Sounds of a Lifetime

When artists compose, arrange or improvise music, they constantly incorporate all of their lifetime’s experiences and express them through their musical notes.

In the personal music making of talented Cypriot artist Glafkos Kontemeniotis, musical inspirations are rooted back to his childhood years spent in Kyrenia and Bellapais. This is where he draws those feelings of innocence, bittersweet happiness, imagination and a profound longing for return. All these sentiments, create his personal musical sound.

Having a noteworthy background in music, which comprises collaborations with prominent jazz singers and musicians such as Mable Lee, Mercedes Hall, Priscilla Owens, Claudio Roditi and Jerry Dodgion, but also with the well-known rebetiko performer Grigoris Marinakis, Glafkos Kontemeniotis comes for the first time at the Axiothea Mansion to present a selection of his works. Joining him are two outstanding jazz musicians – the bass guitar player Apostolos Sideris and the drummer Ioannis Vafeas.

The programme of the concert includes modern jazz arrangements of Greek and Cypriot songs, as well as original compositions by Glafkos Kontemeniotis.

This is the sound of a lifetime in music, which combines the unique sensitivity of Greek melodies, the rhythms and harmonies of jazz and the deeply personal compositions of the artist that draw from various experiences and musical elements.

Glafkos Kontemeniotis: piano
Apostolos Sideris: bass guitar
Ioannis Vafeas: drums