THE FUNK WIZARDS:
YIANNIS KASSETAS:SAX,COMPOSITION
MANOS LOUTAS:BASS[EL.FRETLESS,UPRIGHT]
KOSTIS XRISTODOULOU:PIANO,RHODES
LOUKIA PALAIOLOGOU:VOCALS
VAGGELIS KONZTABASIS:DRUMS
ON THE FIRST CD AND SUBS ON THE GIGS:
ALEX DRAKOS KTISTAKIS:DRUMS
DIMITRIS SEVDALIS :RHODES,PIANO
APOSTOLOS LEVENTOPOULOS:GUITAR
I AM ALSO A MEMBER OF THE SOFIA NOITH MOON WALK JAZZ BAND,THE BLUES REVENGE,CHICAGO BLUES TRIO AND A SPECIAL GUEST OF THE GEORGE KONTRAFOURIS BABY TRIO.SOMETIMES I AM GIGING WITH THE LATIN MASTERS KIKI BU PASCUAL ETC.
Influences
Sounds Like
HEADHUNTERS,JOE HENDERSON[TETRAGON PERIOD],WAYNE SHORTER[BLUE NOTE RECORDINGS],WYNTON MARSALIS[THINK OF ONE,BLACK CODES FROM THE UNDERGROUND,FATHER TIME etc],HERBIE HANCOCK[EVERYTHINK],GREG OSBY,JACK DE JOHNETTE'S SPECIAL EDITION,KENNY GARRET[OF COURSE..],BRADFORD MARSALIS,KENNY KIRKLAND[THE BEST JAZZ PIANIST OF THE LAST 20 YEARS NOBODY ELSE!!!],JOHN SCOFIELD[WORKS WITH ME,AGOGO,UBERJAM],BILLY COBHAM[RED BARRON,LE LIS],JOSHUA REDMAN[ELASTIC BAND etc.]
SOBCONSIOUSLY:JOHN COLTRANE[THE FIRST REAL ALIEN INVASION ON THE PLANET,NY IS STILL OCCUPIED!],SONNY ROLLINS[THE ONLY SURVIVOR FROM THE RUINS IS A MAN WITH MAGIC ABILITIES THAT LOOKS THE ALIEN STRAIGHT IN THE EYES,see tenor maddness..]
BUT... FIRST OF ALL...
THE WIZARD:CHARLIE PARKER
I WAS BORN IN ATHENS AND STARTED TO PLAY SAX AND PIANO WHEN I WAS 12,BUT DIDNT PRACTICE TILL I BECAME 15.WHEN I WAS 16 I WON A SCOLARSHIP FOR BERKLEE.AFTER I PARTICIPATED THE BERKLEE SUMMER PROGRAM I WON ANOTHER SCOLARSHIP AND AFTER A TWO YEAR PREPARATION[PRACTICED LIKE CRAZY]WITH MY TEACHER DIMITRIS VASSILAKIS,I WENT TO BERKLEE FULL TIME WHERE I GRATUATED WITH HONOURS[DIPLOMA IN SAXOPHONE COM LAUDE] .NOW I LIVE IN EXARXEIA AND HAVE THE HONOUR OF PLAYING WITH SOME OF THE BEST MUSICIANS IN GREECE SUCH AS:THE FUNK WIZARDS,DIM VASSILAKIS,GEORGE KONTRAFOURIS etc.I ALSO HAVE PLAYED WITH GIANTS OF THE EUROPEAN SCENE SUCH AS:CLARENCE PENN,JASON YARDE,SEAN CORBY,etc..I HAVE BEEN THE LEAD SAXOPHONE PLAYER FOR SEVERAL MUSICALS[GREASE,LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS].
RECENTLY I WON THE COMPETITION FOR THE GREEK REPRESENTATION FOR THE EURO JAZZ FESTIVAL 2009,WERE I PERFORMED WITH MY BAND THE FUNK WIZARDS.
I HAVE ALSO WORKED AS A PIANIST IN ROCK GROUPS AND IN THE MOVIE "A SEA APART"[BOTH SAX AND PIANO],AS A PROFFESIONAL COMPOSER FOR THE PROJECT"THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE" WICH WAS PERFORMED BY MYSELF[SAX,PIANO] AND MANOS LOUTAS ON BASS,AT THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF RESEARCH.
I AM A SAXOPHONE TEACHER AT THE NATIONAL CONSERVATORY.
MY DEBOUT CD[ BY PUZZLEMUSIK]CONTAINS MY OWN EXCLUSIVE COMPOSITIONS AND IT IS FOLLOWED BY GREAT REVIOUS:
"CD OF THE WEEK"[ATHENS VOICE]
"COMBINES FUNK GROOVES WITH HARD-BOP AND MODAL JAZZ
WITH GREAT SUCCESS!"[SONIC MAGAZINE]
OLDER REVIOUS:"REMARKABLE COMPOSITION"[JAZZ&JAZZ MAGAZINE ABOUT "AMANDA" ONE OF MY TUNES THAT WAS RECORDED IN MEGARO ATHINON WITH A GREEK "ALL-STAR" BAND]
MY NEW CD [FEAUT. CLARENCE PENN,JASON YARDE] WILL BE OUT DECEMBER 2009
Thesis is the second release of Impulsive art, yet the first compilation album. -Deeply dedicated to the experimental – electronic scene brings you a brilliant and unique collection of sound-works by some of the best artists of the scene
Thesis features sound compositions by Andrey Kiritchenko , Mad EP, Keef Baker, Larvae, Spyweirdos, Moogulator, Atmogat, Tapage, Mobthrow, IP Neva, Abstractive Noise and Nole Plastique
ART UBER ALLES mousiki ekpompi gia thn elliniki mousiki skini kai oxi mono. thn ekpompi mporite na thn parakolouthisete sto internet sto diadiktiako kanali tou steliou kouloglou sto akoloutho link www.tvxs.gr/c37 kathe tetarth to neo episodio eno ta paleotera paramenoun sthn selida mas me pollous ellines kai ksenous kalitexnes.sintonistite mazi mas. gia thn simetoxi sas sthn ekpompi epikinoniste mazi mas.
Thanks so much for the Add–and your friendship. We enjoyed your music very much. Thanks for sharing it with all of us. It's a pleasure having you among our friends! We've just added two new blogs about Umano, plus four more new compositions, making ten on our space. We hope you and your friends visit us and enjoy our music, too. We wake up every morning and play the music of the new MySpace friends who have arrived at our site during the night. It occurred to us that these friends (you are among them) are almost universally positive, whether they be novices or legends, and without regard to their station in life or the country they occupy. Although it's not an original thought, it also occurred to us that we couldn’t hold a verbal conversation with most of these friends, but we have bridged that gap by expressing our art honestly with each other. We all have been filling the world with our music and art, in the hope that our messages of love and human understanding will have an impact on the world at large. What a gift and what an opportunity we have received from this technology!
Online Now!
... with warmth in your soul..and music in the air..
