12th Paradise Jazz Festival

The 12th Paradise Jazz Festival is going to take place from the 29th of July until 6th of August 2011 in Pomos at the venue of Paradise Place. Two Fridays & Saturdays full of good Jazz music, where 7 bands (28 musicians) are going to perform, and a musician's workshop on Sunday the 31st.

This year's musical celebration will start on Friday 29th of July at 9.30pm with the ‘Trio Smiles’ accompanied by Polish singer Gabriela Kozyra and flautist Eleonora Rousou.

The trio was formed in 2003 by Stelios Papazoglou (Greece) on guitar, Andrea Rodosthenous on bass and Rodos Panayiotou on drums. They will be performing a tribute to the great music of JOYCE (who is one of the great musical treasures of Brazil. Combines Brazilian rhythms, jazz harmonies and intelligent lyrics).
€10 the night

On Saturday 30th of July, the night starts at 9pm with the 'Ofer Ganor Quartet’.

One of the greatest Jazz Masters, Ofer Ganor, will be in Cyprus with a star studded lineup featuring some of the finest musicians on the island. Ganor is a multi award winner and recording artist and has played and recorded with the likes of Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, James Moody and many others. Don't miss the opportunity to see this living legend in the flesh at Paradise Place during the '12th Paradise Jazz Festival'! Joining him on stage will be Irinaeos Koullouras on bass, George Koulas on drums and George Krasides on sax & clarinet.

The night continues with more big names! The well known Israeli drummer. Asaf Sirkis will perform with his Trio. They have played at many festivals around Europe, and have received rave reviews from magazines and other media. As individual artists they have made many recordings and performed with a great number of musicians. Asaf himself was one of the original members of Gilad's Atzmon band - The Orient House Ensemble - and he has recorded 7 albums with him. His Trio consists by Tasso Spiliotopoulos (Greece) on guitar and Yaron Stavi on bass. The concert starts at 11pm.
€15 the night (both groups)

On Friday 5th of August the night starts with ‘Tat-Nabar’. They were created by Lefteris Moschovias in Cyprus during the summer of 2000, and their goal is to break away from the usual musical trends, by utilizing anything but the usual musical instruments, with the source of their inspiration originating from the musical history of Africa. They are hymn singers, percussionists, healers, dancers, troubadours and only use self-made musical instruments from recycled materials.

Later in the night we present a band with a superb lineup. The 'Kafeney Houseband’ by Alkis Agathokleous on nei, Savvas Houvartas on guitar, George Koulas on drums & Andrea Rodosthenous on the bass. The aim of the band is musical communication and band improvisation using traditional and modern music together with original compositions. Their music elements contain explosive changes of motion thru a specific sound color and expressive freedom. The quartet is performing regularly at “Kafeney” in Limassol and soon are going to record their first album with original compositions. Joining them as a special guest at the festival will be vocalist Pavlina Konstantopoulou who will enrich the quartet's sound.

Together with ‘Tat-Nabar’ they will add a dynamic ethnic program for Friday night! €15 the night (both groups)

Saturday 6th of August at night starts with a band that Stelios Xydias is introducing to our festival called ‘Quarteto Nuevo’. Consisting of Mauricio Gomez- sax (Spain), Isaac Martin- guitar (Spain), Andrea Rodosthenous – bass and Stelios himself on drums. All the members of the band attended Rotterdam Conservatorium of Music in the Netherlands where they met. The music they play is mostly their original plus music from the traditional and modern jazz repertoire. The band members are very excited to be playing together since they are constantly searching for new paths to follow.

The 12th Paradise Jazz Festival will end with one of the most famous artists worldwide - saxophonist Tony Lakatos. He has performed as a saxophone soloist in numerous jazz/pop/rock recordings and concerts. Tony has played the saxophone on 350 LP/CD recordings as a leader or as a sideman. He will be joining the ‘Charis Ioannou Quartet’. Charis Ioannou will be on the alto sax, Ioannis Vafeas on drums, Marios Toumpas on keys & Mihalis Messios on bass.
€15 the night (both groups)