Bands
Toini & the Tomcats
Toini & the Rock’n’Roll Allstars are looking forward to the vibrant and wonderful atmosphere of the
Kardamili International Jazz Festival, bringing this generous village and visitors close together in the
love of music!
It’s all rock’n’roll for jazz, C&W, rockabilly, and blues – for Norwegian bandleader, artist, singer, and songwriter Toini Knudtsen. She finds inspiration in vintage music and gives it her spin with fabulous musicians
from the Norwegian rock/surf/American/blues scene. Toini & the Rock’n’Roll Allstars set out to
have a good time with their favorite songs and give it their all to fire up the crowd at the Kardamili
International Jazz Festival – now for the fourth time!
Toini’s band Toini & the Tomcats are internationally acclaimed with multiple tours in Europe and the
US, 6 album releases and new music soon to come. She also leads a C&W project, Toini &a Rio Bravo,
also working on a full album.
The Batchelors of Jazz
EDGE
EDGE is an enthusiastic Dutch trio with 3 impressive singers. They have all types of music in their repertoire; from the sixties swing to the nineties pop. Because of this versatility, EDGE will make every party a great success.
EDGE (Elly, Dineke, and GErda) have known each other for more than 20 years and have sung in various choirs and ensembles for years due to their passion for music and singing. They won several singing competitions in the Netherlands. Although Edge doesn’t have a live band in Kardamili, their tape-accomplished performance will no doubt bring a smile to you face.
Blue Shades
Blue Shades (known in Norway as Blått & Godt) is a critically acclaimed, experienced music group from Moss, with a distinctive musical style: smooth, blue, and funky. They often choose cover songs that are slightly off the beaten track, featuring artists such as Ida Sand, Little Feet, Hamilton Loomis, Torsten Goods, Jeff Cascaro, Karen Souza, Malene Mortensen, Silje Nergaard, and many more.
Their performances typically create a swinging, laidback, and pleasant atmosphere, showcasing outstanding vocal performances, captivating guitar solos, elegant, yet raw keyboard riffs, and dynamic, creative grooves. The band continues to receive highly positive feedback from their audiences.
Musicians: Jon Baarud, guitar and vocals, Lise Jegleim, lead vocal, Rolf Mostrøm, bass, Arild Pettersen, drums, Egil Jegleim, keys.
Give Blue Shades a listen. You might even find yourself tapping your foot as their music has a way of drawing everyone in!
GISELLE & FRIENDS
Artists:
Giselle (UK)
Giselle (Minns) has spent over 20 years performing as a professional singer on stages across the world. She is a multi-award-winning singer, songwriter, and pianist. Her work includes performances with artists such as Jose Carreras (The Three Tenors) and the BBC Concert Orchestra for BBC Radio 2. She has appeared on Canadian Radio Canadian TV (CBC), and British Television (BBC), and won Talent Rock’s Top Female Vocalist Award, where she performed live on U.S. Television. She has won over 20 songwriting awards for her 2008 album Turning Circles and Marquis Records (under EMI Records) released another of Giselle’s songs worldwide called “The Key”.
Ben (UK)
Ben’s musical journey has taken many turns. From orchestras and brass bands to folk, rock, tributes, and trance, he just loves to play to an appreciative or bemused audience. After hearing Ben sing, Pope John Paul 2 asked him if he had ever thought about a career in football.
Hanna (Finland)
Hanna Pakkala grew up in a alive and flourishing folk music scene in Ostrobothnia, Finland. A former principal violist with the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, she now freelances with both baroque and modern ensembles while teaching viola at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. Hanna enjoys collaborating across genres and art forms, and she views music as a powerful meditative tool – especially in the mountains of beautiful Mani.
Steve (UK)
Steve Hopwood Steve first picked up a brass instrument at the age of 12 and learned to play in his local village brass band in the Holme Valley, West Yorkshire. Brass bands have been part of his musical life ever since, playing euphonium and baritone for over 40 years.
Giselle & Friends is based in the Peloponnese, Greece. The group has arranged pop, classical, and music theatre styles to create an at times emotional, at times uplifting, and definitely an exciting musical experience.
