Some records, no matter the genres played, have got some deep stories to tell than others and whether those stories are narrated or not in form of spoken words, it doesn't really matter, in the final analysis, as long as those stories are felt emotionally by the listener.
The story behind a record called Arcs & Rivers, from Swedish Jazz and Classical pianist and composer Joel Lyssarides and Greek bouzouki virtuoso Georgios Prokopiou, it is most certainly a deep one, a story that is made of family roots, fortuitous meetings and, most importantly, of a musical bridge between two cultures and genres faraway and still so close.
Lyssarides is a Swedish artist that has got a Greek and Cypriot background that goes far back as three generations. For years, this very talented pianist and lover of a Jazz expressionism that embraces layers of classical music too, had thought about the possibility of digging into the music and the sound of his ancestors, something that, for a reason or another, didn't happen until 2022.
In the fall of said year, Lyssarides happened to meet Georgios Prokopiou, master of the bouzouki, this long neck lute symbol of the tradition of Greek music, a meeting that saw the two artists pulling together hours of improvisational music that Lyssarides had the foresight to capture on his mobile phone.
Those hours of improvisational jamming between Prokopiou and Lyssarides then developed to proper, different compositions, which finally saw the light of the day through this rather splendid record called Arcs And Rivers.
The record, produced by both artists together with producer Andreas Brandis, is a marvelous sonic combustion between two artists that, very often and throughout the 10 pieces present on the album, sound like a unique musical body, where Prokopiou's remarkable virtuosity on bouzouki and Lyssarides' soothing and istrionic piano playing style fuse together with great harmony and in a very organically way too.
In each of the compositions included in Arcs & Rivers, both Lyssarides and Prokopiou allow each other also room for individual expression (in our opinion, very wisely) from a musical and a personal perspective, something that gives the opportunity to the listener to understand them both as masters of their instruments and genres and also to figure their personal and musical roots through the sound of their own instruments, making of this record also a sort of a journal into both artists' souls, where is the music that tells their stories of musicians and human beings.
It is impossible to pinpoint moments, within the record, to be described as highlights, because each of Prokopiou and Lyssarides pieces are showing a different side of their talent and their personalities, moving from romantic or more melancholic moments to others were both artists decide to go free form, the latters being moments where one can really appreciate how much two instruments, apparently so distant from one another, are able to create some improvisational Jazz moments of such intensity and creativity, as so beautifully expressed on Arcs & Rivers.
Lyssarides and Prokopiou debut record is an absolute triumph of originality, virtuosity and musical vision. It's a record that warms the listeners from beginning to end and invites them to embrace their artistic journey together with the same passion and enthusiasm for music and their roots that both artists instilled in this very precious sonic gem.
Arcs & Rivers is out now and it can be purchased via Act Music
