Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Sommer / Yannatou / Floridis / Voulgaris / Kastanis: Son...
Sommer / Yannatou / Floridis / Voulgaris / Kastanis: Songs for Kommeno
ByGiven Sommer's history as a free improviserincluding landmark recordings with pianist Cecil Taylor and saxophonist Peter BrötzmannSongs for Kommeno may surprise some listeners. The drummer is joined by four Greek musicians, Floris Floridis on soprano saxophone, clarinet and bass clarinet, vocalist Savina Yannatou, bassist Spilios Kastanis and Evgenis Voulgaris on oud and yayli tanbur. Although they have experience as improvisers, the album consists of a suite of Sommer compositionsthe "songs" of the album titlewhich combine their sounds together in music with a distinctive Greek flavor to it, characterized by the sustained drone of bowed strings plus melodic reed work from Floridis. Throughout, Gunter's playing underpins everything, with his subtle use of a variety of percussion effects adding coloration and emphasis to his music.
The fragile beauty of Yannatou's voice is key to the music, successfully conveying the emotional impact of the events it remembers. Time and again, her wordless vocals are effectively contrasted with other instruments to emphasis the vulnerability of the voice. On "Andartes," there is a stark contrast between the strict military-style rhythms laid down by Gunter's drums and the looseness of the voice. The album's longest track, "Marias Miroloi," achieves drama by setting the voice against some brutal, hard-edged saxophone in a passage that can be heard as a musical recreation of the massacre.
Yet, the real strength of Songs for Kommeno is that it does not attempt to be "programme music," giving a musical account of the events of 1943. In fact, the music here will be just as beautiful and affecting for those who have no knowledge of what happened in Kommeno all those years ago. A stunning achievement.
Track Listing
Tears; Lost Ring; Andartes; Marias Miroloi; Arachthos; Lullaby; Children Song; Kommeno Today.
Personnel
Gunter Baby Sommer
drumsGünter "Baby" Sommer: drums, percussion, direction; Savina Yannatou: voice; Floros Floridis: soprano saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet; Evgenios Voulgaris: yayli tanbur, oud; Spilios Kastanis: bass.
Album information
Title: Songs for Kommeno | Year Released: 2012 | Record Label: Intakt Records
< Previous
Live
Comments
About Gunter Baby Sommer
Instrument: Drums
Related Articles | Concerts | Albums | Photos | Similar To