I present to you Alexis Kostas, a virtuoso percussionist, conguero, composer, educator and radio producer from Athens. He is internationally known for his mastery of Afro-Cuban percussion, traditional salsa rhythms and for his creative synthesis of Afro-Cuban polyrhythms with complex rhythms of Greek traditional music, creating a completely personal musical language that bridges two great musical traditions. One of the most impressive elements of his artistic identity is his ability to simultaneously perform independent and highly complex rhythms with his hands and feet. Among his many musical and rhythmic pursuits, Alexis simultaneously performs complex Greek rhythmic cycles. He combines Kalamatianos in 7/8 with Karsilamas in 9/8, whose rhythmic cycles meet again after 63 beats (7 × 9 = 63). At the same time, he performs another simultaneous rhythmic combination, based on cycles of 5 and 7, which meet again after 35 beats (5 × 7 = 35).
He was introduced to the original idea of studying and combining these simultaneous rhythmic cycles by the distinguished Greek drummer and pedagogue Kostas Anastasiadis. Subsequently, Alexis developed his own personal approach to percussion, adapting, evolving and performing these rhythmic ideas through independent hand and foot coordination, creating a particularly demanding and unique form of polyrhythmic performance.
Alexis Kostas was born in the Greek diaspora, in West Germany, on January 12, 1972. At the age of just four, his father, who was a drummer, began teaching him the first rhythms and musical counting, laying the foundations for a life dedicated to percussion. In 1977, he returned with his family to Athens, where he lives to this day, following an uninterrupted path of study, artistic creation and development.
Alexis Kostas and his band Loca Latina, clockwise from left: Alexis Kostas – band leader and congas, George Politis – bass, Stelios Generalis – timbales, Elias Argyropoulos – piano, Michalis Hasouris – trumpet, Dimitris Kanakaris – trumpet, and Seidel Borges – lead vocals and sonero. Photo: Came Photography Studio
Throughout his life, he has dedicated himself to the study of percussion and Afro-Cuban music. He has traveled repeatedly to New York, where he studied, collaborated and performed alongside internationally recognized teachers of Afro-Cuban music, including the leading Pedrito Martínez. His artistic career also includes studies and collaborations with musicians from different cultures, enriching both his technical knowledge and his musical perception.
Fifteen years ago, he founded Loca Latina in Athens, one of the most important salsa orchestras in Greece. The group consists mainly of top Greek musicians, while the main performer and sonero is Seidel Borges, originally from Havana, Cuba. Seidel has lived in Greece for more than 20 years and continues to participate in all of Loca Latina’s concerts, recordings and musical productions.
Today, Loca Latina is among the most acclaimed, authentic and active Latin American music groups in Greece. The orchestra has performed at major international festivals and events, receiving excellent reviews from audiences, dancers, musicians, organizers and colleagues both in Greece and abroad. It is widely known for its authentic Latin American sound, the high level of its musicians, its dynamic live performances and its steadfast commitment to the preservation and promotion of Afro-Cuban and Latin American musical traditions.
Since 2006, Alexis Kostas has been a radio producer and presenter on ERT’s Voice of Greece, the international radio station of the Hellenic Radio and Television. His live show ‘Voices and Music’ is broadcast four times a week and is addressed to a global audience, reaching 32 million Greeks and members of the Greek diaspora worldwide. Through his show, he promotes Greek and international music, hosting important artists from all over the world and creating cultural bridges through the universal language of music.
Alongside his concert activity, Alexis is dedicated to education, research and promotion of the art of percussion. Through concerts, seminars, masterclasses, lectures, recordings and radio broadcasts, he continues to inspire new generations of musicians, acting as a contemporary ambassador of the Greek and Afro-Cuban musical tradition.
His timeless mission is to unite cultures through rhythm, to preserve musical heritage and to constantly seek new creative ways of expression through percussion.
Well done, Alexis! And to the next level! I hope you continue to reach even greater heights. We thank you for your timeless contribution to music, culture and the arts. May God continue to bless your path and inspire all those who are fortunate enough to know and they listen to your music.
Follow Alexis Kostas and his band Loca Latina on the YouTube channel: https://shorturl.at/mW32n.
Demetrios Kastaris, known as ‘El Griego Rumbero’, is a Thessaloniki-born, Greek-American trombonist, composer, bandleader, educator, and founder of The Latin Jazz Coalition
