ATHENS – A cool summer breeze and delicious smooth jazz in the courtyard of the Stavros Niarchos Cultural Center (SNFCC) in Kallithea, Athens – it does not get much better than that on a summer night anywhere in the world.

On a beautiful Thursday evening, July 19, SNFCC’s Jazz Chronicles hosted a remarkable duo – Israeli singer Tamuz Nissim and guitarist George Nazos. They have been composing and performing together since 2009 and in 2015, they moved to New York, where they are friends with the numerous gifted Greek musicians who live there.

Hundreds of native Athenians and summer visitors turned out for a scintillating performance of their original compositions and standards like “Smile,” the achingly-sweet tune composed by Charlie Chaplin.

In 2017, Nissim and Nazos released “Liquid Melodies” and their arrangement of George Gershwin’s “Fascinating Rhythm” was chosen for Jeff Hanley’s show Jazz Happening Now.
Nissim sang and played piano while George Nazos was featured on guitar, joined by Kostas Mavridis on double bass and Vasilis Podaras on drums.