Born and raised in Northwest Greece, Kostis Rossos is a saxophonist, composer and band leader. With his compositions he aspires to evoke emotions and share his personal experience of life, inside and outside the musical world. With this intention in mind, his way of composing varies from intuitively following a melodic idea to using functional harmony in order to structure his musical “words”.
Kostis has been awarded prizes in classical saxophone competitions and has been given a sponsorship from “Het Cultuurfonds” foundation in the Netherlands, in recognition of his talent as a performer and composer. Additionally, he graduated with a distinction from Conservatorium Maastricht for incorporating the musical language of Epirus into jazz compositions. His music has been aired on the Greek national radio (ERT)
His background of classical studies has enriched his musical vocabulary in a way that allows him to employ this language so that he can express himself when composing and improvising. Having also studied folk clarinet at a young age, the music tradition of his region has inevitably affected his musical ideas in a way that it only makes sense to let it influence his current music creation.
Kostis sees the jazz world as a safe space for creation since it is a genre so diverse on its own that keeps absorbing all other kinds of music. This allows for spontaneity and non-judgemental thinking, that when it comes to music is essential. Seeing how this way of thinking beautifully affects music compositions, he has realised how useful this approach is to life as a whole. Thus, his artistic approach of music is a metaphor for his view on life. A view that he has found to be liberating and wants other people to feel this as well. This is what he is trying to communicate through his music. The feeling of freedom.
His current project, “Looking Closer” explores the notion that we cannot control all the events around us but that we can take time and space to experience them fully. Each composition is meant to describe a feeling/state of mind that can’t be put in words and explore its complexity that is hard to be consciously perceived.
The drive behind this project is to create the kind of music that is personal and unique, addressing the intuition that lives within us. The inspiration for most compositions comes from the urge to translate feelings of everyday life into music. Looking through the artistic prism, there are so many underlying emotions in each simple moment of our lives. A walk in the park for example can fill us with joy, relief, confidence but maybe also confusion and some times stress. Other, more intense emotions, such as grief for the loss of a loved one, can also be turned into music. Sometimes it is even necessary because it is impossible to keep all this weight inside. The way these feelings translate on music paper and later on generate new ones through that music is fascinating.