2009 Canadian Folk Music Awards Nominee, "World Solo Artist of the Year".

Canadian jazz guitarist, George Koufogiannakis, has been performing, producing, and touring across Canada for more than 20 years and has appeared on dozens of recordings. His latest release as a leader, “GENERATIONS – GREEK OUD JAZZ”, combines Modern Jazz and Traditional Greek Music from and inspired by the Island of Crete.

George states, ‘I wanted to try and explore some of that wonderful Greek spirit and intensity in the songs and influence of my family, with an emphasis on creative improvisation and harmonically taking the music where possibly it has not yet traveled. It was such a pleasure working with these amazing musicians who took these open structures and driving rhythms and playfully, with a wonderful sense of form and interaction, allowed these pieces to organically flow and evolve through this recording.’

George's previous release, "Explorations in Improvised Music", brings together improvising musicians from across Canada and the United Kingdom to explore his own compositions as well as works by Sonny Rollins and Canadian composers Wes Neal and Evan Shaw, and includes a tribute to Avant-garde pianist, Cecil Taylor.

One of George’s original compositions from this release won the honour of appearing on the 2007 edition of the “Dig Your Roots – Creative Jazz” compilation CD, which was released nationwide. This project features a mix of Canadian independent artists from across the country exploring the more creative side of jazz and improvised music. “Dig Your Roots” is a production of the National Campus and Community Radio Association (NCRA) and is sponsored by Corus Entertainment and Canada Council for the Arts.

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