Fotis Anagnostou, bass player since 2016 with the Julian Sas Band, has passed away. Julian said on his Facebook site shortly before Christmas that Anagnostou had been diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer and that he was being flown back to his home in Athens.

Tenny Tahamata’s popularity as bass-man with The Julian Sas Band made him a hard act to follow, but Anagnostou’s obvious enthusiasm and ever-present smile onstage quickly made him popular with Julian’s huge fan base. He also brought with him lots of musical experience, having been a popular musician on the Greek Rock/Metal scene for some time. Gothic metal band Nightfall were a first success in 1999. Fotis appeared on albums by Spitfire and Casus Belli between 2001 and 2005 and most recently he can be heard on a track from Snowblind’s 2020 release ‘The Holy Metal Spirit’ which an Amazon fan describes thus “traditional heavy metal, with some dark/death touches, plus epic atmosphere”. It seems hard to imagine the smiling Fotis on our Bonn stage fitting such a musical description but it is a tribute to his talents.

The talent wasn’t only with regard to his bass playing either. In 2002 Anagnostou married in Amsterdam and formed EAS Guitars where he was also a Luthier (check out his cool guitar in the picture). He was also a special needs teacher.
Fotis described his arrival with Julian Sas thus on the group’s website:

“When I came to holland I started playing live again in some blues/rock bands. I love to play live music and give a good vibe to the people.
When I was asked for the Julian Sas band I was proud. This is a band where I feel at home and I share the same love for music as they do”.

In a band that always makes its fans feel like brothers and sisters when they pack the Harmonie each year, his passing at only 49 is a sad day for a big musical family and a sad day for all of us who appreciate musicians who play from the heart.