Jazz pianist Giorgi Mikadze shines in new musical productions

A Georgian jazz pianist now based in the United States (US) is celebrating his rise in popularity in the US music scene by teaming up with other top jazz artists for two creative musical projects.

While collaborating with New York’s Manhattan School of Music pianist Giorgi Mikadze impressed local music professionals with a diverse mix of genres for two recordings, titled Mushwanand Vices.

The two recordings, composed by Mikadze, were made with the Manhattan School of Music’s Jazz Philharmonic Orchestra.

The first of the two works featured a mix of folk music from Georgia's mountainous Svaneti region intertwined with African and classical music genres and was recorded in a session led by Grammy Award-winning US conductor Jim McNeely. The piece included a classical string orchestra as well as contemporary musical instruments.

See the Manhattan School of Music's Jazz Philharmonic Orchestra perform the piece 'Mushwan' by Giorgi Mikadze below:

Mikadze’s second project also involved the Jazz Philharmonic Orchestra however the resulting music was an entirely different style.

With rap lyrics by Ryan Easter combined with an expressive performance of classical symphony instruments, the piece represented the contemporary "trap music" genre that originated in the US in the early 1990s.

See a performance of 'Vices' featuring Ryan Easter, the Jazz Philharmonic Orchestra and Giorgi Mikadze below:

This was not the first time Mikadze and Easter have worked together. Previously the pair collaborated and produced a number of musical pieces, including a cover of a song by one of the world’s famous musicians, the late Michael Jackson.

Mikadze was the first Georgian to receive a Master's degree in Jazz Arts from the prestigious Manhattan School of Music earlier this year.

Last month the Georgian pianist was invited to perform alongside some of the biggest jazz names in a New York celebration marking International Jazz Day on April 30.

The young artist's global career was heavily supported by a financial contribution from the Georgian Government's International Education Centre (IEC), established in 2014 to fund the Master’s or doctoral study costs of Georgian citizens at leading international universities.

Mikadze, a 2014-2016 beneficiary of the IEC, also holds three Bachelor degrees in Classical Music, Composition and Performance from Tbilisi State Conservatory in Georgia and the Berkley College of Music in Boston, US.

In recent years he has performed with symphony orchestras in Berkley and in his hometown Tbilisi, Georgia, while he also served as Musical Director for Berkley’s tribute to famous American composer and producer Quincy Jones.