| Betwixt | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 2008 | |||
| Recorded | December 13 & 14, 2006 Kimchee Records, Cambridge, Massachusetts | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 65:45 | |||
| Label | hatOLOGY | |||
| Producer | Karayorgis, McBride, Newton | |||
| Pandelis Karayorgis chronology | ||||
| ||||
Betwixt is an album by jazz pianist Pandelis Karayorgis, which was recorded in 2006 and released on the Swiss hatOLOGY label. It was the third recording by mi3, a trio with bassist Nate McBride and drummer Curt Newton.
For this program, Karayorgis plays Fender Rhodes, enhancing its sound with the addition of a mutron (a synthetizer-like sound filter once endorsed by Stevie Wonder), distortion pedal, and ring modulator (a favorite of Karlheinz Stockhausen, which blends sound signals into dissimilar, often dissonant, frequencies). The setlist includes readings of pieces by Thelonious Monk, Sun Ra, Duke Ellington, Hasaan Ibn Ali, Misha Mengelberg and Wayne Shorter, along with three of the pianist's originals. [1]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Down Beat |   |
The Down Beat review by John Corbett notes that "The Greek-born Bostonian Pandelis Karayorgis is not without his funky edges on the amped keyboard, but his method isn't to put down kitschy grooves or create a sexy '70s fusion ambiance. In his hands, and with his wonderful trio, the Rhodes is transformed into a versatile, gritty, pitch-based electronic sound generator--a perfect free-bop tool." [2]
The All About Jazz by Chris May states "Betwixt could easily have been a freak show—and there's no denying its novelty appeal—but it's much more than that. Karayorgis' new sonic and textural peregrinations are as substantial as his acoustic piano playing, and he's robustly supported by bassist Nate McBride and drummer Curt Newton. Already compelling on this first flush, it's a direction worthy of further exploration." [3]
In another review for All About Jazz Troy Collins says "Free Advice was a welcome reminder of Karayorgis' abilities in a traditional acoustic setting. Betwixt reveals him as a sonic architect of the highest order, a visionary improviser whose enthusiasm for the possibilities of sound knows no limit. Together, Karayorgis, McBride and Newton offer a thrilling set guaranteed to turn heads." [4]
Steve Lacy, born Steven Norman Lackritz in New York City, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer recognized as one of the important players of soprano saxophone. Coming to prominence in the 1950s as a progressive dixieland musician, Lacy went on to a long and prolific career. He worked extensively in experimental jazz and to a lesser extent in free improvisation, but Lacy's music was typically melodic and tightly-structured. Lacy also became a highly distinctive composer, with compositions often built out of little more than a single questioning phrase, repeated several times.
Misha Mengelberg was a Dutch jazz pianist and composer. A prominent figure in post-WWII European Jazz, Mengelberg is known for his forays into free improvisation, for bringing humor into his music, and as a leading interpreter of songs by fellow pianists Thelonious Monk and Herbie Nichols.
Symbolic Gesture is an album by American jazz guitarist Joe Morris, which was recorded in 1993 and released on the Italian Soul Note label. It features his trio with bassist Nate McBride and drummer Curt Newton. After four records on his own Riti label, this was his debut on another imprint and the first guitarist-led album in the twenty-year history of Black Saint/Soul Note.
Pandelis Karayorgis is a Greek-born and Boston-based pianist, composer and educator.
Hasaan Ibn Ali was an American jazz pianist and composer.
Discography for jazz reedist Ken Vandermark. The year indicates when the album was first released.
Instant Composers Pool (ICP) is an independent Dutch jazz and improvised music label and orchestra. Founded in 1967, the label takes its name from the notion that improvisation is "instant composition". The ICP label has published more than 50 releases to date, with most of its releases featuring the ICP Orchestra and its members.
Seventeen Pieces is the first solo album by jazz pianist Pandelis Karayorgis, which was recorded in 2004 and released on the English Leo label. With the exception of one track, the remaining sixteen all are pieces he has recorded and performed with other musicians.
