Refuge George Cotsirilos Quartet

• 1Devolution04:58
• 2Refuge06:02
• 3Planet Roxoid04:44
• 4Igualmente05:44
• 5The Three Doves06:48
• 6Slacker05:13
• 7Aftermath04:36
• 8A Faint Light06:29
• 9Smoke Signal06:08
• 10Let's Make a Break for It06:21
• Total Runtime57:03

Info for Refuge

A central figure in San Francisco's jazz scene for decades, Chicago-bred guitarist George Cotsirilos follows up his lauded 2018 quartet release, Mostly in Blue, with a solidly swinging collection of new originals. With the many years spent performing together & backing the likes of Cal Tjader, Tommy Flanagan, Art Pepper, or Carmen McRae, Cotsirilos, pianist Keith Saunders, bassist Robb Fisher and drummer Ron Marabuto share an effortless, sophisticated rapport.

"This deservedly well-respected guitarist/composer adds to his already impressive résumé with this, his seventh studio album. As with the trio effort, Variations (OA2 Records, 2013), it's a wonder to hear how he so effortlessly yet precisely he pulls bright lines from his fretboard to then interweave them with the other instrumentalists' sounds ..." (All About Jazz, Doug Collette)

"I loved George Cotsirilos's guitar the moment I heard it. His sound is shrewd and seasoned and he has a refined sense of history. There's ample swing, soul-jazz and a keen sense of fusion in his playing, and I can hear Grant Green's plucking, Pat Metheny's articulation, Joe Pass's chords and John Scofield's note-bending in his playing. Backing Cots ..." (JazzWax, Marc Myers)

"At a troubling and turbulent time, when many jazz albums seek to convey a "message," the only statement that Chicago-bred, San Francisco-based guitarist George Cotsirilos and his able quartet wish to make on Refuge is that swing remains king in their domain, wielding its magisterial influence over ten of Cotsirilos' sunny compositions and arrangeme ..." (All About Jazz, Jack Bowers)

George Cotsirilos, guitar
Keith Saunders, piano
Robb Fisher, bass
Ron Marabuto, drums

George Cotsirilos
Originally from Chicago, George Cotsirilos has been a member of the San Francisco Bay Area jazz community for many years and has performed with a wide variety of artists, from San Francisco jazz fixtures like Eddie Marshall, Mel Martin, Pharaoh Sanders and Mark Levine to internationally recognized blues singer Etta James, Bill Evans bassist Chuck Israels, and the jazz/soul vocal group, The Whispers. In addition to working as an accompanist, he was co-leader of the San Francisco Nighthawks which included legendary drummer Eddie Marshall, Bobby McFerrin pianist Paul Nagel, and former Cal Tjader bassist Robb Fisher. The group recorded for Monarch Records and performed at various venues, including the Monterey Jazz Festival. The George Cotsirilos Trio's album, Variations, received excellent notices, made it well into the top 100 CDs on the jazz radio charts and was chosen by erstwhile Washington Post jazz critic and Jazztimes editor, Royal Stokes, as one of the most notable jazz instrumental CDs of 2013. Variations' immediate predecessor, Past Present, also was released to laudatory reviews and broke into the top 40 jazz albums nationwide. In May of 2011, as part of the Bay Area Jazz Archive Series, Jazz School Records released Seems To Be by the George Cotsirilos Quartet, featuring Eddie Marshall on drums, Paul Nagel on piano and Robb Fisher on bass. Cotsirilos's well-received solo CD, Silenciosa, released on OA2/Origin Records, is a compilation of jazz tunes performed on solo classical guitar. Cotsirilos graduated from the University of California at Berkeley, studied jazz with esteemed musician/educator Warren Nunes, and studied classical guitar privately through the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

This album contains no booklet.