Pianist and composer Giorgi Mikadze (pronounced Gih-ohr-gih Mih-kahd-zeh) started out following a well-trodden path on the way to becoming a successful jazz musician.

Leaving home (in his case Tbilisi, Georgia) for the United States, he studied at a prestigious music school (Berklee and the Manhattan School of Music under presidential scholarships), winning music competitions and jazz fellowships, and performing with many of the music’s legendary figures (a list that includes Jack DeJohnette, Roy Hargrove, Dave Liebman, Lee Ritenour and many others).

Then he deviated from that path, on a route that led him directly home again. “I started to ask myself, ‘Why should I play American standards when there are numerous melodies written by Georgian composers?’” Mikadze recalls. “I love the American Songbook – that’s how I learned to play jazz. But I would like to offer the world a Georgian Songbook and share all these beautiful melodies from my country.”

The beginnings of that endeavor have now taken the form of Mikadze’s stunning new album Face to Face: The Georgian Songbook Vol. 1. Due out February 2, 2024 via the French label PeeWee!, the album features pieces by seven of the Caucasus country’s most revered composers, most of them originally penned for film, animation and theatrical soundtracks. Mikadze adds three of his own compositions to the mix, suggesting that much like the American model, this new Songbook is one that invites a continual expansion and evolution.

1. Satchidao
2. Not Easy to Repeat
3. Dolls Are Laughing
4. Same Garden
5. The Moon Over Mtatsminda
6. Nana
7. After the Tale
8. A Magic Egg
9. To Nodar
10. Wind Takes It Anyway

With Face to Face being the first time that Mikadze has met his native land’s music on purely jazz terms, it opens on the spirited Satchidao (a track traditionally sung during wrestling matches) and the luxuriant Not Easy to Repeat (written by David Toradze for the 1960 melodrama Last Day, First Day), and they are backed by the languishing Dolls Are Laughing (by Sulkhan Tsintsadze and which is itself sourced from the 1963 comedy Tojinebi itsinian), a gently fervent rendition of Shota Milarova’s Same Garden, and then comes the ornate affluence of melody found within The Moon Over Mtatsminda (Jansug Kakhidze).

Along next is the crafted opulence of the subtly expressive Nana (itself a beautiful peak nestled in the Caucasus Mountains) and the reticent nature culled within After the Tale (a track based on a Georgian folk tale), and they are then in turn backed by the animated A Magic Egg (Giya Kancheli), the recording rounding out on the veritably stoic To Nodar (Nodar Gabunia), closing on the organic, yet highly impassioned reworking of the pop song by Rusudan Sebiskveradze, Wind Takes It Anyway.

Face To Face also marks Mikadze’s first venture on record into the traditional piano, bass and drums jazz trio. He’s joined by the stellar French rhythm section of bassist François Moutin and drummer Raphaël Pannier, who dive wholeheartedly into these robust yet unfamiliar tunes and emerge with inspired and rapturous improvisations.

“I love the freedom that you have in the trio setting, especially when the musicians are super sensitive about every note,” Mikadze says. “It has the intimacy of chamber music, but you can also achieve a massive sound. Besides, François and Raphael are simply amazing musicians.”

Giorgi Mikadze Trio - Satchidao (Official Video)