Music
Press
...“Whatever I say it will not be enough for these excellent soloists that can produce such an eclectic 3D music.
I want to thank them because once more they have cooled my soul and made me dive from the rocks to the sea even during the summer.”...
- Georgia Lemou, www.e-go.gr
“Trully, I never expected that the sound of the canun would be combined so well with the rest of the electric musical instruments, returning itself also in a wheel of compositions, given in a way that they have nothing to be jealous of from foreign attempts in the frames of the so-called world music.”
- Antonis Boskoitis, Difono magazine
Discography
Kontrabando "Cargo" (2003, Libra Music)
Photos
Bio
Kontrabando is a group of musicians from Greece experimenting with the colours of music and expressing themselves through the use of various instruments both from eastern and western music fields. Formed in 1999, and based in Kavala, Greece, K is the musical vehicle of master kanun player and composer Alkis Zopoglou. A wide range of musical instruments have been introduced to the band (oud, lyre, double bass, keyboards, clarinet a.o.), serving the musical needs of the personal compositions.
The year 2003 saw the release of K s first record: Cargo that came out through Greeces most prestigious independent label, Libra Music, and consisted of 13 tracks - an amalgam of eclectic easterness and experimenting westerness. The album also featured some of Greeces most renowned soloists: Nikos Sidirokastritis (drums), Vangelis Karipis (percussion), Kostas Theodorou (double bass) and Giorgos Zachariou (clarinet). Raved by the critics as one of the years best, Cargo established K as one of the hottest names in the Greek music scene.
The band toured throughout Greece, and also performed in music festivals in Istanbul (Turkey), Ohrid (F.Y.R.O.M.), Nurnberg (Germany), Plovdiv (Bulgaria), Bari (Italy), always getting the best reviews.
In 2007 the new Alkis Zopoglou & Kontrabando CD hits the stores late December. The CD is titled Elephant and is consisted of 8 new instrumental compositions by Zopoglou and a dynamic cover version of the renowned greek popular song Garsona (penned by Panayiotis Tountas and made famous by the leading greek singer Haris Alexiou). Recordings took place in various studios throughout Greece from March to July 2007. The album was produced by Elephant Music Ltd. (being the newly found labels first production) and is distributed throughout Greece by Music Post.
Elephant features the appearance of 18 musicians overall. Amongst them some of Greeces most accomplished instrumentalists like Vangelis Karipis (percussion), Haig Yazdjian (oud), Dimitris Yiannopoulos (sax), Alexandros Ktistakis (drums), Pantelis Stoikos (trumpet), Vassilis Tzortzinis (lute) and many others.
For further details, as well as band news, tour info etc., visit www.alkiszopoglou.gr
Links
