Lot Performance is a double bass improvisation recorded live in an underground parking garage of a deprived neighbourhood in Athens The video was directed, shot and edited by Irish Brendan Canty and Conal Thomson.

format: Single, Digital

release date: 14 Nov. 2013

iTunesSpotify

 

Parking Lot (studio version)

This is the studio version of the “a parking lot performance” along with the generous contribution of some of the greatest Greek musicians.
Mike Kapilidis: drums
Stavros Lantsias: piano
Andreas Polyzogopoulos: trumpet
There is also a beautiful video of the recording session filmed and edited by Perikles Mathiellis.

This is the studio version of the “a parking lot performance” along with the generous contribution of some of the greatest Greek musicians.
Mike Kapilidis: drums
Stavros Lantsias: piano
Andreas Polyzogopoulos: trumpet
There is also a beautiful video of the recording session filmed and edited by Perikles Mathiellis.

format: Single, Digital

release date: 17 Jan. 2014

iTunesSpotify

 

World Echoes In Athens

For a year, the musician recorded the sounds of immigrants praying in overt and concealed places around Athens. The religious groups include Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Christians of various denominations and multiple ethnic origins (Ethiopian, Afghan, Pakistani, Senegalese, etc.). The project does not stop at the level of the field recording; instead the musician, as a local observer, embraces all these sounds with his personal musical comment, always with modesty and respect. 

It is a project that highlights the positive elements of the coexistence with all these ‘other’ people and at the same time reminds us of the value of the experiential use of music.

For a year, the musician recorded the sounds of immigrants praying in overt and concealed places around Athens. The religious groups include Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Christians of various denominations and multiple ethnic origins (Ethiopian, Afghan, Pakistani, Senegalese, etc.). The project does not stop at the level of the field recording; instead the musician, as a local observer, embraces all these sounds with his personal musical comment, always with modesty and respect. 

It is a project that highlights the positive elements of the coexistence with all these ‘other’ people and at the same time reminds us of the value of the experiential use of music.

format: CD, Digital

release date: 19 Nov. 2015

iTunesSpotify