UPBEAT MOOD – Music Soup Organ Trio

GENRE: Jazz/Organ Trio
COMPOSERS: Nester Dimopoulos, Evgenia Karlafti, Burt Bacharach

Nestor Dimopoulos (guitar), Evgenia Karlafti (organ), Vagelis Kotzabasis (drums)

Kym Purling (piano) on tracks 3 & 6 (“Around The World” & “Fun Island”)
Henry Gergen (trumpet) on track 8 (“Appointment in Athens”)

Soup can be an appetizer or a main dish. It can be spicy, it could be an adventurous mix of ingredients or it could be that comforting thing we know well and desire when we want to feel happy or simply content. MUSIC SOUP’s music conjures much of this; spicy, comforting, adventurous.

In 2006, organist Evgenia Karlafti and guitarist Nestor Dimopoulos began their musical collaboration and formed a band, cleverly naming it Music Soup. Joining the band in 2014, drummer Vangelis Kotsabasis is the third member of the core trio, always delivering a strong rhythmic foundation to explore the musical possibilities of the classic organ trio setting.

The recording BEGINS with a tune written by Nestor and Evgenia entitled “Korean Apartment. In many ways reminiscent of a Woody Shaw composition with its melodic shapes and harmonies that take unexpected twists and turns. Vangelis and Evgenia provide a solid back drop for Nestor’s melody to unfold – delivering a very lyrical yet authoritative solo. Evgenia’s organ solo is a wonderful contrast. She plays with fire from the very beginning and sustains this energy throughout track!

…this recording ENDS with “Appointment In Athens”, a catchy boogaloo that features American trumpeter Henry Gergen. Once again the addition of a special guest (Kym Purling [piano] “Around The World” & “Fun Island”) adds another color to this musically diverse group. Gergen makes his presence known with his focused tone and authoritative solo while the organ, guitar and drums continue to deliver soulful performances.

Everything in-between sustains and maintains the high level heard throughout the entire wonderful recording.

REVIEW:

Comfort food grooves are served by the organ trio collection of Nestor Dimopoulos/g, Evgenia Karlafti/org and Vagelis Kotzabasis on the  hopping set of mostly originals. Hip pulses are in abundance with Dimopoulos’ guitar gliding like vintage Grant Green on hummers like “Korean Apartment” and the gently swinging “A Day In The  Park”. Kotzabasis supplies a funky back beat and Karlafti is accompanied here on Fun Island” and the snappy “Around The World” by pianist Kym Purling, while he pulls out all the stomps as he gets into a churchy mood on “Freeland”. Henry’ Gergen’s trumpet adds to the boogaloo mood of “Appointment In Athens”, with the overall mood reminiscent of vintage ideas with Grant Green and Larry Young. A hip hugger!

-George Harris for Jazz Weekly

REVIEW:

Considering the wonderful myriad of classic jazz influences and adventurous spirit of traveling inherent in the spirited, deliriously bluesy and hip swinging of their second, perfectly titled recording Upbeat Mood, Music Soup is the perfect moniker for the Greek trio co-founded by guitarist Nestor Diopoulous and organist Evgenia Karlafti in 2006 and began recording after adding drummer Vangelis Kotsabasis in 2014.

The root of their eclectic contemporary ensemble vibe can be traced back to Grant Green’s mid-60’s classic Solid, which featured Joe Henderson, McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones – but the continuously inventive and engaging eight-song collection also has glorious sparks of Horace Silver and Pat Metheny (on the peppy, fast swirling title track that dynamically showcases Diopoulous’ and Karlafti’s improvisational mastery) and Oscar Peterson, who they pay homage to moody, soulful homage to via “Freeland (To O,P. With Love).”

Using these inspirations as springboard, Music Soup whips up a highly original journey that takes us, literally, “Around the World” (a fascinating fusion whirlwind artfully blending Karlafti’s organ with the wild soloing of Australian guest pianist Kym Purling), to exotic places like a “Korean Apartment, a feisty, hard grooving tune written during when the Diopolous and Karlafti were on an extended stay in South Korea;; a buoyant, highly danceable “Fun Island”; and, closer to home, a brisk stroll to an “Appointment in Athens,” which features a bright, snazzy trumpet solo by Henry Gergen.

