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George Kontrafouris

Giorgos Kontrafouris was born in Athens, Greece in 1967. He studied classical piano at the National Conservatory in Athens. At the age of 16, he turned his interest to jazz music and he followed up jazz improvised lessons with Markos Alexiou. He studied also with Jim Beard and Jarmo Savolainen. He holds a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in Jazz Performance from Sibelius Academy in Finland.

He has performed as piano or organ player with many famous and outstanding musicians such as: Mark Johnson, Arild Andersen, Marcus Stockhausen, Louisiana Red, Keith Copeland, Andy Sheppard, Ralph Peterson Jr., Bob Brozman, Carla Cook, Alvester Garnett, Stepko Gut, Olivier Gatto, David Liebman, Houston Pearson, Eric Alexander, David Sills, Lou Donaldson, Sam Newsome, Jamie Hadad, Deborah Davies, Benny Golson, Tim Hagans, Bob Shepard, Carmen Lundy, Sheila Jordan, Jukkis Uotila, Wade Mikkola, Takis Paterelis, Stratos Vougas, Dimos Dimitriadis, Lydia Fylipovic, T. Spasov, A. Pacatius.

He has been teaching jazz piano and organ for several years in Ionian University and in Athenaeum Conservatory in Greece and in Sibelius Academy in Finland.


He has already given Master Classes in various schools in Greece, Ireland, Indonesia, and Estonia so far.


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2
Album Review

Dimitris Angelakis: Long Way Home

Read "Long Way Home" reviewed by Kyle Simpler


Homer's Odyssey is one of the most famous epics in literature, and a major theme associated with this poem is nostos. Nostos in literature is the idea of the hero returning home after a long voyage. Throughout the years, Homer's work has both directly and indirectly influenced countless works of art. Vibraphonist Dimitris Angelakis' Long Way Home builds on this idea of nostos by way of the poet Konstantinos Kavafis. Angelakis uses Kavafis' poem, “Ithaca” as the inspiration ...

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Album Review

George Kontrafouris: Little Daddy's Blues

Read "Little Daddy's Blues" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


Born in Greece, Hammond B-3 denizen George Kontrafouris' organ combo fare sounds purely American in scope and attack. In a nutshell, he has it all down to a science. And with testimonials by fellow B-3 great Tony Monaco cited within the liners, the music iterated here features a Texas roadhouse type gala, spiced up with snappy pulses and tenor saxophonist Manuel Dunkel's edgy choruses. However, it's Kontrafouris' cagey right-hand voicings and broad comprehension and implementations of the jazz vernacular that ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Long Way Home

ΠΚ music
2022

buy

Absence

Spider Music Records
2016

buy

Little Daddy's Blues

Chicken Coup Records
2007

buy

Ulysses Journey

From: Long Way Home
By George Kontrafouris

The Notebook

From: Little Daddy's Blues
By George Kontrafouris

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