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THE GROUP NIGHT CITY

 The group works in the genre of modern jazz. They had tours in Japan, England, France, Germany, and Denmark. Many famous artists performed with the group, among them, are Michel Petruchiani, John Abercrombie, Philip Catherine, and Antoine Herve.


JAZZ SEXTET OF GEORGIA

Jazz-Sextet of Georgia was founded on the initiative of three members of the group in 1996. At first, the group was led by the director of the State Georgian Orchestra - Ilia Kalandadze.

At this time the repertoire of the ensemble contained only classical jazz compositions. Later the original interpretations of the compositions of Georgian composers of different periods and styles appeared in the sextet program. The main direction of the creative work of the group developed when the sextet was collaborating with the young Georgian professional composer and pianist Nika Memanishvili, whose name was entered in the Gold Book of UNESCO. Such branches of Georgian Culture as folklore and ancient professional music as well as the church hymns represent the sphere of interests of the group. 

The creative principle of the group is the synthesis of Georgian folk and jazz music. Sextet is the sole Georgian jazz-folk ensemble. The ensemble first came on the stage at the student festival in 1997, when it won the "Modern Song" nomination. In April 1999 the ensemble participated in the international festival "Suklegos" in Kaunas (Lithuania), where the group had very successful concerts. In June of 1999, the Jazz-Sextet of Georgia became the prizewinner of "Tampere Choir Festival" in Finland.

Nowadays the group works intensively in the direction of jazz-folk and Georgian classical music.


JAZZ CHORAL

The founder and leader of the group Lali Beradze is a former soloist of the "Jazz Choral" which has toured all over Europe, winning wide recognition among their audiences as well as musicians and jazz connoisseurs.

The nucleus of the "Jazz Septet" is also composed of the former "Jazz Choral" soloists and this determined the takeover of the best traditions of the once well-known ensemble. Their wide-range repertoire includes world jazz, classical, and jazz compositions based on Georgian vocal polyphony and intonation. This is the only ensemble in the country, which due to the splendid talent of each performer has created an exquisite sound of a big band.


DAVID MAZANASHVlLI (Jazz piano)

Born in 1972 in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Has played piano from the age of 6. He performed with his trio in Germany, Switzerland, France, and the USA. Now he performs solo programs with his compositions.


OTAR MAGRADZE GROUP

Jazz Trio "Tbilisi" was established in February 1999, and is headed by Otar Magradze. In 1988-1989 jazz quartet of Otar Magradze participated in the Saarbrucken Jazz Festival. The collaboration of Otar Magradze with Dato Odzelashvili has started in 1998 while recording a CD. They recorded the compositions "Tatris Meidan" and "Gurian Sketches". In 1999 the current staff of the jazz trio participated in the Music Festival dedicated to the lOOOth Anniversary of Saarbrucken, where they were rewarded a special memorable medal for successful performance. The repertoire of the trio generally contains the compositions on Georgian themes, which have a high importance meaning for the ensemble.


BACHA MDZINARASHVILI JAZZ QUINTET


Beka GochitashviliBeka Gochitashvili - jazz pianist (1996 -)

Beka Gochiashvili was just two and a half years old, barely reaching his upright piano curvature, when he suddenly surprised his father by playing some of Scott Joplin’s Ragtime tunes he heard on the radio. Then at age 4, he watched Standards II by Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, and Jack DeJohnette - the video recording that triggered his devotion and passion for this sophisticated trio and their performance style.

By age five, Beka was playing several piano compositions already. In 2002 Valeri, his father, a musician himself, took him to Zurab Ramishvili, the most prominent jazz piano professor in Georgia. The child’s ability to play a few complicated jazz compositions impressed him. Notwithstanding, he advised them to enroll Beka in classical music classes at a school headed by Tengiz Chitaishvili.

By age nine, Beka began jazz studies under the direction of Zurab Ramishvili. A year later, he was already playing at various jazz clubs in Tbilisi. In 2007, Beka participated in Saulkrasti Jazz Festival in Latvia where his performance skills were highly assessed by Lenny White and Victor Bailey. In the same year, he played at the 10th International Festival “Georgians Play Jazz” held in the Grand Hall of Tbilisi State Conservatory. 

In April 2008, the US Embassy in Tbilisi hosted two State Department-sponsored cultural envoys – jazz pianist Dan Tepfer and Joel Harrison, Artistic Director, President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Pianists Association, who performed with Beka. Both of them highly praised Beka’s unique talent.

“Beka is one of the best jazz pianists I’ve heard anywhere,” said Condoleezza Rice, then Secretary of State and an accomplished pianist herself, in her remarks.


THE GROUP GREEN ROOM

The GREEN ROOM was founded in 1999. Members of the group are Achiko Guledani -guitar, and vocals; Beka Japaridze -keyboards; Valeri Piltakian -trumpet; Kaha Jagashvili - saxophone; Nodar Ekvtimishvili - bass; David Aduashvili -drums; Maka Gamkrelidze and Tamuna Magalashvili - back vocals. At present the group is working on its first album in the studio "Georgian Records".

"We studied together at the jazz college. We've been together since 1996 and our four-year partnership bears fruits, which gives us strength to go on. We love what we are doing and we hope this is just the beginning. We would like to express gratitude towards everybody who helps us on the stage and beyond it." "Green Room "


The Group SHIN

The Georgian word "shin" means "homeward". "Tseruli" is the name of the musical accompaniment remarkable duo "The Shin" has chosen for this spiritual kind of journey home. Tseruli stands for a kind of rhythmic, polyphonic improvisation, which takes its origin in early Georgian, culture. Tseruli takes this tradition into our modern times, adds music from the East, adds music from the West, and adds Jazz - the African factor. What we finally hear is the world's music at its very best. The masterminds behind "The Shin" are Zurab Gagnidze and Zaza Miminoshvili, who have gained a brilliant reputation back home in the Caucasus for many years. But "The Shin" are on their way to international success: Switch on your TV set, walk over to the Frankfurt music fair - and be prepared to meet "The Shin".


The Group SOFT EJECT

 There are several ways of gaining popularity in contemporary rock. The easiest one is conquering hearts and minds by attracting public attention by all sorts of scandals, and the most difficult – by creative work. Soft Eject chose the latter and attained its objectives.

 At one time Soft Eject was far better known in Germany than in Georgia. They gave their first concert at Tbilisi Medical Institute in 1989 (4 years after the group members met). A year later they performed at Batumi Rock Festival and in 1993 participated in the Greens rock-action. This was followed by several tours in Germany.

Several contemporary rock artists draw inspiration from folklore today. Soft Eject has proved its originality once more by utilizing Irish, European, and Oriental melodies. The new works represent short pieces and the interesting thing is that a conventional rock quartet is not enough to perform them. This is why there are plenty of musicians, far from the rock music scene, who have been invited by the group - Irakli Chelishvili (guitar, vocal), Gia Karchkhadze (guitar), Vaho Babunashvili (bass) and Nodar Manchkhashvili (percussion) - to assist in the creative process.

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