Yiotis Kiourtsoglou

Born in Kozani in 1965. He studied Electrical Engineering in Thessaloniki while studying jazz and music theory at Synchrono Odeio of Thessaloniki. He went on to take bass guitar lessons at the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles (1987-89), where he was awarded a scholarship by the Institute as well as the Best Student of the Year Award. His teachers included Gary Willis, Carl Schroeder, Jeff Berlin, Bob Magnuson and Scott Henderson. He has an extensive discography with groups such as Electric Jazz Trio, Exit, Iasis, Tilman and Lauenen, most of which he was a founding member. He has performed at festivals and concert venues in Greece, Cyprus, the USA, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Germany, Spain and Israel, including Lincoln Center, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Megaron – Τhe Athens Concert Hall, Acropolis Theatre and Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus. He has collaborated with renowned artists such as Billy Hart, Manny Boyd, Danny Hayes, the Interbalkan Orchestra, Dionysis Savvopoulos, Thanos Mikroutsikos, Elli Paspala and Alkinoos Ioannidis.