Dexterity

Vasilis Xenopoulos Quartet Dexterity

Vasilis Xenopoulos - tenor saxophone
Rob Barron - piano
Simon Thorpe - double Bass
Steve Brown - drums

Saxophonist Vasilis Xenopoulos' third album as a leader celebrates the music and spirit of Dexter Gordon. It features Gordon's original compositions, classic jazz standards played 'Dexter-style', and a couple of Xenopoulos' own Dexter-influenced compositions.

Dexter Gordon was one of the most iconic figures in jazz history and a true heavyweight of the tenor saxophone. His powerful tone and unique ability to create melodic lines influenced many saxophonists around the world and still do to this day.

Saxophonist, composer and educator Vasilis Xenopoulos is one of the most accomplished Greek jazz musicians of his generation and a genuine representative of straight ahead jazz. London became his permanent home after graduating with honors from the Berklee College of Music in Boston and gradually established himself as one of London's up and coming jazz saxophonists. He has worked with some of the best musicians of the International jazz scene as a band leader, a section leader and as a guest soloist at various projects.

Vasilis Xenopoulos talks about his new project Dexterity:
Dexter Gordon was my first big hero of the tenor saxophone and the impact of his music on me goes way back to when I was still a teenager. His 1962 recording 'Go!' was the first of many in my record collection and, to this day, I can still sing along to all the solos from that album with the same enthusiasm I had as a kid. In the following years, there have inevitably been other influences on my playing, but Dexter remains my top inspiration when it comes to tone and melodic development. This project has been a long time coming for me and I hope you will enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed recording it in the studio."