Alekos Syropoulos and Michael Malis are Greek Americans who grew up surrounded by Greek music and are also trained jazz musicians. Together they are exploring music that accommodates these seemingly divergent perspectives, incorporating jazz vocabulary into Greek music and Greek musical vocabulary into jazz music. Their hope is that their music illuminates new connections and new pathways into the future, while keeping an eye on their collective past.

Michael Malis is a jazz pianist and composer from the Detroit area. He graduated with distinction from the University of Michigan, where he studied jazz piano and English. While at UM, he had the pleasure of studying with the eminent jazz pianist Geri Allen. In 2008, he was a featured soloist at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, as part of their ongoing Conservatory Project.

Alekos Syropoulos began studying classical piano at the age of four and later made a transition to the alto saxophone when he was ten. Currently majoring in jazz studies for saxophone at UM, Alekos studies with Andrew Bishop, Ellen Rowe, and Geri Allen. As a performer, Alekos plays with several groups and ensembles, including the University of Michigan Jazz Ensemble, the Vincent Chandler Septet, the Paul Keller Jazz Orchestra, and his own group, Syropoulos Rex.

This monthly series, curated by UM Associate Professor Adam Unsworth, presents outstanding local artists in an intimate setting and is made possible by the Doris Sloan Memorial Fund.