George Kontrafouris (Piano)
Marc Halbheer (DRUMS)
Yiotis Kiourtsoglou (BASS/COMPOSITION )

About Lauenen

When greek bassist Yiotis Kiourtsoglou and swiss drummer Marc Halbheer met in Los Angeles (USA) in 1988, the endurancy of this friendship was not foreseeable to either of them.

Together with israeli guitarist Lior Yekutieli they founded the band EXIT in the early nineties. On numerous tours they developed into a unique rhythm-section, which was often described by critiques as "world class". EXIT produced two records ("Out of Noises" (97) and "In between Times" (00), for more information see www.texit.ch/exit).

Kiourtsoglou and Halbheer work together with constant regularity and inspiration for 15 years now.

In April 01, during a studio-session in Ahtens (GR), they produced the recordings for the current Live Show "Lauenen", together with the greek pianist and composer George Kontrafouris. The captured moods are moving between tradition, innovation and improvisation. The result is a thrilling mixture of jazz and the musical tradition of the Balkans

On their tour during 2001, this formation triggered great enthusiasm in the audience. Their phenomenal presence on stage is electrifying in any case. The band easily succeeds to make disappear the threshold between the stage and the public.