Imam Baildi

Imam Baildi is a very popular Southeast Mediterranean dish consisting of aubergine stuffed with onion, garlic, and tomatoes simmered in olive oil. It is a similar fine blend that brothers Lysandros and Orestis Falireas and their 8 piece band do - only in musical terms!

The brothers started out in 2005 by producing three tracks, when EMI Greece offered them to record a whole album based on this concept. Their self-titled debut was released in 2007. It was a breakthrough for the Greek music industry and received international critical acclaim.

Their second album, The Imam Baildi Cookbook released in Dec 2010, made an even greater impact: in June 2011 it had reached no.5 in the European World Music Charts and by the end of the year it stood on number 14 of the yearly World Music charts, among 900 other albums.

So here’s what happens in their melting pot: Bouzouki meets electro swing, Greek roots meet hip hop and mambo big band orchestration, and original Greek - Balkan brass action meets uplifting MC’s and Cuban montuno’s. A truly unique blend of Greek retro gems with new orchestration, production and remixing techniques the brothers were subjected to while studying in Europe.

Nothing similar is to be found in world music, and what’s best is that this is not just home-cooking, Imam Baildi’s shows are nothing less than perfectly prepared, massive sounding, 100% danceable acts.

International licensing and promotion
The Imam Baildi tracks are included in several compilations with international distribution, such as ‘Claude Challe Select 2008: Musik für unsere Freunde’, ‘Babylon Bar’ and ‘Balkan Grooves’ (Eastblok, DE, 2009). The first album was released in Turkey and Denmark by EMI and was played by radio stations all over Europe. It reached number 7 of the European World Music charts in April 2009. The second album is being distributed in Europe and is on its way to US distribution. ‘Carantino Manouche’ from ‘The Imam Baildi Cookbook’ is included in ‘Swing Discoteka’ from Eastblok (2011, DE).

Imam Baildi have international press coverage in specialized editions such as Folk Roots & Songlines magazines (UK), Vibrations (CH) as well as in daily press. Charlie Gillet (The Guardian, UK) revised their first album in 2009 and selected it as the recording of the month. They were featured in BBC World Radio (UK) and in PRI’s The World (US) in December 2010.

Their concerts were broadcast live and streamed in Germany by WDR’s Funkhaus Europa in December 2010 and in May 2012, followed by several interviews. WDR also covered their 2012 performance in Sziget Festival (HU).

Collaborations
The Imam Baildi Cookbook’ includes cooperations with international artists such as Maxwell Wright of ‘Ojos de Brujo’ (ES) and the ‘Delinquent Habits’ (US). Between 2007 and 2009 ‘Imam Baildi’ have produced remixes for several known Greek singers: Dimitra Galani, Eleni Tsaligopoulou and Giorgos Mazonakis. They also worked with Max Wright and Brother Culture on a remix of the track ‘Comely’. ‘Samba Clarina’ was remixed by DJ Panko.

Live concerts in Europe
Even before their album was distributed in European markets, Imam Baildi were discovered in the web and invited to perform in major European festivals such as Transmusicales de Rennes and Roskilde Festival. 2009 and 2010 found them performing more in Europe while playing an average of 80 gigs per year in Greece.

At the Sommer der Kulturen Festival (Stuttgart, 2010) the band had their first breakthrough concert in Germany playing for an audience of more than 5000 people, followed by the legendary WDR Funkhaus Europa Sylvester party in Gloria Theatre in Cologne (31 Dec 2010).

Further performances in known European festivals followed in 2011: their popularity grew significantly by a concert in TFF Rudolfstadt, the biggest german folk – roots festival, the Amsterdam Roots Festival, the Balkan Square Festival (Ohrid, MK), the World Music Festival in Oslo and a sold out concert in the prestigious  Is Sanat in Istanbul.

The band’s first tour outside Greece took place in Feb/March 2012, with 13 concerts in Germany and Denmark, among which sold out gigs in Berlin, Frankfurt, Copenhagen and Cologne. The tour was followed by another appearance at the WDR Funkhaus Europa Big Up Festival in Essen in May. From June 2012 onwards, Imam Baildi combined a tour in Greece and performances in important European festivals, among which Sziget Festival (HU) and Lowlands Festival (NL).

April and May 2013 will be your chance to see ‘Imam Baildi’ in Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, France and the BeNeLux – countries.


The band is a compelling, delicious and special musical recipe with stylistic diversity and the following instrumentation:

 
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