Kostas Maginas: Lecture and seminar on jazz improvisation
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May 23 | 10:00 - 12:00
Jazz improvisation seminar on simple and compound chord progressions
A unified, diverse approach to improvisation based on forward motion, harmonic rhythm, and the principles of modal interchange. We learn the basic rules of improvisation through the theoretical knowledge of harmony, but what happens in practice? What do top musicians in jazz and beyond think (or rather what don’t they think)?
Guitarist Kostas Magginas, one of the most accomplished Greek jazz musicians, has toured in Greece and abroad with his own bands, and with musicians such as: Lee Konitz, Dick Griffin, Mark Turner, Trilok Gurtu, Rick Margitza, David Schnitter , Graig Bailey, Sam Newsome, Rob Dixon, Roberto Gatto, Rosario Guliani, Marc Abrams, Alex Foster, Danilo Rea, Larry Vuckovic, Stjepko Gut, Keith Copeland, Steve Mc Craven, Jacubu Griffin, Benjamin Henocq, Olivier Gatto, Milcho Leviev, Nicolas Simion, et al. He studied guitar at the National Conservatory of Athens and the Conservatory of Northern Greece and continued his studies with a scholarship at Berklee College of Music. He was a member of the Brandeis University Jazz Band under the direction of Ricky Ford. He appeared with well-known jazz names such as Milt Hinton, Ran Blake, Kenny Burrell, Houston Pearson, Charles Davis, as well as with his own group, in Boston jazz clubs. He recorded many times his own compositions for the third program of ERA, appeared at jazz festivals, at the Athens and Thessaloniki Concert Halls, at the “Crossroads of the Mediterranean” and elsewhere. He was for two years the artistic director of the Thessaloniki jazz festival, collaborated and played live music for dance groups, composed music for documentaries on Greek television and for theatrical performances by Stathis Livathinos, Vassilis Mavrogeorgiou, Aris Troupakis, etc. He has many years of educational experience giving seminars and teaching guitar, improvisation and jazz harmony for many years. He is in charge of the jazz department of the Contemporary Conservatory of Thessaloniki.
DISCOGRAPHY
“DIALOGUES” (Ano Kato Records, 1999).
“SEVEN FOR A SECRET” (Ano Kato Records, 2005)
“THE CALL” (Ano Kato Records, 2010)
“SOUNDTRACKS” (2022) with Peter Salchev
“REFLECTIONS” (2023)