ElectroSocks
The ElectroSocks have prepared for you a live music extravaganza and ecstatic entertainment featuring all the No1 hits from the decades of the best pop music ever written! The ultimate vintage party band challenges you to resist dancing to one success after another that shone on the charts in an unforgettable live experience! The pop hits, Greek and foreign, that made you dance, laugh, fall in love, are all here: 70s, 80s, 90s pop hits, all in a thunderous playlist full of energy and a bombardment of memories! ElectroSocks: The band you always waited for, but never expected
Barefoot Rock ‘n’ Blues
Chris – Guitar, vocals
Steve – Drums, vocals
Guy – Bass
Barefoot Rock ‘n’ Blues are an English band, permanent residents of the Greek Mani, playing a wide selection of Rock 'n Roll covers spanning from the 1960’s to the present day – Beatles, Rolling Stones, REM, Killers, David Bowie Pink Floyd etc. They have played twice at the Kardamyli International Jazz Festival and perform regularly over the summer months around Stoupa. Winter months are spent rehearsing in their mountainside studio.
Feast For Fools
Feast For Fools is a brass band from Sarpsborg, Norway. The band was started in 2011 and plays world music and popular music with jazz inspired arrangements. The band consists of seasoned musicians who have a long track record in various projects. The band has recently released the single “Circus” which has been played on Norwegian National Radio and is available to stream where you listen to music!
7-8 SUCH ONES
- 7-8 Sånne is a versatile band that plays a mix of traditional jazz, fusion, and jazz rock.
- The band was formed by chance in the spring of 2024 and is aiming high.
- We are passionate musicians who love to explore different styles and create unique music.
- The musicians, based in Østfold, Norway, have extensive experience and have each lived partly as freelance musicians, both locally and nationally, in various contexts for many years.
- Traditional Jazz:
- We start with the classic jazz style, inspired by legends like Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.
- Swinging rhythms, improvisation, and delightful melodies are the core of our traditional jazz.
- Fusion:
- Next, we move into the fusion territory.
- Here, we combine jazz with elements of rock, funk, and electronic music.
- Energy, complexity, and creative arrangements characterize our fusion music.
- Jazz Rock:
- Finally, we take you into the world of jazz rock.
- Powerful guitar riffs, funky bass lines, and complex time signatures are the hallmarks.
- We love to experiment and push the boundaries in this genre.
- Liv Renate Elnes (vocals): Delivers the most beautiful tones in various styles.
- Espen Christoffersen (trumpet): Espen gives us the highest notes and outstanding solos.
- Tommy Bakkelund (trumpet): Tommy handles his trumpet steadily with a soft tone.
- Gard Eriksen (saxophones): Gard provides silky smooth saxophone melodies.
- Oddur Joensen (guitar): Oddur jazzes and rocks the guitar with his delightful playing.
- Stein Arne Rimehaug (keyboard): Stein Arne adds harmonies and atmosphere with his keyboard playing.
- Anders Amundsen (bass): Anders is the heart of the rhythm and gives the band a solid, groovy foundation.
- Piet Gulbrandsen (percussion & flute): Piet handles both rhythms and gives us beautiful flute playing.
- Svein Tore Pedersen (drums): Svein Tore keeps the beat and provides driving drumming.
Terje Kinn’s Bluegrass Meltdown
REIDAR LARSEN & his BLUES BUDDIES
Reidar Larsen took pianolessons from an early age, and became member of his first band during the winter of 1968-69, and has played keys in a lot of different bands and projects since then. From around the same time the British blues boom caught his interest, and led him to search deeper and deeper into the blues and related styles. This was the basis for Stavanger Jazzclub asking him to do some blues concerts at the club from 1979-80 and onwards. At the club he was also asked to join visiting blues artists like Alexis Corner and Dana Gilespie, to mention just a few, and eventually working both with his own band projects and with visiting guests from US and UK – like Lowell Fulson, Peter Green, Mike Vernon (produced Reidar´s 2. Album in UK 1984), Louisiana Red, Ann Sinclair & The Spirit of Love Singers (incl. live album from Cotton Club, NYC 1994), Roy Rogers (incl. studio album “Crossing” 2006) etc.,
To mention just a few again… not to mention all his cooperation with Norwegian collegues…
The Blues Buddies is not a “regular” band, but musical friends from different times and settings during Reidar´s long and winding musical history.
Alf Terje Hana have been a guitarist and founding member of different bands & projects from about the same time as Reidar started, and they have played together on and off in some of these. Alf Terje have for many years built his own record and live projects with people like Gary Husband and Stewart Copeland, released 20 celebrated albums as artist ATHANA, earning international acclaim for his instrumental music.
Roald Brekke has been a bass player in a lot of bands from the Stavanger region for about 45 years, studied jazz at the “Stavanger music conservatory” and alternating between jazz and bluesbands, touring and recording with both Eric “Slim” Zahl and Reidar.
Arne R. Skognes is a highly respected drummer from the Trondheim region, working with a lot of bands and projects during the years, and a regular member of Jolly Jumper & The Jimbo Jambo band in concerts and on records.
