Alekos Vretos quartet –”Oud in the streets of world jazz”
The music of Alekos Vretos presents a musical blend, with fragrances of East and Greek notes with jazz and latin influences. Alekos has achieved to unite Greek and Oriental tradition with jazz and latin music. The sound that comes out of the oud and the new master blends with the piano, the percussion and the bass are all part of this quartet!
He began musical studies with improvisation lessons by Markos Alexiou at the Athenian Conservatory “Philippos Nakas”. Having achieved good grades, he continues with a scholarship at Berklee College, where he composed jazz with all the instruments until he finds the oud and falls in love. So he did postgraduate studies in Arabic music and made sure to know the Palestinian origin of a virtuoso in oud, Shimon Sahin. As he was in Boston, he discovered that Shahin delivered lessons at New York City weekends, as he himself recounts, “I went to find him. I stood in front of him and said, “Can you show me how to get the pen right?” Within two minutes, he taught me. And so we started the lessons. “Then he met Masif Al-Halif, his next teacher. And this passion for oud became a passion for Oriental music.
He has collaborated with Mikis Theodorakis, Gilad Atzmon, Simon Shaheen, Haig Yazdjian, Thodoris Antoniou, Greek Contemporary Music Band, Camerata, Jazz Upstairs Big Band, Giorgos Fakanas, Dimitris Faragopoulos, Athenian State Orchestra, Lakis Chalkias, Costas Thomaidis and Takis Perereli.
He has played in concert venues such as: Herodes Atticus, Athens Concert Hall, Berklee Performance Center, Mount Holyoke College, Aristotelous Theater of Argos, Half Note Jazz Club, Vortex Jazz Club in England, The 1er Piso Jazz Club in Mexico, the 2 nd Athenian Jazz Festival, the 1st Medieval Byzantine Festival in Kastoria, the 2nd Fogaro Jazz Festival and many others with excellent reviews.
Alec’s music leads to a melodic journey, an emotional exchange with the sounds that sometimes lead us to the paths of the east and sometimes of the Mediterranean.
Date: Thursday 6/7, at 21:30
Place: Square of (former) Town Hall
ΟΠΤΙΚΟΑΚΟΥΣΤΙΚΟ ΥΛΙΚΟ
Πηγή: http://www.lifo.gr/print/music_feature/82000
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/k-on-top-alekos-k-vretos-self-produced-review-by-c-michael-bailey.php