Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » George Cotsirilos: Past Present

101

George Cotsirilos: Past Present

By

View read count
George Cotsirilos: Past Present
George Cotsirilos' meticulous and tasteful guitar work is marked by remarkably subtle shifts in accents, and minute changes in expression and dynamics. On Past Present, he also displays an impeccable sense of timin,g especially in revealing the hidden rhythms of complex melodies. His approach to harmony is whimsical, but patently beautiful at all times. He is fleet-fingered across the fret board and equally expressive as he plucks the strings of his guitar, or simply rolls over them with fingertips, like brushstrokes on a canvas. He must have been a marksman in a past life, because he is so uncannily "bang-on" the pulse a song. And when songs rush and dally from verse to verse, Cotsirilos is damping and setting the strings free to catch each new pulse as it manifests itself.

Cotsirilos plays as he breathes—sometimes in short, excited gasps and at other times in longer, deeper gulps of air. As breathing is seamless, so is his guitar playing, and the only indication that his playing appears synchronized with his breath is the way he sometimes adds resonant spaces between notes or phrases. On "Franny's Jump," played at a brisk pace, Cotsirilos allows the melody to breathe in such a relaxed manner that the silences, though echoing with the last notes heard, enrich the melody with their slurred space. The title track is another example of a song burning with the cold fire of deep meditation. The lilting, Latin-American downbeat, played on diminished notes by bass and guitar, is spectacular, as the music mines a kind of mosaic, reminiscent of a filigreed time when days melted rather ceremoniously into night.

The music here is sophisticated; Cotsirilos is an accomplished writer. On this album, and with a trio, there is no real room to display contrapuntal skills, but that does not stop the guitarist from creating mosaics of a musical nature. Sometimes his linear melodies develop such towering harmonies that the simple becomes ornate with breathtaking twists and turns. Cotsirilos does this by creating harmonic whorls that swathe the melody with diaphanous beauty. The transformation of songs such as "The Way You Look Tonight," "Without a Song" and his own "Rosie's Tune" have that utterly disarming effect.

Cotsirilos has picked colleagues who support him with extraordinary sympathy. Bassist, Robb Fisher has star turns with wonderful solos too. His imaginative turns on "Franny's Jump" and on "Café 4 Cats" throw a special spotlight on both songs. His dramatic solo picks up the intense passion of "Past Present," and forces the song to maintain its abstractions, while remaining blithely romantic. Drummer Ron Marabuto is the other reason why this album burns with an earthy flame. He plays with taste and great subtlety, like few drummers today. Marabuto's adroit manipulations of his brassware, and the way he sinks accents into the skins, make him ideally suited for a wonderful record such as this.

Track Listing

Good Wood; Without a Song; The Way You Look Tonight; Franny's Jump; Past PResent; Rosie's Tune; Cafe 4 Cats; Bittersweet; What Kind of Fool Am I; Cual Problema?

Personnel

George Cotsirilos: guitar; Robb Fisher: bass; Ron Marabuto: drums.

Album information

Title: Past Present | Year Released: 2010 | Record Label: Origin Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.