La Tulipe Noire

La Tulipe Noire is a Greek Progressive Rock Band. The group formed in Athens Greece in 1997. Initial members: Lena on vocals, Alix (piano & keys), S. Kontakis (el. & ac. guitar), Y. Barkoulas (el. & ac. guitar), George F. (drums) and finally Hyde on bass guitar. During the same year the band recorded and released ?In the Gates of Dream? through the Greek label Europa Records which was distributeed by MUSEA. Then Lena left the band to continue her studies in classical vocals and then George F. left the band.

The group formed in Athens Greece in 1997. Initial members: Lena on vocals, Alix (piano & keys), S. Kontakis (el. & ac. guitar), Y. Barkoulas (el. & ac. guitar), George F. (drums) and finally Hyde on bass guitar. During the same year the band recorded and released ?In the Gates of Dream? through the Greek label Europa Records which was distributeed by MUSEA. Then Lena left the band to continue her studies in classical vocals and then George F. left the band. They were replaced by Ima on vocals and Nick Kassavetis on drums. Ima made backing vocals for various artists of mainstream music before joining the group in 1997
In 2000, LTN's second album ?Shattered Image? was released by Musea. It met a great success around the world. Hundreds of e-mails were sent...with enthousiastic comments about the group. Shortly after Y. Bakoulas left the band...replaced by K. Savvides who started as ?guest star? before becoming a regular member, then the group released ?Faded Leaves? in 2002 with great success around the world.
After a period of four years due to Kassavetis's health problems on March the 1st 2006 MUSEA released LTN's fourth album ?Nostimon Hemar? which seems to be the greater commercial and artistic release of the group till now! ?Nostimon Hemar? is an allegory of Homer's Odyssey, telling the stories of the adventures of modern man.
Members:
Starting with keyboards, Hyde, moved later toward bass, he is the main composer along with Alix and he is writing all the lyrics. He has played with various rock and progressive rock groups composed by students from Thessaloniki, second Greek town after Athens, like Periploki (Complication) and Iris to mention these two.
Alix, keyboardist and piano player, is a founder member of the band and she is participating in the compositions with Hyde.
After the release of Nostimon Hemar Ima left the group and she was replaced by Tatiana, singer and musician. She has made piano and vocal studies for many years and she's also released some personal albums and participated in many groups of the greek scene.
Guitarist Marios also joined the group at the same time. He has studied classical and electric guiter and participated in many rock groups till now.
Lately two well known musicians joined the group.
Gavin Scott electric and acoustic bass player, studied on a scholarship at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston MA, and became the first recipient of the Quincy Jones Award for Musicianship in 1992 . He has worked with artists like Earth Wind & Fire, Liza Minnelli, Rod Stewart and Elton John. He has toured Europe and the USA, performing at many major festivals, opening for James Brown at V'98 and playing to a crowd of 100,000 at Belfast's Millennium celebrations. He has also played and directed very important jazz groups.
Michael Osborn drummer and percussionist, studied percussion at the Royal Academy of Music. He has played for many of the London Orchestras and has also worked, recorded and toured with many varied artists including Bette Midler, Kiri Te Kanawa, Rick Astley, Vanessa Mae, Freddie Mercury as well as many jazz artists.


The band is now recording the next album called "MATRICIDE".