Another gem is the lone non-original piece, the Burt Bacharach-penned “My Little Red Book,” originally recorded by Manfred Mann and which translates well into a romp that perfectly captures the sparkling energy of Music Soup.

-Jonathan Widran for JW Vibe

REVIEW:

Co-leaders, Dimopoulos and Karlafti have been playing together for some time.  They began by playing in clubs with Evgenia Karlafti playing piano, sometimes with a quartet, or as a duo, also with Evgenia singing while playing piano, accompanied by Nestor Dimopoulos on guitar. They assumed the group name, Music Soup.

On this recent release, scheduled to hit the streets on September 6, 2024, Evgenia Karlafti steps from the piano to play organ, along with Nestor Dimopoulos on guitar and Vagelis Kotzabasis on the drums.  I am drawn to their second song, “A Day in the Park” written by Dimopoulos.  It’s a bright ‘swing’ number and gives both Dimopoulos and Karlafti time to dig in and improvise on their solos.  Vagelis Kotzabasis brightly pops his drum licks to inspire the trio forward. This tune reminds me of the 1960s when organ trios were popular in jazz clubs around the country.

Music Soup (the trio) has been together since 2014.  Consequently, they resonate as a group that’s tight, and they feel comfortable with each other. “Freeland” is an original composition by Karlafti and dedicated to “O.P with love”, the initials of Oscar Peterson who is a pianist she admires.

They have written all the music for this project. I enjoyed “Around the World,” an original song that the duo co-wrote.  I wish they had let their drummer solo on that extended vamp. All in all, These are three talented musicians who offer their original compositions with a 1960’s style of playing and arranging. They are currently based in Athens, Greece but plan on touring the U.S in the fall.

-Dee Dee McNeil

REVIEW:

“Dimopoulous makes no effort to withhold his admiration for hard-bop guitarists such as Grant Green, pre-Verve Wes Montgomery and Kenny Burrell. He is a technical master, deftly constructing his solos forays. Karlafti is an obvious acolyte of the great Blue Note organists Jimmy Smith and Big John Patton et al. With Joey DeFrancesco sadly gone, Karlafti (along with Tony Monaco) is a Hammond talent worthy of note. Upbeat Mood is just that.”

-Nicholas Mondello for All About Jazz

REVIEW:

One of the most pleasing formats in Jazz is the B3 trio. It endures because it has warmth and groove in equal proportions and it makes us happy. To unleash the full potential of the B3 a bass pedalboard must be used, and this difficult-to-master art is increasingly rare. There are hands, knees and feet, all doing different things, there are two keyboards and a bewildering array of sliders and knobs to be coordinated. On the new Music Soup album we not only have a skilled pedaling-organist in Evgenia Karlafti but on two tracks a guest pianist (Kym Purling) is added into the mix. This adds to the complexity, as three chordal instruments can clash and crowd each other out; so skilled musicianship and the right compositions are called for. That is what you get with ‘Upbeat Mood’.

The guitarist, Nestor Demopoulos, co-founder of the trio with Karlafti, can power up the groove with solos reminiscent of Pat Martino, Grant Green or Paul Bollenback. His tone is a warm embrace and his comping urges the soloists to greater heights. The other trio member is drummer Vagelis Kotzabasis and his contribution nicely rounds off the core trio. They respond to each other throughout, enhancing the swing feel by their interplay. It is particularly evident on the opening track, ‘Korean Apartment’, a masterclass in Groove.

There is variety throughout, but all of the tunes are imbued with a sense of intimacy—the sort you might experience in a small Athens Jazz club on a balmy summer night. Unsurprisingly, Music Soup has come to the attention of notables like Tony Monaco and Pat Bianchi, the latter supplying liner notes for the album. The tunes are all originals by Karlafti and Demopoulos, except for Burt Bacherach’s ‘The Little Red Book’. The album can be purchased as a CD at www.musicsoupband.com or accessed on streaming channels.

-John Fenton for JazzLocal32.com, New Zealand