Greg Georgiades Online

Welcome to Greg Georgiades Online!

It is a pleasure to welcome you to the official 'Greg Hadjiyorki Georgiades' website...a site filled with interesting facts and a variety of musical content representing Greg's wide approach to music through the use of stringed instruments including electric guitars, steel string acoustic guitar, nylon string flamenco guitar, bouzouki, oud (North African fretless lute), oudtar (hybrid guitar/oud cross) and sarod (fretless steel string Indian classical instrument).

There are also examples of this adventurous attitude in the many collaborations that Greg has been involved with over the years up to the present. These include recordings on both CD and DVD of his own compositions and stylistic contributions on many of South Africa's top artist releases including works by Simphiwe Dana, Miriam Makeba, Madala Kunene, Jeff Maluleke, McCoy Mrubata, Velli Shabangu, Choppa, Tony Cox, Syd Kitchen, Thapelo Khomo, Anna Davel, The Aquarian Quartet, The Jazz Hounds, The Mutant Harmony Trio, The Sur Bandits, Ashish Joshi, Marc Duby, Strings & Skins and metal group Not My Dog.

Greg, accompanied by Ashish Joshi on tabla and percussion, has also done some really interesting live work with DJ acts such as Crushed & Sorted, DJ Bob in Decks Strings & Skins, as well as The Blunted Stuntman in shows around South Africa.

Greg has further contributed to the South African music scene by performing live with many of the artists listed above and also with international names such as French trumpeter ERIC TRUFFAZ, Indo-French sitarist BRIGITTE MENON with her group MUKTA, FETHI TABET the Algerian oud player and vocalist, French alternative jazz group NO JAZZ, renowned USA guitarist BOB BROZMAN, and RENE LACAILLE of Reunion.

Feel free to wander around the site and enjoy what is on offer from a visual and musical point of view. There is also the opportunity of ordering music CD's/DVD's or just enjoy the window shopping experience while finding out more about this 'evergreen' contributor to the Southern African music scene for the last 30 years.
'FUN & SPIRIT!'

Newsletter Summer 2010

Submitted by admin on Mon, 11/22/2010 - 13:39.

Greg's News

Time for a refresher on my observations of the ongoing music life as I have been experiencing it…. Firstly I’ve been made aware of the fact that music must be one of the art forms most under pressure to be more like this ..or maybe a bit more like that….whatever…. the musician is more often, not so subtly, pushed into delivering industry defined styles, approaches and compositions, than most other artists and thus has to really stand up for himself and his art. One does not often find people going up to a sculptor or painter and asking them to rather produce birdbaths and still life pictures of bowls of fruit (but only of bananas and lemons please). The commodity that music has become has all but eliminated the ‘magic’ of creativity which seems to have been swamped with marketing strategies and other more serious stuff.

A further influential factor is the ‘software’ available, that enables anyone to choose from huge libraries of samples and loops and ‘make up’ remarkably good imitations of real music. This in turn has led to a generation of less than accomplished musicians that can hardly play an instrument without the necessary ‘backtracks’ and techno wizardry. ….and this, further still, seems to have lead us, more than ever before, into the ‘necessary sheep syndrome’ where audiences are ‘cultivated’ to buy into this scenario.
Well i’m not complaining…what with all those nice squeaky clean brainwashed minds just waiting to hear something real and organic. It’s like giving candy to a baby!..what a pleasure.

At the same time that I am having heaps of fun in dealing with this situation,..i’m still aware of competing in a type of reality show called ‘SURVIVOR MUSICIAN ISLAND’ where no one is supposed to sell out (themselves or others) but often do!
It is indeed exciting times especially with the arrival of the ‘hinternet’ to loosen the industry stranglehold. I see a light…let’s go see!

To the music and beyond….
Hey Ho Silver!