He enjoys finding ways to combine jazz improvisation with the traditional elements of his musical roots after exploring these two worlds. Despite his young age, an experienced lute player Vasilis Kostas blazes an upward path in the field of music, constantly proving his talent in Greece and beyond.

In fact, the musician from Ioannina is the recipient of two important awards for his contribution to the spread of continental music, in particular the lute, in America: the Forty Under 40 Award from the Greek American Foundation of New York and the Massachusetts Traditional Arts Artist Fellowship.

On February 6, he is nominated for a Grammy Award as the main member of the cast. Global messengers of which it is a key member, in the category “Best Latin American Jazz Album“For the record”Crisalis“. On the eve of the 65th Music Awards Ceremony, the lute player talks about his career and jazz.

I feel great joy and a special honor from this nomination among truly great artists. With a lot of love and years of work, we have achieved the award-winning record “Crisalida” in a few days, and this is definitely a special moment in my musical career.

From a young age I started playing the guitar listening to the music of Epirotica and Petroluka Halkias listening to jazz and Keith Jarrett. The reason for all of this is my family’s love for music and especially my father George, who explored the various musical traditions that he shared with us in a very open-minded way. I think that this specific experience and influence is hidden behind the direction I play today, and mainly behind the musical ideas that I try to apply to the lute.

Although in 2013 I started learning guitar at Boston and Berklee College of Music, in 2014 I decided to explore my roots with an instrument I first started learning in America. Initially inspired by the study of P. Halkia’s playing style from clarinet to lute, as well as the creative application of jazz improvisation, I began a new journey, leaving the guitar, which I had previously studied and played for 20 years.

Having the opportunity to take this “journey” and study music alongside top jazz teachers such as John Patitucci, Terry Lynn Carrington, Danilo Perez, Joey Lovano and Ed Seddon, I can only feel grateful for having gained so much experience as a musician, teacher, and also person.

I realized that development in music is interrelated with efforts to develop and progress in our daily relationships with other people, but also vice versa: that is, through constant efforts to improve your character, you can become a better musician.

In Boston, I had the opportunity to meet great musicians from all over the world and start collaborations that I never thought of. Of course, the meeting with Perez, but also our meeting with P. Halkias, which led to the creation of our first album “The Soul of Epirus”, took place in America.

Like any instrument, the lute acts as a means of expressing one’s own musical ideas and feelings. When this is done with sincerity and a love of research, then the music you create can be accepted by an international audience, even if they are hearing the lute for the first time.

This collaboration came about in 2017 after I was invited by Perez to become part of the new Global Messengers scheme. This conversation took place when I was still a graduate student at the Berklee Institute for Global Jazz, of which he is the founder and artistic director. This particular group gave me the platform I needed to explore a new world where my musical roots could have creative application and dialogue with contemporary and jazz improvisation.

This was my own goal and challenge at the same time: how, through a systematic study of traditional and jazz music, to make a significant contribution to this project in such a way that my own experience manifests itself in the music itself, but, above all, can be noticed by an international audience who will perceive the final result. .