Heart and Sack is an album by jazz pianist Pandelis Karayorgis, which was recorded in 1998 and released on Leo Lab, a sublabel of Leo Records. It was the debut recording of his trio with bassist Nate McBride and drummer Randy Peterson.
Blood Ballad is an album by jazz pianist Pandelis Karayorgis, which was recorded in 2000 and released on the English Leo label. It was the second album featuring his trio with bassist Nate McBride and drummer Randy Peterson. The title piece was inspired by Billy Strayhorn; "Centennial" is a tribute to Duke Ellington on hundredth anniversary of his birth.
Disambiguation is an album by a quintet co-led by jazz pianist Pandelis Karayorgis and violinist Mat Maneri, which was recorded in 2001 and released on the English Leo label. Maneri had the idea to ask Karayorgis to write pieces for a quintet date with saxophonist Tony Malaby and bassist Michael Formanek already in mind. Drummer Randy Peterson was on pianist's trio and has long played with Mat in Joe Maneri's quartet.
System of 5 is an album by jazz pianist Pandelis Karayorgis, which was recorded in 2008 and released on the Swiss hatOLOGY label. It was the debut recording of a new quintet with saxophonist Matt Langley, trombonist Jeff Galindo, bassist Jef Charland and drummer Luther Gray.
Cocoon is an album by jazz pianist Pandelis Karayorgis, which was recorded in 2012 and released on Driff, an artist-run label co-founded by Karayorgis and Jorrit Dijkstra. It was the debut recording of his trio with bassist Jef Charland and drummer Luther Gray.
Circuitous is an album by jazz pianist Pandelis Karayorgis, which was recorded in 2012 and released on Driff, an artist-run label co-founded by Karayorgis and Jorrit Dijkstra. He leads a new band with four Chicago-based musicians: saxophonists Dave Rempis and Keefe Jackson, bassist Nate McBride and drummer Frank Rosaly. Karayorgis explains that Tony Williams' seminal album Spring inspired the instrumentation for this project, a quintet with two tenors as the main horns.
Lines is an album by jazz pianist Pandelis Karayorgis and alto saxophonist Eric Pakula, which was recorded in 1995 and released on Accurate. They are joined by bassists Nate McBride and Jonathan Robinson and drummers John McLellan and Eric Rosenthal in various combinations, playing compositions by Lennie Tristano, Lee Konitz, Warne Marsh and Ted Brown, along with some originals.
Free Advice is an album by jazz pianist Pandelis Karayorgis, which was recorded in 2004 and released on the Portuguese Clean Feed label. It was the second recording by mi3, a trio with bassist Nate McBride and drummer Curt Newton. For the group's first album, We Will Make a Home for You, Karayorgis plays the Fender Rhodes electric piano, but for this record he switches to acoustic piano. The album includes covers of pieces by Duke Ellington, Hasaan Ibn Ali and Sun Ra.
We Will Make a Home for You is an album by jazz pianist Pandelis Karayorgis, which was recorded between 2002 and 2003 and released on the Portuguese Clean Feed label. It was the debut recording by mi3, a trio with bassist Nate McBride and drummer Curt Newton. According to Karayorgis, he plays Fender Rhodes partly out of necessity, since the Abbey Lounge had no piano, and partly out of curiosity for the effect it would have on the music. The album includes covers of pieces by Thelonious Monk, Hasaan Ibn Ali and Eric Dolphy.
Expansion Slang is an album by American jazz reedist Ken Vandermark, which was recorded in 1998 and released on Boxholder. It was the debut recording by Tripleplay, which features bassist Nate McBride and drummer Curt Newton, one of the rhythm sections in Utility Hitter by the Barrage Double Trio.
Sun Rooms is the eponymous debut album by the trio led by American jazz vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz featuring bassist Nate McBride and drummer Mike Reed, which was recorded in 2009 and released on Delmark. They played five Adasiewicz compositions and three covers: "Off My Back Jack" by Hasaan Ibn Ali, from his sole album The Max Roach Trio Featuring the Legendary Hasaan, "Overtones of China" by Sun Ra and "Warm Valley" by Duke Ellington.
Guillermo Gregorio is an Argentine jazz and free improvisation clarinetist, saxophonist, and composer.