Manos Barkatsas

 Manos Barkatsas (Greece) – Guitar

Manos Barkatsas is a Greek guitarist, composer, and improviser based in Brussels. His work blends jazz harmony, Mediterranean melodic traditions, and electronic experimentation within a contemporary improvised practice. Rooted in his Cretan heritage, Barkatsas combines intuitive improvisation with refined approaches to form, texture, and soundscape.

He has performed and collaborated with musicians such as Chris Pitsiokos, Giovanni Di Domenico, Luke Stewart, Aquiles Navarro, Bart Maris, João Lobo, Audrey Lauro, Gregoire Tirtiaux, Peter Jacquemyn, and Augusto Pirodda, and is active in various ensembles. These include the Barkatsas–Cassagne–Maris Trio/Quartet with João Lobo (ambient chamber music and improvisation), the Brussels Improvisers Orchestra, the Maris–Melo–Van Belle–Barkatsas Quartet(recently featured at the Moers Festival), and the projects Navarro / Stewart / Barkatsas / Damianidis / Lobo 
 Navarro / Barkatsas / Damianidis / Skoric with which they completed a two week tour in the Balkans in November 2025 . He also leads experimental projects such as Dystopian Rebetiko and the ambient/techno duo Sonic Movements and Sequences.

He is also The Artistic Director of the upcoming AKRA festival in Crete.

Recent and upcoming releases include The Way We Move Forward (solo ambient, Bandcamp), Color is a Creation of Mind (with Victor Tsilimparis), the debut album of the Di Domenico – Barkatsas – Škorić Trio, and Live at Moers with the Maris–Melo–Van Belle–Barkatsas Quartet. His work emphasizes responsiveness, sonic exploration, and cross-cultural improvisation, contributing a unique voice to the European experimental jazz landscape.