Georgios Anamateros

Georgios T. Anamateros (alias Anamateur) works in Athens both as a free-lance civil engineer and as an entertainer who expresses himself through the jazz idiom of the 20's and 30's. His love for performing the popular jazz standards of that period, as a pianist and vocalist, dates since the early days, thanks mainly to his father's influence. Classical music training during youth at various Greek conservatories developed his skills, but was unable to support his creativity, therefore reaching his teenage years, he decided to go ahead alone, by teaching himself through the work of musicians and performers that he admired. Between 1995 and 2000 he studied civil engineering in the Université de Liège and then worked as a seismic engineering researcher in Rome and Lisbon. It was in Lisbon that he made his artistic debut (June 2002), by appearing regularly in front of a specialized jazz audience, at Manuel Pais' "Catacumbas Jazz Bar". His acquaintance there with 23-year old Petra, a frequenter whose inherited voice from Angola was never exploited before, marked the beginning of his first musical collaboration. JAM sessions with patient friend and teacher Filipe Melo (p) were an enormous benefit to him, as well as his participation as an actor to the acclaimed theatrical adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's "Little Tales of Misogyny" by the prestigious "Cão Solteiro" company and the awarded gore movie "I'll see you in my dreams" by Pato Profissional Lda. Gradually Anamateur established himself as an entertainer of the Lisbon scene and had the joy to participate in various jazz concerts with such distinguished musicians as João Alberto Cunha (tp), Eduardo Lála (tb), Luis Cunha (tb), Anthony John Wheeldon (g) and more recently Claus Nymark (tb) and Pedro Carvalho (dr). His experience continued to be enriched after his return to Greece. In 2006, he formed "Anamateur & Pros", small combos that managed within a short period to have a growing presence in Athens' nightlife, featuring such jazz pros of Athens' scene as Stamatis Stamatakis (cb), Dimitris Klonis (dr), Georgios Daphnos (g), Dimitris Karayiannis (cl), Panayiotis Raptis (sax), Nasia Gkofa (voc), Pavlos Triantafyllides (tb) and Markos Tomaras (cb, voc). In April of 2009, after a beneficial half-year stay in London, Anamateur wrote the script and songs of his first jazz musical play, "One doubt arose in the mind of a noble vigilante"©, a love story of passion and suspense! Its avant-premiere took place in October of 2009 in Lisbon, featuring alongside Anamateur, an all-star artistic team: Marta Hugon (voc), Mario Franco (b), Pedro Carvalho (dr) and Marinela (tap dancing). Premiere in Athens is planned to take place in February of 2011.