Straight ahead Jazz Saxophonist, Vasilis Xenopoulos, is one of the most accomplished Greek jazz musicians of his generation.

He graduated with honors from the Berklee College of Music and gradually established himself as one of London’s up-and-coming jazz saxophonists.

He has worked with some of the best musicians in the International Jazz Scene as a band leader, a section leader, and a guest soloist on various projects.

Xenopoulos’ 1st album, Loud City, debuted in 2009 and has released 4 albums with various groups since that debut.

One of his most successful recordings was in 2017 with guitarist, Nigel Price. They created the XPQ (Xenopoulos/Price Quartet) and released the album, Sidekicks, which celebrates some of the most successful guitar/sax pairings in the history of jazz.

The Guardian praised him recently for being one of the leading examples of European jazz musicians who live and perform in Britain and bringing his continental element to the jazz scene.

He also has taught seminars on Jazz Saxophone and Improvisation.

Xenopoulos is an endorsing artist of JodyJazz Inc. and Rigotti Reeds.

In this episode, we talked about:

🎷 Vasilis’ tip on how to improvise
🎷 The album he listened to for 3 weeks straight & how it influenced his approach to improvisation
🎷 His recommendations for mastering sight reading
🎷 Story about Andy McGhee and Cherokee
🎷 How musicians promote themselves today compared to 10 or 15 years ago
🎷 And many more!

Here’s the Video:

Links and Resources:

1. Vasilis’ website: https://vasilisxenopoulos.com/
2. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/xenopoulosjazz/
3. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vasilisxeno/
4. Where to buy the Feels Like Home album: https://vasilisxenopoulos.bandcamp.com/album/feels-like-home
5. Antonio Hart Podcast; Jazz Saxophone History: https://saxophonepodcast.com/antonio-hart-podcast-jazz-saxophone-history-ep-086/

Music featured in the audio podcast:

1. Get Off My Lawn: https://open.spotify.com/track/4l1XMNTMFpNLmybO3FwVfm
2. Memories of Home: https://open.spotify.com/album/4HD1zZLulerY5qp9CFY7mx

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