Pianist Giorgi Mikadze launches crowdfunding for first album

Georgian jazz pianist and Berklee College of Music graduate Giorgi Mikadze has launched a crowdfunding campaign to release his debut album.

Mikadze kick-started the campaign on the Indiegogo fundraising platform this week, announcing "I had a long musical journey and now [I am] ready to record my debut album”.

The innovative artist, who recently teamed up with esteemed musical artists for the Mikrojazz project exploring microtonality in jazz, said he looked to "combine Georgian folk music with contemporary musical styles” in his release.

Mikadze’s prospective album is also a nod to the microtonal experiment, being titled Georgian MicroJamZ.

The young pianist said he developed the recording during his three-month residency 18 Street Arts Centre venue in California as the winner of the Make Jazz Fellow program.

I explored microtonalities of traditional Georgian folk music and integrated those structures and tuning systems into new musical motifs and compositions”, said the artist in his summary of the album project.

In case of a successful crowdfunding campaign, Mikadze plans to collaborate with a group of artists including guitarist David Fiuczynski, with whom the Georgian pianist worked for the Mikrojazz project.

Grammy Award-nominated bassist Panagiotis Andreou and drummer Sean Wright will also be part of the team working on studio recording and other aspects of the album production.

Both digital downloads and physical copies of the album will be available to backers of the campaign in case of its successful conclusion.

The crowdfunding for the album is set to run for around one month and seeks to raise $12,000 for the release.

A graduate of the Berklee College of Music, Mikadze was selected to work as guest professor for the five-week Summer Performance Program of the college earlier this year.

He also holds a 2016 degree in jazz arts from New York's Manhattan School of Music, and in classical music, composition and performance from Tbilisi State Conservatoire in Georgia.

The young pianist has held a number of collaborations with fellow artists at both of his US-based schools that featured fusion of Georgian folk music with contemporary genres.

Last year Mikadze also became the first Georgian artist to sign with globally renowned musical instrument company Yamaha, joining a list of internationally acclaimed artists Alicia Keys, Chick Corea, Jamie Cullum and more.