Vasilis Nalbantis
Vasilis Nalbantis is a Greek trumpet player, composer, producer, residing in Graz, Austria. Throughout his career he has studied and performed many different music styles but his main focus has been the bridging and merging of ‘’Western’’ and ‘’Eastern’’ music. This can be heard and observed in his projects, the progressive world jazz band Ellipsis Quintet, whom he leads, have released two full studio albums and the world fusion band HaydeTanz, with whom they released their debut album ‘The Journey’. Together with the Austrian brass manufacturer Lechner, he has developed his own microtonal trumpet model ‘’Nalbantis’’, used throughout his works. In 2023 he released his solo project ‘Byzantine Music Through the Microtonal Trumpet’ where he performs Byzantine Hymns by recording multiple layers of him playing his signature trumpet.
Luis Andre Oliveira
The drummer and percussionist graduated in Popular Music (Percussion) at Unicamp (State University of Campinas - SP Brazil) and completed a Master's degree in Jazz at KUG (Art University of Graz). Throughout his career, he has released several albums across various musical genres, from rock to jazz, and from classical to contemporary music, including of course Brazilian and Latin American music, and has played in more than 15 countries around the globe. In recent years, he has also been active in the educational field, offering lessons and workshops on drums, percussion and musical concepts (online courses at UFPBR; Austrian Percussion Camp 2021, 2022; guest professor at KUG 2021, 2022; etc)
Lajos Tóth
Lajos, born in Szolnok, Hungary in 1990, began studying classical piano at age 9 and later explored rock, reggae, and blues in various bands. After high school, he shifted to jazz, studying under Viktor
Bori and János Nagy, and later at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, Austria, with Olaf Polziehn.
In 2012, he formed a trio that reached the finals of the Tarnów International Jazz Contest. He won several awards, including Best Band and Soloist in Tîrgu MureÈ™ (2013), and the Big Sky Jazz
Competition in Moscow (2016). His composition Strong River earned a Downbeat Magazine Student Jazz Award. Lajos has performed across Europe and won first prize at the International Jazzhaus Piano
Competition in Freiburg (2016) and the International Jazz Competition in Žilina (2018). In 2019, he placed second at the Riga Jazz Stage Piano Competition. He has worked with renowned musicians
like Howard Curtis, Michael Abene, and The Yellowjackets.
Tomas Lukac
Currently based in Berlin, Germany, Tomas was born in Bratislava, Slovakia. His diverse musical background in rock, blues, funk, and jazz shaped his versatile career. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in jazz guitar from the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, Austria and a Master’s degree from the University of Music and Theater in Munich, where he studied with Peter O'Mara. Tomas has competed in several international competitions, including Jazz Start Up (2017) and the Kurt Maas Jazz Award (2019). He has worked on projects like the Tomas Lukac Group and has collaborated with renowned musicians like Robben Ford and Jim Rotondi. In 2021, he released his debut album Heart-Shaped – Music of Kurt Cobain and followed it with Minga Sessions in 2022.
He is currently working on a pop-rock album under the name Tom Luke.
Markus Oberleitner
Born in 1990 in Austria, he began his musical journey with the diatonic and chromatic accordion, which he studied at the University of Performing Arts in Graz, Austria. At the age of 17, he developed an interest in the electric bass and music production, which are now the main focus of his musical work. He also started studying jazz bass in Graz but did not complete his studies due to his busy schedule as a sideman for pop and hip-hop artists. He also led his own soul/funk band, which laid the foundation for his groove-oriented playing style. During this period, his interest in odd meters and folk music with complex rhythms started to grow, which he now explores with ethno and stoner rock bands. In his free time, his passion for recording and mixing other bands & songs
completes his all-around enthusiasm for music.
