On Friday, January 26, as on every last Friday of the month, “Greek Jazz Players on Voice of Greece” welcomed another vibrant ensemble into Studio B of ERA and the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation’s Music Ensembles. Host Pantazis Tsaras featured the trio of saxophonist and composer Melina Paxinos, joined by pianist-composer Dimitris Verdinoglou and bassist Grigoris Theodoridis.
A rising figure in the new wave of Greek jazz musicians, Melina Paxinou’s compositions blend contemporary jazz sounds with distinctive elements of Greek music. Raised in Hamburg, she has long drawn inspiration from Greek traditional music and rebetiko. Her 2022 album Time includes a unique arrangement of the classic “Ta Matoklada Sou Lampoun” by Markos Vamvakaris, which she performs with acclaimed trumpeter and composer Andreas Polyzogopoulos.
In this live broadcast, the trio performed that Vamvakaris piece along with Wayne Shorter’s “Anna Maria”, and Paxinou’s own composition “Athens I”, from her 2019 album Athens, which features guest recordings by renowned lyra player and philhellene Ross Daly.
Produced and hosted by: Pantazis Tsaras
Sound engineer: Dionysis Lymberis
Editing: Stefania Tsakiri