Banda Magda

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Image courtesy of Jamboree Jazz.

Led by Greek-born singer, accordionist, film scorer, and composer Magda Giannikou, Banda Magda moves from baiao to jazz manouche, from Greek dance rhythms to samba beats. Their songs, sung in French (with forays into six other languages), hearken back to the golden age of Brazilian bossa, the best of Cinematic arranging, and the lush chic of vintage French pop, all while drawing on the band’s global background.

As the long light of the summer solstice stretches itself across the hours, Banda Magda gathers to offer a first glimpse of For Summer, the forthcoming album whose songs seem already warmed by the season’s breath. In this moment of tilting sun and widening shadows, the ensemble becomes a small, luminous village: each voice, each gesture, each instrument participating in the quiet ceremony of welcoming what is new.

Composer, accordionist and vocalist Magdalini Giannikou (Greece) leads this group while the band forms a circle of rhythmic constellations: Miquel Alvarez (Spain) on bass vocals, Murph Aucamp (USA) and Marcelo Woloski (Argentina) on percussion, Joanna Kucharczyk (Poland) on piano and vocals, Marta Roma (Cataluña) on cello and vocals – their languages seem to converse like distant cousins meeting under the same generous sky.

Together, they summon the world of For Summer—a world where sunlight is not simply illumination but emotion; the performance is less a concert than a gentle unfolding, an invitation to stand still in the turning year and to let the music—bright, communal, quietly daring—carry us into the fullness of the season.

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