Alekos Vretos Project at Rich Mix

Greek oudist, pianist and composer Alekos Vretos merges jazz, Arabic, Greek and Latin music in a masterful and uplifting blend of sounds. Berklee-trained and known as ’The Jazz foreman’, “Alekos Vretos is not your average jazz musician, he has taken it personally to propagate world jazz music to everyone.” (Athens Voice)

Joined by London’s Latin jazz piano maestro John Crawford, Teymour Housego on evocative Indian flutes (bansouri), leading acoustic bassist Andrea di Biase and on drums Simon Pearson (The Wedding Present), this new combination is set to result in an exciting and fresh sound with plenty of sparks....

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Greek oudist, pianist and composer Alekos Vretos merges jazz, Arabic, Greek and Latin music in a masterful and uplifting blend of sounds. Berklee-trained and known as ’The Jazz foreman’, “Alekos Vretos is not your average jazz musician, he has taken it personally to propagate world jazz music to everyone.” (Athens Voice)

Joined by London’s Latin jazz piano maestro John Crawford, Teymour Housego on evocative Indian flutes (bansouri), leading acoustic bassist Andrea di Biase and on drums Simon Pearson (The Wedding Present), this new combination is set to result in an exciting and fresh sound with plenty of sparks.

Vretos has collaborated with the likes of Greek legend Mikis Theodorakis, the world’s leading oud player Simon Shaheen as well as Gilad Atzmon, well-known on the London Jazz scene. His compositional approach draws inspiration from the strong melodies of celebrated musicians, such as US Armenian oudist Ara Dinkjian and Tunisian master oudist Anuar Brahem, among others, whilst he keeps his feet firmly on the groove pedal.

Alekos Vretos – oud
Teymour Housego - flute, bansouri
John Crawford – piano
Andrea di Biase – bass
Simon Pearson - drums, percussion

Support comes from 4-piece Valkania who celebrate the Balkans’ infectious, uneven rhythms then mix it up with jazz and blues - plus ‘balkanized’ cover versions from the Rolling Stones to Roxy Music.

DJ Seb Merrick (Kazum) digs out unusual tunes at the interface of jazz and world music.

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