Kjell Inge “Jolly Jumper” Fisher Brovoll is a singer and blues harp player for a long time – and the head of Blues in Hell festival. See more details under “Jolly Jumper & Big Moe”.
Hanne Stølen is Reidar´s youngest daughter. She did one year of classical singing training at Toneheim school in Hamar, Norway, and have been singing in different choirs for many years. She will do a few solo numbers, and join as duet partner and background singer on some of the songs.
There might be some additional guest as well, we´ll see what happens…
Skage, Bekken ("Bald, Broke and Bitter")
A new musical powerhouse is emerging! Acclaimed guitarist Arne Skage, virtuoso pianist Tor Einar “DR” Bekken, have joined forces to form an exciting new trio that is set to make its mark on the Norwegian music scene.
With deep roots in blues, Americana, and improvisational music, the trio offers a unique musical experience where tradition meets innovation. Arne Skage is well known for his work with artists such as Reidar Larsen and Eriksen, has lately emerged as a solo artist with a voice and guitar playing that leaves a lasting impression. Tor Einar “DR” Bekken is one of Norway’s leading pianists in New Orleans blues and boogie-woogie, captivating audiences for years with his energetic playing style. Knut Hem is an experienced drummer and multi-instrumentalist with a background spanning roots, folk, and country music, bringing a solid rhythmic foundation to the trio.
The new trio will debut during the Kardamili Jazz festival. With a unique blend of bluesy fonk with a jazz spontaneity, and folk storytelling, this promises to be a musical journey you do not want to miss!
The Daisy Sisters
Odd Schlocks
Odd Schlocks is anewband whereklezmermeets jazz,led by clarinettist andsaxophonistDaniel Mawson.The group draws its inspiration from the cultural melting pot of the early twentieth century. Yiddish dance melodies of Eastern traditional, swing, and the tunes of Tin Pan Alley, with traditional arrangements and modern fusion thrown in for good measure: perhaps it isa‘Freylekhin Schving’, or a‘Broadway Bulgar’, orYiddishTheatre Jazz Standard. With a little bit from here and a little bit from there, one person ’slock is another person’s treasure. Odd Schlocks brings together musicians from the traditional jazz bandMonoChromatixandklezmer fusiongroupsAmid the Mirk Over the IrkandKlezmer Klassica.All musicians are alumni of the University of Manchester Music Department, where Daniel and Richard now teach klezmer
Daniel Mawson Clarinet
George Bingham Guitar/Percussion
Richard Fay Horn
Sam Gee Keys/Percussion
Sophie Sully Bass Guitar
Good Rockin' Dave
Red Miles
Red Miles’ journey began in the early 80s when Antonis
Kountouris (drums) and Spyros Avramiotis (keyboards)
collaborated on various local projects in Nea Smyrni, Athens.
Today, the band lineup boasts a dynamic ensemble, including
Dimitris Katsantonis (Vocals/Bass), Casy Lazari (Vocals), Eva
Vassiliadi (Vocals), Stavros Solomos (Guitar), and Costas Aloukos
(Percussion), Nikos Kastritseas saxophone. Blending elements of soul, jazz rock, Latin, and
blues, Red Miles captivates audiences throughout Athens' vibrant
live music scene. Their debut appearance at the Kardamily Jazz
Festival promises an unforgettable experience.
A TWIST OF COLE
Nat King Cole peaked his career more than 60 years ago but his music and divine voice still remain in our memories. «A Twist of Cole» presents highlights from that period including romantic ballads and elegant swing.
The quartet’s vocalist presents a musical à la carte also telling stories from Coles’s adventurous life.
Børge Tronrud: voice and sax
Rune Klakegg: piano
Edvard Askeland: bass
Espen Rud: drums
Jolly Jumper & Big Moe
This fabulous blues duo has existed for 32 years and they still kick’ ass. The harp and guitar has been a traditional format in the blues history, and they are giving you the best of what they consider is the best of the acoustic blues tradition. Their music goes back to the 1920’s, 30’s, 40’s & 50’s. Jumper and Moe play in different styles like the Mississippi slide or harp style, or the sweet Piedmont way of guitar picking. We can find memories of Blind Blake, Mississippi John Hurt, Bo Carter, Leadbelly, Lightning Hopkins, Blind Willie McTell, Bukka White, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, BB King, Mississippi Sheiks, The Memphis Jug Band, Robert Johnson, and many of the old timers in their music. Jolly Jumper & Big Moe have won great recognition at the European festival and club scenes with shows in England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Greece, Latvia, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Cech. Republic, Poland, Bosnia i Hercegovina, a. s. o…., and their live shows always got superb revues. Jolly Jumper & Big Moeplays instruments like the harps, 6 & 12 string guitars, national steel, the mandolin, foot stomp and whatever that`s got strings on. They also use a lot off strange things as percussion, and of course, they both do the vocals. Jolly Jumper & Big Moe comes from mid-Norway, from Hell. This is the home of the Blues in Hell Festival. The Jumper and Moe have a great act, it is like a history lesson, and it is always a very humorous one! They have also played a lot in schools, both in history and music classes.
