GEORGE HASLAM / NIKOLAS SKORDAS - Lethe - Ληθη
SLAMCD 333
Nikolas Skordas, soprano and tenor saxes, Tárogató and flutes; George Haslam, alto sax, Tarogato and zither; Guest, Sophia Koroxenou, voice (tracks 8, 10)
Recorded 09-10/12/2018 at Shellac Recording Studios, Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece
Lethe- Ληθη - Tracks
1: River Of Hades; 2: The Windows; 3: Conversation With Birds; 4: Spiritual Fall; 5: Life In Wrong Way; 6: Nostos; 7: No Plans; 8: Eternal Dreams; 9: Praying In Desert; 10: Lethe = Ληθη
I have, unusually, included the track names as I think that they do allude to the general meaning of the complete piece. In classical Greek, Lethe (Ληθη)means ‘forgetfulness’ and is related to the Greek word for ‘truth’, i.e. ‘un-forgetfulness’. The River Lethe from Greek Mythology has often appeared in Western culture since those early times. Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy (1308-1320) refers to the stream of Lethe as ‘flowing to the centre of the earth from its surface’, while almost five centuries later John Keats wrote ‘No, no! Go not to Lethe’ as the opening line of his Ode on Melancholy. Lord Byron told us that ‘Thetis baptized her mortal son in Styx; A mortal mother would on Lethe fix.’ (Don Juan: 1819-1824). Not to be outdone, the French joined the fray in the poem of Baudelaire, Le Spleen de Paris, (1869): ‘He failed to warm this dazed cadaver in whose veins, Flows the green water of Lethe in place of blood’.
George Haslam is a tour de force on baritone, but relinquishes it here in favour of the alto. It makes no difference to his power, musically, as he has been around the avant-garde and improvisational for fifty something years. He is a great improvisor, probably one of the greatest in the history of jazz.
His duets here with Nikolas Skordas are based entirely on free improvisation and the duo are occasionally bolstered by the freely improvisational vocals of Skordas’ wife, Sophia Koroxenou. Skordas is a thoroughly studied jazz musician, whereas Haslam is essentially self-taught. At the same time, Skordas says that he is a performer and composer and that his music is a continuous, spiritual quest. That will suit both these artists and they won’t find much more spiritual than this heady album that is much brighter and cheerful than its references might suggest.
Reviewed by Ken Cheetham
SLAMCD 333
Nikolas Skordas, soprano and tenor saxes, Tárogató and flutes; George Haslam, alto sax, Tarogato and zither; Guest, Sophia Koroxenou, voice (tracks 8, 10)
Recorded 09-10/12/2018 at Shellac Recording Studios, Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece
Lethe- Ληθη - Tracks
1: River Of Hades; 2: The Windows; 3: Conversation With Birds; 4: Spiritual Fall; 5: Life In Wrong Way; 6: Nostos; 7: No Plans; 8: Eternal Dreams; 9: Praying In Desert; 10: Lethe = Ληθη
I have, unusually, included the track names as I think that they do allude to the general meaning of the complete piece. In classical Greek, Lethe (Ληθη)means ‘forgetfulness’ and is related to the Greek word for ‘truth’, i.e. ‘un-forgetfulness’. The River Lethe from Greek Mythology has often appeared in Western culture since those early times. Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy (1308-1320) refers to the stream of Lethe as ‘flowing to the centre of the earth from its surface’, while almost five centuries later John Keats wrote ‘No, no! Go not to Lethe’ as the opening line of his Ode on Melancholy. Lord Byron told us that ‘Thetis baptized her mortal son in Styx; A mortal mother would on Lethe fix.’ (Don Juan: 1819-1824). Not to be outdone, the French joined the fray in the poem of Baudelaire, Le Spleen de Paris, (1869): ‘He failed to warm this dazed cadaver in whose veins, Flows the green water of Lethe in place of blood’.
George Haslam is a tour de force on baritone, but relinquishes it here in favour of the alto. It makes no difference to his power, musically, as he has been around the avant-garde and improvisational for fifty something years. He is a great improvisor, probably one of the greatest in the history of jazz.
His duets here with Nikolas Skordas are based entirely on free improvisation and the duo are occasionally bolstered by the freely improvisational vocals of Skordas’ wife, Sophia Koroxenou. Skordas is a thoroughly studied jazz musician, whereas Haslam is essentially self-taught. At the same time, Skordas says that he is a performer and composer and that his music is a continuous, spiritual quest. That will suit both these artists and they won’t find much more spiritual than this heady album that is much brighter and cheerful than its references might suggest.
Reviewed by Ken Cheetham
