Nenemia | the quiet from which all sound emerges
Photo: Umberto Casals
Gabriel Karapatakis (Cyprus) - fretless bass | Zacharias Spyridakis (Greece) - cretan lyra | Hub Hildenbrand (Germany) - guitar
In Greek mythology, nenemia is the stillness of the wind and sea before a storm. Such pensive silence is precious, it is a state from which music emerges; a state from which every new adventure starts be it a zephyr, monsoon, meltemi or storm.
Nenemia are a group of three sailors navigating an open sea. Three individuals with three very different stringed instruments and musical styles entering into dialogue and sharing their stories.
Each member of this troika are themselves musical travelers gathering discoveries from a broad spectrum of musical traditions. Together, the kaleidoscope of sounds unfolds in an inspired rapport and improvisation; a fearless exploration into an endless ocean of music, which enjoins the listener to begin their own musical journey.
L I N E U P
GABRIEL KARAPATAKIS (CYPRUS)
fretless bass, composition
Gabriel Karapatakis is a visionary who has initiated numerous ensembles, including Nenemia. He studied music at the Mannes College of Music in New York (USA) and at the Rotterdam Conservatory (NL). He has extensively performed in the Netherlands, has collaborated with renowned musicians and he has worked with celebrated Greek vocalists and composers, such as George Xatzinasios, Marios Tokas, George Dalaras, Marios Frangoulis, and Margarita Zorbala. Karapatakis has also given concerts in Cyprus, Greece, England, France, Germany, Australia, Serbia and Lebanon at numerous festivals, including Kypria International Festival (Cyprus), Ruhrfestspiele (Recklinghausen, Germany), Injazz (Rotterdam, NL), and the Athens Technopolis Jazz Festival (Athens, Greece). Together with pianist Marios Takoushis, they established the Takoushis-Karapatakis Project which has become an accomplished world-jazz group in the Mediterranean. Music magazines often attribute their music to the ECM label. The duo project has released three critically acclaimed albums and has been featured by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) on the sampler "The Music of Europe". He has composed music for numerous documentaries and dance performances and has been a professor of bass guitar in various colleges and universities in Cyprus.
Photo: Pavlos Vrionides
HUB HILDENBRAND (GERMANY)
guitar, composition
Hildenbrand studied at the Music University of Rotterdam (NL) and with a full scholarship at Berklee College of Music in Boston (USA) with Mick Goodrick and John Abercrombie. He also studied the Turkish maqam music at the Conservatory of Turkish Music with the Ud master Nuri Karademirli followed by an intensive study of North Indian Classical Music in Calcutta (India) with Sarod master Ranajit Sengupta. Hildenbrand has conducted numerous of his own ensembles (including Hub Hildenbrand Trio, trio Rosenrot and Trio Morgenland). Hildenbrand composed music for film, and theatre and released 13 CDs with his own projects. He has given concerts in Germany, USA, India, Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Russia, Denmark, Netherlands at numerous festivals, including the Delhi International Arts Festival, Berlin-Istanbul Festival, folkBALTICA, Bardentreffen Nuremberg. Hildenbrand has worked with internationally renowned musicians such as Palle Mikkelborg, Hein Van de Geyn, Nuri Karademirli, Rhys Chatham, Helen Davies, Carlos Bica, Ranajit Sengupta, Paul Brody, Levent Yildrim, Farhad Safari, Heinrich Koebberling. Hildenbrand has given master classes at the Popakademie Mannheim, the BIMM Institute Berlin and the Conservatory of Turkish Music. He was supported by Goethe-Institut, Deutscher Musikfonds, and the Berlin Senate.
www.hubhildenbrand.com
Photo: Umberto Casals
ZACHARIAS SPYRIDAKIS (GREECE)
cretan lyra, composition
The music of Athens-born Zacharias Spyridakis is deeply rooted in the folk music of Crete. His playing was also very much appreciated by Jordi Savall, Mikis Theodorakis, Vangelis, Yannis Markopoulos, Ross Daly and Steve Wood with whom he has collaborated. As an ambassador of Cretan music he performed in the opening ceremony of the World Championships in Athletics (1997), the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games in Athens (2004) and at the Cultural Olympiad in Beijing China (2007). In his own music, Spyridakis expands the vocabulary of traditional playing with modern techniques and creates a contemporary and unique world of sound. His concert-activities took him to Greece, Cyprus, UK, USA, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Argentina, Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, China, Turkey, and Egypt. Beside releasing CDs with his own ensemble Palaiina Seferia, he appeared in many recordings of Greek and international artists and soundtracks. Spyridakis also teaches cretan lyra in conservatories in Greece and Cyprus.
www.facebook.com/zspyridakis
Photo: Matheos Contarinis