Greece 2021

His album Drums to Heal Society that was released at the end of 2019 has not just given Vassilis Podaras a prominent position among the new generation of drummers internationally, but has also demonstrated his compelling skills as composer and music ensemble director. After attaining a well-rounded music education and having at least ten years of continuous presence behind the kit by participating in ensembles such as George Kontrafouris' Baby Trio and the Next Step Quintet / Quartet (of which he is a founding member) as well as in collaborations with internationally acclaimed artists including Tivon Pennicott, Manfred Schoof, JD Walter, Gilad Atzmon, etc., he is currently based in London.

Antoine Karacostas (piano), Anders Ulrich (double bass), Simon Bernier (drums)

The Greek-French pianist Antoine Karacostas has found his own artistic / expressive path that strikes a balance between his extraordinary jazz expertise and his cultural heritage. Thus, his records (Trails and Insulary Tales) reveal his incisive pianistic skill and interpretive insight as well as the remarkable unity of his trio. Building on the purely lyrical content of their music, the trio has further enriched their repertoire with original compositions or great arrangements of Greek folk, rebetiko and traditional songs that maintain their authenticity within the freshness of a totally creative and modern jazz setting. The melodic and rhythmic ingenuity of the musicians in combination with the inherent qualities of the music material is pure delight.

Sokratis Votskos (soprano saxophone, bass clarinet), Leandros Pasias (piano), Evangelos Vrachnos (double bass), Kostas Anastasiadis (drums)

After three-four years of artistic presence and an international release (the album Sketching the Unknown by the UK-based Jazzman Records in fall 2019), this ensemble is one of the new assets featuring prominently in the Greek music scene. Primary centered around straight-ahead contemporary jazz and heavily influenced by Balkan music, the band approaches, through Sokratis Votskos’s original compositions, modal jazz in a more comprehensive manner as it has been developed and popularized by Miles and Coltrane, and as we come across it throughout the genre-spectrum of Greek traditional music and/or Eastern musical tradition: a truly fresh and creative approach.

Dimitris Tsakas (alto saxophone), Kostis Christodoulou (piano), Fender Rhodes (keys), Yoel Soto (electric bass), Kostas Liolios (drums)

A multifaced musician, a unique and excellent alto saxophone player, and a talented guitarist, Dimitris Tsakas enjoys recognition within and outside the world of jazz. He has released two personal albums (Growing Up and A Man Dreams) whereas his third (Back of Beyond) is about to come out soon. All of them feature his own compositions which assign him a prominent position in our home jazz scene. He has also worked on a few special jazz projects, e.g. the presentation of Charlie Parker’s music in two special concerts, including the events held under the “Jazz in the Museum” initiative where he served as creative director. In the non-jazz field he has collaborated with acclaimed Greek artists including Vangelis, Eleftheria Arvanitaki, Haris Alexiou, etc.

A multi-faceted female artist active on ambient, electronic and applied music, composer and pianist, and sound researcher. Anna Stereopoulou composes soundtrack music for films, TV shows, plays, ballet performances, etc., and delivers interesting and mutlivariate audio projects, which she describes as “Cymatic (i.e. wave) Environment”. Some of her latest project, including Syn and Plano have won international awards and remain constantly relevant thanks to their openness in terms of contemporary music and multi-media creation at an interdisciplinary level. Anna Stereopoulou has composed the music of the TV spots of the anniversary series “200 Years Modern Greek State – 200 Miracles and Steps Forward” that is broadcast by ERT.