The sound of sax player and composer Melina Paxinos emerges, fills up the space and carries you along.
Melina Paxinos
With the sensitivity of the sax
Text: Marni Hatziemmanouil
Through the soul’s chords, bursting with emotions, profound and lucid at once, sometimes rhythmic and other times touching upon Mediterranean melodies, yet always unique and singular, raising its own voice over the stature of the worlds that surrounds it, the sound of sax player and composer Melina Paxinos (b. 1993) emerges, fills up the space and carries you along. “Right from an early age I have traveled through the paths of Hadjidakis ‘for a little white seashell’ all the way to Vamvakaris’ ‘blue windows’, thanks to the music soirées at my parents’ home. Rebetika songs and the music of our great composer were my lullaby while often drifting asleep on the red lining of my father’s bouzouki case… The combination of my educator mother and my shipwright father was my starting-off point.”
Melina Paxinos, daughter of Greek immigrant parents, was born and raised in Hamburg, Germany. At the age of nine she took on piano lessons, receiving a scholarship for music composition from Hamburg’s Yamaha Music School. The following year, the saxophone and jazz came into her life, whereas a little later on she joined the Big Band of Hamburg’s Wilhelm-Gymnasium, a school that places particular emphasis on music training. In 2018, she obtained her Bachelor of Arts from Berlin’s SRH Hochschule der populären Künste, majoring in music production and composition. “Loneliness helps me develop my ideas, while offering me inner balance. Apart from the loneliness experienced within the studio, I also embrace loneliness amidst the madding crowd, for example whenever I consciously choose to attend a concert or visit a museum all by myself, so as to rejoice in my own way and rhythm. After moments like these, I do reach out to my family, friends and colleagues, seeking human contact. These two aspects of my characters feed on one another.”
In 2018, Melina Paxinos Quartet was formed, featuring herself as the composer, as well playing the sax, matched by Yiannis Papadopoulos (piano), Ntinos Manos (double bass) and Dimitris Klonis (drums). “Magic in music usually comes when least expected. Among the most precious moments is wherever I get that feeling of becoming one with my partners while playing in a jazz club or at a festival. It is as if our common love for music is multiplied and a new ‘us’ is being forged. And to me, that’s nothing short of magic.”
Melina Paxinos has released five albums and is currently sharing her time between Athens, Hamburg and Berlin. “Athens is something special to me. I love it deeply and it represents a great part of my inspiration. The experiences it offers me are unique: concerts (jazz and classical music), museums, strolling around in the neighbourhood of Plaka, the city’s light, friends and music partners who live there. Athens fascinates me through its intense contradictions. It is a city where incongruous elements coexist and make up a singular identity, providing me with the freedom to explore and create.”
The best way to reach out to the audience is to connect with my band. I hope and believe that this connection gets through to the audience, and gradually a bond is crafted between us. The applause is no doubt a beautiful gesture, much needed both by the musicians and the audience itself.
A pivotal chapter in her course came in 2022, “when I took part at the Athens & Epidaurus Festival, where I had the delight of playing with my band at the concert series ‘Jazz at the Square’, in the open-air venue of Peiraios 260. This experience brought together the remarkable ambiance of this festival and the distinct aesthetic of the industrial environment.” Music for films and choreographies is another significant piece in the puzzle of her career. “The best way to reach out to the audience is to connect with my band. I hope and believe that this connection gets through to the audience, and gradually a bond is crafted between us. The applause is no doubt a beautiful gesture, much needed both by the musicians and the audience itself.”
With the “ideal mixture made of love, talent, self-composure and freedom,” as their bedrock, Melina Paxinos’ compositions emit timeless messages. Released in November 2024, and drawing inspiration from the Surrealist movement on the account of the 100th anniversary since the publishing of André Breton’s Surrealist Manifesto (1924), her recent orchestral album titled Amoroso stands as an indicative example. “The album renders homage to Surrealism, a movement that shaped to a great extent both artistic imagination and the freedom of expression. I was particularly influenced by several of René Magritte’s works such as The Lovers II, The Heartstrings and The False Mirror, in an album that interweaves a wide gamut of musical instruments, ranging from a string quintet and woodwinds all the way to a harp, a synthesizer and a vibraphone.”
Another noteworthy collaboration under her belt is the music she composed for visual and video artist George Drivas’ latest film titled The Biography of a Software. “George was outstanding in every step of the way, from the way he conveyed his desires to me and his kindness to the immense creative freedom he allowed me to have. My band and I played live at the film’s screening held at Pi Foundation – Global Center for Circular Economy and Culture, in Delphi, within the framework of the programme ‘All of Greece One Culture 2024’, carried out under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture.”
Her quartet made it to the final five nominees in the respective category of the 2024 Made in New York Jazz Competition, whereas her compositions have earned various honorary distinctions, having also been presented alongside the works of prolific composers such as Nino Rota and Ennio Morricone. Melina Paxinos has written music for the children’s audio novel The 8 Little Fishes and the Time Machine by Stella Tsianios and Dimitris Athanasiou. “We joined forces with famous chefs Lefteris Lazarou, Christoforos Peskias, Asterios Koustoudis, and many more. This work was created under the auspices of International Action Art and the Club for UNESCO of Piraeus and Islands. Every collaboration and partnership with preeminable people gives me strength and helps me to evolve,” she concludes.
Melina Paxinos and her band have appeared in distinguished festivals and prestigious venues such as: Fabrik (Hamburg), B-Flat Jazz Club (Berlin), Zig Zag Jazz Club (Berlin), Athens & Epidaurus Festival, Syros Jazz Festival, Red Bull Music (London), Rhodes Jazz Festival, Half Note Jazz Club (Athens), Goldbekhaus (Hamburg), Heraklion Jazz Festival, Costa Navarino Hotel, Grande Bretagne Hotel, Hilton Hotel, Global Center of Circular Economy and Culture, American School of Classical Studies, Kasos Jazz Festival, etc.
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