Jannis Zotos studied classical guitar at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin between 1984 and 1989. Between 1984 and 1987, he was a member of the band percussion & strings. From 1987 to 1989, he played in the band of German singer-songwriter Barbara Thalheim.
In 1980, he collaborated for the first time with Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis during a performance of the oratorio Canto General (Theodorakis/Neruda) in Berlin. This connection was to last. In 1981 and 1982, he performed in the folk oratorio Axion esti (Theodorakis / Elytis) under the direction of the composer, which resulted in an LP recording (released by Eterna). In 1987, Jannis Zotos orchestrated the LP Gisela May sings Theodorakis (Amiga). From 1990 onwards, he conducted Theodorakis' tour orchestra, wrote the arrangements for it and accompanied Theodorakis on his tours in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, France, Belgium, Norway, Holland, Spain, Turkey, Israel, Canada and, of course, Greece. During this time, Jannis Zotos also worked with Maria Farantouri, George Dalara, Dimitra Galani, Maria Dimitriadi, Eli Paspala and Petros Pandis.
In 1990/91, he orchestrated the CD Theodorakis sings Theodorakis (Intuition), in 1995 the CD *Birthday Concert – Mikis Theodorakis & Maria Farantouri* (Tropical Music) and in 1997 the CD *Together - Mikis Theodorakis & Sülfü Livaneli* (BMG). Between 1997 and 2004, he also accompanied Maria Farantouri on her tours in Europe and America.
In 1990, Jannis Zotos and his brother Thanassis Zotos founded the Zotos Kompania and began to focus intensively on rembetiko music, Asia Minor music and traditional Greek music. He intensified his bouzouki playing and began to play the oud (his teacher was the Syrian oud player Farhan Sabah). Over time, Zotos Kompania developed its own distinctive style of playing rembetiko. Greek television station ERT filmed a documentary about Zotos Kompania during a tour of Greece. In 1995, the CD *Deviation – Zotos Kompania live in Concert* (Cooleur) was released, followed in 2004 by the CD *Lethargía* (anjoke). The band was invited to the Folk Festival Gooik/Belgium in 2001 and the Dance and Folk Festival Rudolstadt/Germany in 2004.
In 2002, following in the tradition of Greek composers, Jannis Zotos began setting the poetry of Greek poets to music. The poet Mikis Theodorakis was a significant discovery for Jannis Zotos. The composer's early texts in particular caught his attention. He began setting them to music. This work culminated in 2009 with the CD *Die leisen Stimmen der Erinnerung* (The Soft Voices of Memory). Zotos deliberately chose the form of rock pop songs for these songs. Further albums followed: *Amour Fou* (2013) based on poems by Maria Polidouri and Kostas Karyotakis, *Hydra* (2023) based on poems by Georgios Seferis. For Mikis Theodorakis' 90th birthday, Zotos recorded a tribute album, *Zotos sings Theodorakis* (2015).
Jannis Zotos composes for film and theatre (*Diese Landschaft ist hart wie das Schweigen* – Ritsos film, directed by Joachim Tschirner / *Sunny Point*, feature film, directed by Wolf Vogel / *Antigonä* by Sophocles, Neues Theater Halle, directed by Alexander Stillmark / *Der Auftrag* by Heiner Müller, directed by Thomas Bischoff / *Faust I* by J.W.v.Goethe, directed by Thomas Bischoff / *Der Sondeur* by Jannis Ritsos, directed by Thomas Bischoff / among others). In 1998, the CD *Sonne u. Zeit* by Maria Farantouri and Rainer Kirchmann (Lyra) was released, for which Jannis Zotos wrote some of the arrangements.
Statement by Mikis Theodorakis on the CD ‘The Soft Voices of Memory’
"Throughout my life, I have been accustomed to setting other people's poems to music. With Jannis Zotos, the roles are now reversed, and I confess that this circumstance evokes an unfamiliar feeling in me. Now I am becoming a poet who must decide to what extent the music does justice to the essential meaning of my words.
My first positive reaction was to the selection of poems, each of which belongs to the deepest, most secret recesses of my life and my thoughts. The second, equally positive reaction, I believe, is to the musical language as a whole: the melodic line, the harmony and, in particular, the orchestration using rock music, which together create an atmosphere of lyricism, poetry and magic.
This circumstance takes me personally back to experiences and times when I lived on a knife edge, between the real and the fantastic, the real and the unreal, the conscious and the unconscious, which for me is and was the deep and only EROS that exhausts and redeems me without beginning and without end. Finally, I would like to congratulate the excellent musicians who participated in the realisation of this highly successful work.
Athens, 25 September 2009
Mikis Theodorakis
In 2016, Theodorakis wrote about his long-time companion, friend and fellow musician:
"So we have been together with Jannis for 37 years, years of warm friendship, full of music, rehearsals, recordings, concerts and collaborations.
I consider Jannis to be one of my own, indeed a part of myself, a brother or, better still, my child. When he became a composer, I was delighted, moved and filled with pride. Just as I am now, with his new album, on which he interprets my songs. I thank him and wish him every success."
The late but unforgettable Dresden musicologist, critic and journalist Peter Zacher (who was largely responsible for Mikis Theodorakis giving several concerts in the GDR in the 1980s) wrote years ago about one of Jannis Zotos' rare concerts in Dresden:
"Now the group around Jannis Zotos is coming up with a new kind of song that is not often found in the history of Greek music: romantic, quiet songs. They are most comparable to Central European art songs.
Just as soft water conquers hard stone, these songs can break down hardened hearts and touch something deeply hidden in the souls of the listeners. These songs are light as feathers, they can envelop us completely and carry us away to another world.
These songs will certainly not change the world, but they do have the power to change us by revealing things we thought we had lost or never possessed."
In 2002, following the tradition of Greek composers, Jannis Zotos began to set the poetry of Greek poets to music. He discovered the poet Maria Polidouri (1902 - 1930) and set eleven of her poems to music. He calls this song cycle *EROS & THANATOS* and works on the live version with various musicians, including Antonis Anissegos (p), Michael Rodach (guit), Maria Simoglou (voc, oboe), Maria Anissegou (cello), Thanassis Zotos (perc, voc).