First Flight - Jazz Thing Next Generation Vol. 110 George Kontomichalis

• 1 Message to Mccoy 08:10
• 2 Means Something to Me 08:01
• 3 Blues Menu 06:14
• 4 First Flight 06:25
• 5 Ruy Lopez Opening 05:07
• 6 Warrior Under the Rain 05:21
• 7 You Stepped out of a Dream 06:16
• Total Runtime 45:34

Info for First Flight - Jazz Thing Next Generation Vol. 110

The line-up of the band already catches your attention. Tino Derado (p), Andreas Lang (b), and Sebastian Merk (dr) are three renowned, highly experienced jazz musicians in Berlin and far beyond. George Kontomichalis could hardly have chosen better musicians for his album debut and his soulful music. In addition, the alto saxophonist from Leipzig emphasized: "This is not just a studio line-up, but a permanent group. We are going to continue playing together.”

The name of the tenor saxophone guest, who participates several times, provides additional sparkle: Johannes Enders. "It was a great honor for me that he offered to participate," Kontomichalis said. Enders is one of the saxophonist greats of German jazz, also known from the wider environment of the indie/electro/rock/jazz avant-garde band Notwist. He moves confidently on pure, classical jazz terrain here. The leader takes over the formal classification himself: "This is a straight ahead album with elements of post-bop." Kontomichalis knows exactly what he is doing, and he knows the historical jazz relationships. The decisive thing is that the alto sax specialist has found his own voice in it. The compositions, the awareness of form, the passionate expression: all this bears a clear, personal signature.

George Kontomichalis, born in 1994 in the Greek city of Thessaloniki, has lived in Germany since 2016. He came to Dresden to study music at that time. He also applied in Berlin and Leipzig. He was invited to audition at all three of the selected universities. In Dresden, he was ranked 1st among the current applicants. There the Greek also immediately established a good connection with the responsible professor, who became an important mentor. Within a short time Kontomichalis won a DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) award for outstanding achievements. After graduating, he switched to the Leipzig University for Music and Theater. He met the young Ukrainian singer and actress Sonya Sytnyk there. She sings the captivating ballad "Means Something To Me" on First Flight with music by George Kontomichalis and lyrics by Leipzig singer/songwriter Marta Mai. The inclination towards classical jazz forms, which fulfills and guides him, goes back to early experiences. The Greek (he is named Georgios by the way, but prefers the English version) comes from a musical family. His father worked for decades as a sound engineer in a large concert hall, where he had contact with music and artists of all kinds. His mother regularly played piano during her spare time. It was obvious that Georgios had his first piano lessons at home as a very young boy, followed by lessons with a professional teacher. His main instrument, however, was the flute, on which he received classical instruction for six years.

Consequently, he moved to a high school with a focus on music at the age of 13. Everything changed for him within a short time. Georgios decided on another instrument: saxophone His alto-sax teacher gave him three jazz CDs to listen to during vacation. They became his soundtrack of the next few weeks. "When I heard that," it was like “Wow!” He fell in love with the music! The sound totally gripped me. That's exactly what I wanted to learn!" And he admits: "Years of classical music lessons were a wish of my parents. I had no real interest in that." George Kontomichalis immersed himself in jazz all the more. The first albums he bought himself are all classics: "Charlie Parker with Strings", "Coltrane Plays the Blues" and "Sonny Rollins: Saxophone Colossus". With one of Louis Armstrong and several others, he broadened his historical perspective.

Today, Kontomichalis speaks of the fact that "a journey" began for him back then, the latest stop of which is the album First Light. Parallel to his intense, almost obsessive occupation with jazz history, he played in bands of various kinds: "Small gigs, hotel gigs, cover bands – often for tourists". He took a lot on himself to realize his jazz ambitions. For four years, he rode a train to Athens for six hours on Saturdays to get two hours of lessons from a saxophone pro who had taught jazz at the American Berklee College of Music for a while and then traveled immediately back to Thessaloniki. George Kontomichalis also auditioned for the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He was offered a scholarship. But the additional costs were so enormous that the alto-saxophonist forged a Plan B.

He had a family connection with Germany. And that is why he landed in Dresden. He studied jazz and classical music at the same time. There he met trumpeter Shogo Seifert (see "Causes of Imagination", Jazz thing Next Generation Vol. 107). The connection still exists today: Together they lead a band in which they play their own hardbop and bebop pieces. "A great guy and very good musician." Kontomichalis met the bassist Andreas Lang from Berlin at one of the various master classes in which he took part. He was impressed and offered to keep in touch. This is how the current quartet was created (George Kontomichalis had also conducted a trio). Lang forms a proven team with Sebastian Merk, with whom the saxophonist had already played many times. Johannes Enders, one of the teachers and another mentor of the Greek, brought Tino Derado into play. Almost all the songs on "First Flight" were composed for the album. However, it is opened by an older favorite of the leader: a bow to the master pianist McCoy Tyner, whom he deeply admired, composed in early 2020 on the occasion of the news of his death.

A splendid flight as a stage of a journey that will undoubtedly remain exciting.

George Kontomichalis, alto saxophone
Johannes Enders, tenor saxophone
Tino Derado, piano
Andreas Lang, bass
Sebastian Merk, drums
Sonya Sytnyk, vocals (track 2)

George Kontomichalis
is a saxophonist, composer and educator based in Leipzig, Germany. He was born in Thessaloniki, Greece began playing the flute at early age and received his first music theory lessons. At the age of 13 he switched to saxophone, studied classical Music at the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki and at the same time took his first jazz lessons. After high school graduation he studied Music Pedagogy at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

In 2016 he moved in Dresden, Germany to Study Jazz Saxophone as well as improvisation at the HFM-University „Carl Maria von Weber “with Prof. Finn Wiesner and Prof. Matthias Bätzel. He graduated in 2020 with a Bachelor degree in Jazz Performance and during his studies gained the DAAD prize (German Academic Exchange Service) for the best academic record. One year later he continued his Master studies at the HMTUniversity „Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy“ in Leipzig under the mentorship of Johannes Enders. He has also attended masterclasses with renowned Jazz musicians, among others Mark Turner, Jim Snidero, Gilad Hekselman, Billy Hart, Till Brönner, Rosario Giuliani.

This album contains no booklet.