Hyperentasis is a double LP celebrating the unique connection between legendary saxophonist Akira Sakata and the city of Thessaloniki. Home to Defkaz Records and the birthplace of the Damianidis brothers, Thessaloniki has welcomed Sakata countless times. This release captures two of his landmark performances as a bandleader in the city.

The first LP features the group Entasis with Giovanni Di Domenico (upright piano), Giotis Damianidis (electric guitar), Petros Damianidis (double bass), and Aleksandar Škorić (drums). Recorded at Duende Upstairs on March 27, 2023, it's a psychedelic free jazz journey where Sakata's melodic saxophone lines and Di Domenico's distinctive piano patterns weave seamlessly with the atmospheric guitar of Damianidis and a strong bass–drums foundation.

The second LP documents the 2025 tour honoring Akira Sakata's 80th birthday. Recorded at Club Omilos on January 29, 2025, and presented by Duende Jazz Club, Sakata 80 brings together two powerhouse drummers—Norwegian Paal Nilssen-Love and Japanese Tatsuhisa Yamamoto—alongside the Damianidis brothers, forming an electrifying quintet around the unstoppable Sakata. The music shifts between intense, tightly-packed climaxes and unpredictable, organic explorations, with the drummers' energy ranging from massive power to subtle percussive nuance, pushing the performance toward its ultimate destination: "Hyperentasis."

These two LPs are inseparable pieces of the same musical puzzle: the first sets the stage for the second, with the entire journey from Entasis to Hyperentasis spanning 90 minutes of pure, immersive free jazz.

''The first album features the quintet Entasis (tension in Greek) with Italian pianist Giovanni Di Domenico (on upright piano), the Damianidis brothers, and Serbian Aleksandar Škorić. This quintet (with Greek drummer Stephanos Chytiris) recorded the double album Live in Europe 2022 (Trost, 2023), featuring two pieces recorded at Duende Jazz Upstairs in Thessaloniki in April 2022. Škorić joined for its performance in Brussels. The first album of Hyperentasis was recorded at the same location in March 2023. It features the Entasis quintet in a mostly atmospheric, collective free jazz mood, following Sakata’s introspective melodic themes and charismatic vocals on the traditional, bluesy «I Atsumori No Saigo II Kaigara-Bushi». Giotis Damianidis’ effects-laden electric guitar cements the psychedelic spirit of this performance.
The second album was recorded almost two years later, with a different quintet – the Damianidis brothers from Entasis, Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love (who plays with Sakata in the Arashi trio), and Japanese drummer Tatsuhisa Yamamoto (who recorded before with Sakata and Di Domenico), Sakata performed in Thessaloniki’s Club Omilos in January 2025, in a tour celebrating his 80th birthday. The powerhouse drummers keep this performance in an ecstatic, fiery, and electrifying mode, eager for risk-taking and unpredictable, organic explorations, with Sakata in an explosive, soulful top form. This quintet has a massive, hyperentasis sound and dynamics that seek cathartic climaxes. Within its three extended free improvisations, it also explores its lyrical side and subtle percussive nuances. Sakata plays bells and vocals, mirroring the subtle percussive work of Nilssen-Love and Yamamoto at the beginning of the third piece.
A great way to celebrate a great musician and free improviser.''

Eyal Hareuveni

Japanese free jazz legend Akira Sakata and Greek avant-garde guitarist Giotis Damianidis present Adyton, their first-ever duo recording. Having collaborated since 2018, the two musicians have developed an intuitive and electrifying musical dialogue, culminating in this live performance at Haekem, Brussels—the final concert of a two-week tour with Entasis in September 2023.

Sakata, who turned 80 on February 21st, 2024, delivers his signature fiery alto saxophone, evocative clarinet, expressive voice, and resonant bells, while Damianidis expands the sonic spectrum with textural guitar and effects, weaving a dynamic interplay between structure and chaos.

Titled after the "Adyton"—the innermost, most sacred part of an ancient temple—this album invites listeners into a raw, unfiltered space of musical exploration, where spontaneous energy and deep-rooted tradition converge. A testament to Sakata’s lifelong commitment to improvisation and Damianidis’ boundary-pushing approach to guitar, Adyton is a powerful, transcendental journey into the unknown.

Edition of 200

Those recordings were taken from a two week tour in the Balkans in March 2024, 11 concerts in 8 cities:
16.03: Giapi, Thessaloniki / Θεσσαλονίκη, Greece
17.03: JaZzy, Skopje / Скопје, Republic of North Macedonia
19.03: Ciglana, Belgrade / Београд, Serbia
20.03: Strogi Centar, Belgrade / Београд, Serbia
21.03: Kvaka 22, Belgrade / Београд, Serbia
22.03: CK13, Novi Sad / Нови Сад, Serbia
23.03: Jazzire, Subotica / Суботица, Serbia
25.03: SKC Kragujevac, Kragujevac / Крагујевац, Serbia
26.03: Tam (Alarma Punk Jazz), Veliko Tarnovo / Велико Търново, Bulgaria
27.03: Singles (Alarma Punk Jazz), Sofia / София, Bulgaria
28.03: Gaba Bar (Alarma Punk Jazz), Sofia / София, Bulgaria

Back at the end of 2023, Giotis Damianidis and Aleksandar Škorić, while finishing their tour with Entasis, began talking and dreaming about a tour of the Balkans—starting from Thessaloniki
(Damianidis’s hometown) and heading north to Novi Sad (Škorić’s hometown).

Next came deciding the lineup. John Dikeman on saxophone and Petros Damianidis on double bass were the obvious choices, as Škorić, Dikeman, and the Damianidis brothers have worked together for many years.

On March 16th, 2024, the tour was ready to begin: 11 concerts in 8 different cities, from Thessaloniki to Subotica and back—across Greece, Serbia, North Macedonia, and Bulgaria. This CD captures the raw, live energy of the quartet during their 2024 Balkan tour, including their very first show in Thessaloniki and one of the final performances in Kragujevac. It's a vivid documentation of the music played by four improvisers—a perfect time capsule showcasing the
evolution and magic of improvised music. Play loud and enjoy!

Recorded on a Zoom H6 during live sets at Giapi (Thessaloniki) and in Kragujevac (Serbia), and mastered by Lasse Marhaug.

Artwork by Jeroen Wille.

The cover is an ode to all our favorite live records of the '70s and '80s!

Review of the Giapi live set was written by Fotis Nikolakopoulos and appeared on The Free Jazz blog (https://www.freejazzblog.org/2024/03/john-dikemanaleksandar-skoricgiotis.html)

Issued on noise-below as a part of a series of recordings which are issued annually on June the 17th

Recorded live on the 2nd of February 2024
at Jazz Spot Candy, Chiba, Japan by Kosuke Kohashi

Despite the geographic distance and a 40-year age difference, Japanese pianist Masahiko Satoh and Greek guitarist Giotis Damianidis are kindred souls in a certain sense, each possessing a keen understanding of
how improvised music can magically erase such boundaries. Thousand Leaves captures their very first meeting in 2024.

While Satoh sticks with an acoustic piano and Damianidis embraces an amplified guitar sound closer to rock music than jazz, they reveal a strong rapport, entwining, colliding, and considering how their very distinctive threads fit together, in real time. Even as the guitarist produces flinty sparks, distortion, and effects-driven bends and swoop, Satoh’s quicksilver improvisations manage to draw upon a separate set of modalities, his elegant playing steeped in classical music cadences as much as post-bop runs.