Next Step Quintet was formed in 2011 by Thodoris Kotsifas (guitar), Yiannis Papadopoulos (piano), Ntinos Manos (bass), Billy Pod (drums) and Orfeas Tsoukalas (saxophone), five musicians who met while studying at the Department of Music Studies of the Ionian University.

Their self-titled debut album was released in 2012. The group's second album, featuring US sax player Tivon Pennicott, was released in 2015, and in 2020 they released as a quartet the live album "Live at the Zoo".