Hege Saugstad band
Hege Saugstad band in Kardamili 2024
This band is put together for this festival. But we know each other well.
We are so lucky to have Sara Elise Forsell as our guest this year!
Ole Petter Hansen Chylie is a Norwegian drummer. Chylie has been a professional drummer since 1982, and is still a very active musician.
He started playing drums when he was approx. 9 years old.
He is a member of Dream Police, Midnight Rose, The Gang, Tante Gørild’s Hobby Orchestra, among a lot of freelance jobs. He was also a permanent member of the band in the TV program Beat for Beat for a number of years until 2019
Ole Petter has appeared as a drummer in over 500 TV shows, and participates in over 100 record recordings. He has a great recordingstudio in Fredrikstad.
Anders Amundsen bass player
Anders is also from Fredrikstad, Norway. He has a great music heart, and there`s a lot of music lovers in his family.
His father Roger, the pianist, brought him along to the musical stage with his friends. Here they have a lot to do in the summertime, thousands of people are coming each year to hear, laught and enjoy the show. He also play with his sister here in Kardamili, Frides quartet
Roger Amundsen Piano and keys
Roger the pianoman, is also a great songwriter, he writes for children, for band, funk, pop and easylisning jazz. Roger is the proud owner of a really nice studio in Fredrikstad. Everybody who sing, write or play have been to this lovley place on earth.
You will feel inspired and happy right away
Roger, Hege and Ole Petter is also in a brand new band who write songs together, the band is called Midnight Rose, this is pop – country style music.
Hege Saugstad has been singing since she was very young. She was discovered in 1998 at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival, by Randi Hultin, she knew everybody!
This opened doors that resulted in many missions. During her career, two albums have been released. “Nå” (2012) and “Drømmesang” (2017), some singels in english.
Hege has collaborated with some great musicians over the years. (Arne Domnerùs, Putte Wickman, Elloitt Randall great composer, giarist SteelyDan, Dooby brothers ect
Last year they gave out the first album from Midnight Rose.
She works as a music teacher for small children, and in the old city church in Fredrikstad were she also lives.
Sara Elise Forsell
Sara is an unusually skilled, dynamic and expressive vocalist known from her own band and many other contexts. In recent years, she has released several jazz-inspired songs, played at several jazz festivals and is constantly visiting the genre in her jazz/soul/blues repertoire.
She has been to Kardamili with her band, and with Chris Grant, but this year she will be our guest, and who knows maybe others!
Ed Hoppwood with Good Rockin Dave and friends
THREE TOURISTS
Yes, Three Tourists are once again on a swinging holiday in Greece. The trio keeps the foot
tapping to the jazz classics we all love. Allow yourself both to speed up and get lazy while
you breathe the summer breeze of Kardamili.
Jan Inge Melsæter: voice and trombone
Børge Tronrud: voice and saxophones
Harald Skogli: keys
SuperCharger Duo
Eirik S. Tveten – piano, Ernst Wiggo Sandbakk – drums and percussion
With roots from New Orleans!
What happens when a senior drummer and a young piano talent find together in a hard-swinging mixture of ragtime, boogie-woogie, jazz, and blues? The heat gets on, and it almost catches fire! The new constellation Supercharger Duo is ready for the world!
Eirik is from Tønsberg and has recently finished his studies at the NTNU Jazz program. He lives in Trondheim and plays boogie-woogie, ragtime and blues, and has studied the masters before him, such as Oscar Peterson, Erroll Garner, and Professor Longhair. This kid is full of energy, and swings hard!
The well-grown drummer Ernst Wiggo Sandbakk has marked Trondheims musical life for about 45 years. He has been a session musician in studios for musicians like DumDum Boys, Hans Rotmo, Henning Sommerro, a teacher at NTNU Jazz program (where the duo met in the first place), and also head of Trondheim Jazzfestival.
