Jannis Zotos Band

In the organizer's words:

Jannis Zotos, who has been setting Greek poets to music for years, presents his new album ""Hydra"" on this evening. This time the texts were provided by the Greek Nobel Prize winner for literature Giorgos Seferis. Jannis will be accompanied by a top-class band consisting of the crème de la crème of the German scene. The program is completed with songs from his previous albums "amour fou" and "Signals Phones tis Mnimis".

Jannis Zotos is one of the defining figures of the Berlin cultural scene. Since the 1980s, when he studied classical guitar at the local music school, he has been one of the driving forces behind the artistic side of the capital. He has played in many groundbreaking projects ranging from German singer-songwriters to rock and traditional Greek music. Particularly noteworthy is his collaboration with composer Mikis Theodorakis, whom Zotos accompanied on tours, wrote arrangements for his orchestra and who share a close musical and personal friendship. Zotos is also still active as a much sought-after composer for film and theater, plays the guitar as well as the oud and bouzouki with virtuosity and has run an important institution for jazz and acoustic music in Berlin, the b-Flat, since the 1990s. The Athens-born actress and soprano Christina Fronista is one of the most sought-after in her field. She studied acting in Athens and continued her vocal training in Berlin. She has performed in numerous operas and musicals, is extremely successful as a singer of chansons and appears in numerous projects throughout Germany. Like his brother Jannis, Thanassis Zotos is a formative figure on the Berlin scene. He runs the b-Flat together with his brother and is a much sought-after musician who is at home in a wide variety of genres. Rolf Zielke was born in Hamelin, Germany, in 1964. His work includes collaborations with Charlie Mariano, Thomas Quasthoff, Mike Stern, Biréli Lagrène, David Friedman, Stacey Kent and many more and has taken him to the USA, Asia and Africa as well as 15 European countries (concerts in London, Madrid, Zurich, Rome, Warsaw, St. Petersburg, Istanbul). Rolf Zielke teaches at the Jazz Institute Berlin.
Max Hughes, one of the best electric bassists in the city, provides the harmonic foundation. He has been teaching electric bass at the JIB for many years and has played with Chaka Khan, Toni Braxton, Wolfgang Dauner and Ack van Rooyen. Thomas Alkier is one of the most distinguished and best drummers in Germany. He has been playing the drums since his earliest youth and studied at the Cologne University of Music from 1983. He has played in several style-defining formations, including the Volker Kriegel Band, the Vienna Art Orchestra and still does so with the group Nighthawks and the Jocelyn B. Smith Band. He has also played with Dizzy Gillespie, Jerry Bergonzi, Betty Carter, Gary Burton, Mike Stern, Michel Petrucciani and Albert Mangelsdorff, to name but a few. In 1987 he was part of the founding team of the jazz department at the Folkwang University of the Arts and has been a lecturer for percussion and ensemble ever since.

Admission: 20/15 €

Address:
b-flat
Dircksenstraße 40,
10178 Berlin