In no particular order since 2003 George Mel is proud to feature this rotating pool of friends and amazing musicians:
Lionel Loueke - Nilon string electric guitar
Raed El-Khazen - Nilon string electric guitar & Oud-guitar
Steve Elliot - guitars
Manu Koch - Fender Rhodes electric piano/acoustic piano
Enrique Haneine - piano
Kevin Thomas - acoustic bass
Apostolos Sideris - acoustic bass
Will Woodard - ac. bass
Rodrigo Ursaia - saxes
Stephan Kammerer - saxes
Influences
Jazz , Brazilian music,Georgian folk music , American folk,pop,Classic rock,Classical Indian music , African popular and folk music, ..just to name a few musical genres I am into.
As a creator of my own music I am forever greatful to the following musical geniuses:Bach,Debussy,Led Zeppelin,Jimi Hendrix,Louis Armstrong,Thelonius Monk,Bill Evans,Joni Mitchell,Miles Davis,John Coltrane,Tony Williams, Dave Holland,Brian Blade,Antonio Carlos Jobim,Toninho Horta,Lionel Loueke,Keith Jarrett,Wayne Shorter,Herbie Hancock,Hariprasad Chaurasia,Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan,Frank Zappa, Hermeto Pascoal. Besides direct musical influences I am grateful for everything we get to experience in life (good, bad,ugly,marvelous, etc..), as it all shapes us into who we are , I believe.
Sounds Like
.....My "streams of conciousness".... You tell me...:-) It's Jazz for me 'cause we do improvise over 'the form'/song ,...but as Miles once said "..call it anything.."
George Mel has worked as a freelance drummer and percussionist in New York City since late 2000. While in New York, he has performed at such venues as Carnegie Hall; Blue Note, NYC; Zinc Bar, NYC; 55Bar, NYC; The Bitter End, NYC; Smalls, NYC;Smoke,NYC; The Deer Head Inn, Delaware Water Gap, PA; World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA; among others. Over the years George has played with such artists as Duane Eubanks (trumpet), Bob Rodriguez (piano), Mark Helias (bass), Leni Stern (guitar/voice), Valeri Ponomarev (trumpet), Avishai E.Cohen (trumpet), Emilio Solla (piano), Jesse Murphy (bass "Brazilian Girls"), John Ellis (sax), Raul Midon (guitar/voice), Wayne Escoffery (sax), Freddie Bryant (guitar), Edsel Gomez (piano), Nilson Matta (bass), Lionel Loueke (guitar), Craig Handy (sax), Badal Roy (tablas w/Miles Davis),Sergio Brandao(bass),Victor Prieto(accordeon), jazz clarinet legend Perry Robinson,Brazilian piano legend Dom Salvador, and countless other world class musicians.
Born George 'Gia' Melikishvili, George Mel is a native of Tbilisi, Georgia, where at a young age he taught himself to play the drums. Western music was seen by the communist establishment as subversive and George kept music as a hobby, quietly forming underground rockband Limousine with other forward thinking locals. The subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union brought an instant dissolution of the strict prohibitions on western culture and virtually overnight, Limousine found itself catapulted to national recognition. Limousine instantly graduated from the basement of a local university building to playing large concert halls, major rock festivals, and appearing on national radio and television. The fame was short-lived, though, as Georgia erupted into civil war shortly thereafter, pushing George to emmigrate to Holland, where he performed for several years as sideman to former EMI recording artist Wendy Sheridan and Walter Trout of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers among others. Years into life as a professional musician, George finally received his first formal musical education after being offered a scholarship to the famed Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA , going on to become the first Georgian-born musician to graduate with a degree in Jazz Performance in the United States. Upon graduating, George relocated to New York City, quickly establishing himself as an in-demand drummer. George released his first album as a leader and composer with 2004's Winding Road , which features six original compositions that reflect George’s deeply personal view that music should exist as a human expression of beauty and emotion through sound, rather than simply serving market-defined labels and conventional definitions, and Jazz in particular, as an improv and interplay on a winding road of unknowns that requires an open mind from both the artist and the listener. Featuring : Lionel Loueke - guitar, Stephan Kammerer - ten. sax, Manu Koch - Fender Rhodes, Kevin Thomas - ac. bass, George Mel - drums,frame drum,voice(track6) & composition.
For more info,selected reviews, and/or to purchase the Cd please visit www.georgemel.com
I love your work., and after reading your Bio and what it say's at the end I would like to suggest if you have time and maybe you have seen this before But, On my Blog there is something I think you'll Love. It's a speech given to a freshman class at Boston Conservatory about what and who we really are as musicians. so if you haven't already........ cheers Joani
Hi George: good jazz conceptions, great solos,amazing musicians¡¡ a like very much "time remebered", great pianist, good comunication between us. Eduardo Orestes Chile
hi george!thanks for your nice wishes, i hope see you soon, may be this july i will visit ny,and we can play again, will be a pleasure. i have been in thailand playing for 4 months, and now i'm in nasca peru for holydays. my best wishes for you juampy