These shows fit just as well as a matinee as it does with late night, and we can target the entertainment towards elderly people or young people. If it’s wanted, we can invite a guest soloist up on stage, or happily hold a seminar/course for young talents. Dance clubs like Lindy Hop, boogie woogie, and Swing will love Supercharger Duo.
Pompeii
Pompeii is a jazz quartet from Oslo, Norway featuring Ingeborg Sollid (vocals), Jørgen Bjelkerud (trombone), Ola Erlien (guitar), and Gard Kronborg (bass). With no drums in the lineup, the group creates an open and distinctive sound rooted in their shared love for the jazz standard répertoire and improvisational musical interplay.
Chris Grant Group & Sara Elise Forsell
Chris Grant Group & Sara Elise Forsell is led by Chris Grant, a pianist/singer, song writer and record artist from Norway.
David Friedman - Rob Waring Duo
Both are former New Yorkers who have settled in Europe – Friedman in Berlin, Waring in Oslo. Both studied classical percussion at the renowned Juilliard School in New York and have established themselves as versatile, creative musicians with a classical foundation and a penchant for improvisation. Both are distinguished by their extensive compositional work. As a duo, they have developed an exciting repertoire for vibraphone and marimba with lyrical expression, dynamic rhythms and a unique sound palette. This is chamber music at the highest level, characterized by intensity and playful spontaneity.
The duo’s instruments – vibraphone and marimba – are keyboard instruments in the percussion family, with bars made of metal and wood. David Friedman says he has always been interested in exploring how to make a hunk of metal or wood sound like the human voice.
The collaboration and friendship between David Friedman and Rob Waring has resulted in the unique chamber music style that can be heard in their concerts and on their newly released album Wayfarers. The telepathy between them when playing and the fusion of their experiences as composers and improvisers lead to a form of music that is both contemplative and spontaneous, serious and playful. The sound paletteof vibraphone and marimba is a colorful and fascinating experience for the ear.
Singers
Tricia Boutté
In New Orleans, musical families are an important part of the social fabric. Tricia Boutté is the next generation of a long line of talented New Orleans performers. The niece of the international jazz vocalist Lillian Boutté and versatile vocalist John Boutté.
At the age of 5, she began musical training in piano, violin and slide trombone, but began to concentrate on vocal music at age 15 and started her education in music studying for over 15 years under greats like Ellis Marsalis,
Harry Connick, Jr, Ed Peterson and Germaine Bazzle before earning her DMA, doctoral academic degree in musical arts. Before the age of 18 she began to perform with New Orleans’ jazz legends.
Her repertoire covers jazz, standards, R B, pop, soul, gospel and Caribbean music. She was a background singer for many years with Allen Toussaint, multiple Grammy winner and inductee of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which led to an active career as studio vocalist for many top performers. Over the past several years, Tricia has had the pleasure of being on stage or in the studio with some of our world’s greatest performers; Allen Toussaint, The Neville Brothers, Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, D’Angelo, Ellis Marsalis, Paul Simon, Bonnie Raitt, The Headhunters, Aretha Franklin, Irma Thomas, Dr. John, Steel Pulse, Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, Fats Domino, Public Enemy, Shaggy, Eric B. & Rakim, Galactic, Eazy E NWA, Ytre Suløens Jass Ensemble (Norway) and the list goes and grows on.
Natalie Aldema Trio
Natalie is a trained jazz vocalist from the conservatory in Trondheim. After many great and educational projects in several styles and dice roll 5 for her indie debut album in the Norwegian newspaper Dagsavisen, Natalie found her own expression in the jazz jungle with her warm sonorous voice, sings playfully with a personal sound and strong lyrical expressiveness. The Kardamili trio edition consists of Thor Kristian Rasmussen, a big jazz lover and amateur pianist, music teacher and manschoir director from Flekkefjord and Edvard Askeland from Bergen known for contributing the Norwegian broadcast orchestra, the jazz groups Cutting Edge and also as head of the Oslo Jazz Festival through more then a decade. They will be performing a selection of their favorite jazz standards and bossa novas for you to dream away in musical elegance with.
Paal Flaata
Through a recording career that stretches back more than 25 years – the last 20 of them as a solo artist – Paal has astonished those around him with a voice that seems out of this world.
Oscar King
Musicians
Stefanos Stefos
I was born in Athens and my first contact with music was at the age of 6 as a student of classical guitar. I completed my studies in guitar as well as in music theory. Afterwards, I became involved with many genres of music, as a musician and singer. I have been living in Kardamyli since 2010 and along with other musicians, we focus on rembetiko and folk songs. I sing and play guitar, baglamas, mandolin, lute and bouzouki.