St Mary’s Jazz Evenings: The Athens Jazz Syndicate

Description

Jazz at St Mary’s will be welcoming Elizabeth Mitsou and Haris Pantazis, two of Greece’s finest jazz musicians, to Battersea on Friday 24th April for a night of jazz standards, bebop and swing. Doors will open at 7:30pm, with the performance starting at 8pm. There will be a bar selling refreshments.

Lineup:

Elizabeth Mitsou—Guitar/vocals
Hugo Jennings—Piano/vocals
Haris Pantazis—Bass
Drums—Louis Brown

Elizabeth Mitsou and Haris Pantazis are leaders of the Athens Jazz Syndicate: a collective which puts on many jazz gigs for the community in Athens. Elizabeth and Haris studied with Barry Harris for five years and have been mentored by the likes of Peter Washington and Felix Lemerle. They regularly collaborate with New York artists such as Marc Devine, Dan Block, Dwayne Clemons, Chris Byars, Michael Weiss, and Ed Cherry, as well as many of the top musicians in Europe. They both regularly perform across Athens and Paris, and are making their debut tour in London this April. Favourite repertoire includes music from the bebop and Hard Bop idiom, as well as earlier jazz such as music by Benny Goodman, Charlie Christian, and many other greats from the first half of the 20th Century. They co-lead a swing band, “Jeepers Creepers”, in Athens.

Hugo Jennings is a jazz pianist, singer and conductor. He has established himself as a respected name on the London jazz scene, through his playing, knowledge of the history of the music, and his work as founder and director of the Battersea Jazz Festival. Hugo has performed regularly at various jazz events, venues, and concert halls across London and Britain, such as Pizza Express Dean Street, The EFG London Jazz Festival, Battersea Power Station, the Clapham Grand, ExWide Jazz Club in Pisa, and has made appearances at the Edinburgh Fringe and toured cities including Valencia and Athens. He has appeared alongside high-profile British artists such as Alex Garnett, Steve Fishwick, Tom Smith, Fraser Smith, Sam Braysher, Ruben Fox, Quentin Collins, and countless others, as well as American musicians including Jerry Weldon, Chuck Redd, Gabrielle Stravelli, Pat O’Leary, and Adam Moezinia. In addition to his performing as a jazz pianist and singer, Hugo also works as conductor of Social London Orchestra and the South London Jazz Orchestra.