Music Soup

MUSIC SOUP is a mainstay on the Greek jazz scene where they perform in all types of venues, from festivals and concert halls to jazz clubs, bars, and cafes. Evgenia and Nestor first met in 1998 when Nestor hired Evgenia to sing for a performance with his band. They continued playing together on and off for many years before they decided to form MUSIC SOUP in 2006. According to Evgenia, “We came up with our group name because we wanted to play different jazz-oriented styles in different group settings. We wanted a name that was a bit light-hearted, because we’re serious about our music but we prefer to not take ourselves very seriously.” CUT TO THE CHASE released in 2016, celebrates the group’s 10-year anniversary. Nestor adds, “We wanted our first project to reflect our musical journey as individuals and as a band. We try to capture in our compositions what it’s like as human beings to really live in the world and interact with people in different situations; therefore, in order to represent a whole range of our personal experiences, we don’t limit ourselves stylistically.” Evgenia Karlafti and Nestor Dimopoulos are two highly accomplished musicians, composers and arrangers who, although they live half a world away, have digested the quintessentially American idiom of jazz and created a sound that is imbued with their own culture, experiences, and personalities. Evgenia is an imaginative singer, organist and pianist, while Nestor’s musicianship is luminous. Together, along with their stellar sidemen, they have created a project that is high energy and innovative. Music has always been part of Evgenia's life. Her father played the guitar, her mother played the accordion, and Evgenia began playing piano at the age of four. She is a classically trained pianist and has been a soloist and member of several chamber music ensembles, a keyboardist in rock groups, and she has also performed Greek and ethnic music. She started singing jazz as an adult and fell in love with the freedom and the rhythm the music offers. From that point on, she decided to focus mainly on singing and playing jazz. Nestor started playing classical guitar at an early age but was curious to see what was beyond that, so he decided to enroll at Berklee College of Music in Boston where he studied jazz guitar. He worked with outstanding professors such as Ed Tommasi, Garison Fewel, and Ron Savage. After earning a degree at Berklee he took private lessons in jazz improvisation with Jerry Bergonzi. Nestor came back to Greece after spending a decade in the USA. Besides leading his own band, he also performs as a sideman in jazz festivals, clubs, and special events. Albums “Upbeat Mood”, 2024 ChickenCoup /Summit Records “Cut To The Chase”, 2016 ChickenCoup /Summit Records Awards Semi Finalist at International Songwriting Competition, 2013, 2016, 2023