Kelly Thoma - on the Cretan lyra
Kelly Thoma was born in Piraeus in 1978. Since 1995, she has been studying the lyra with Ross Daly and very shortly thereafter has been travelling with him and his group, “Labyrinth” participating in concerts in Europe, Asia and Australia and the U.S. She has taken part in many projects with musicians from various different traditions from other countries, a fact which has resulted in her development of a unique and very personal style of playing. She has collaborated with many important musicians from all over the world such as the Trio Chemirani, Dhruba Ghosh, Ballake Sissoko, Nayan Ghosh, Mehmet Erenler, Khaled Arman, Hossein Arman, Goksel Baktagir, Yurdal Tokcan, Shubhankar Banerjee, Rufus Cappadocia, Huun Huur Tu and many more. Kelly Thoma has graduated from the English Literature department of the Athens University as well as from the ”Rallou Manou” Dance School.
She has performed with Ross Daly in many important venues and festivals such as: Theatre de la Ville (Paris,2003, 2005), Queen Elizabeth Hall (London,2000,2002), Melbourne Festival (Australia 2001,2003), Megaron Mousikis (Thessaloniki,2001), Athens concert Hall (2006), San Francisco World Music Festival (2005) and many others.
Periklis Papapetropoulos - on saz and lavta
Periklis Papapetropoulos was born in Athens but grew up on the island of Crete. His first musical experiences were with Cretan traditional music and at the age of 16 he participated in village festivals as part of the group of Psarantonis playing laouto and bulgari. In 1985 he met Ross Daly and studied saz and tanbur with him for several years before becoming a regular member of his ongoing musical workshop “Labyrinth”. As a member of “Labyrinth” he participated in concerts, recordings and television productions in Greece and abroad.
He is also a very experienced and renowned teacher of saz and lavta having taught at the Experimental Musical Gymnasium-Lyceum of Pallini, the society for the dissemination of National Music, and the Musical Workshop “Labyrinth.” He has many accomplished students who are today amongst the finest instrumentalists in Greece. He has recorded 2 solo CDs as well as his most recent project “Saz Grubu” (Seistron/MBI, www.aerakis.net ) , an orchestra of saz players who play music from Turkey, Greece, and Bulgaria. He has collaborated with many great musicians of the traditional music scene such as Mehmet Erenler,Talip Ozkan, Paco Penia, Djamchid Chemirani, Kabul Ensemble, Huun-Huur-Tu, Naseer Shamma, Dariush Talai, Hamid Reza Khabbazi, Pedram Kahavar-Zamini, Dhruba Ghosh, Rufus Cappadocia, Vassilis Soukas, Kostas Mountakis, Nikos Saragoudas , Chronis Aidonides, Stelios Petrakis, Giorgos Kotsinis, Domna Samiou,Christos Tsiamoulis Christos Sikkis, Petros Tambouris and many more. He is a permanent member of the Stelios Petrakis' ensemble, of "Letter from Istanbul" group and leader of the group Passed Isolated, which performs innovative compositions of young and talented Greek musicians. He also performs a lavta duet with Sokratis Sinopoulos since 2003, when they first presented this project in Labyrinth Musical Workshop.
Kostas Meretakis - on percussion
Kostas Meretakis was born in Athens in 1979. He studied classical music theory and organ at the Kallithea music school with Evstathios Christelis and Ioannis Kastrinos. He received his diploma in both of these subjects in 1997. Parallel to this he began at a very early age to study traditional percussion instruments with teachers such as Andreas Papas, Giorgos Gevgelis, and Petros Kourtis. He was also a student of Vangelis Karipis at the Experimental Musical Gymnasium-Lyceum in Pallini from which he graduated in 1997.
He began his career in teaching in 1998 at the Municipal music school of Patras and at the Museum of Folk Musical Instruments in Athens. In 2002 he also began teaching traditional percussion instruments at the Experimental Musical Gymnasium-Lyceum and at the Municipal Music School of Aspropyrgos. He has participated extensively in concerts in Greece and abroad as well as in recordings and television productions with artists such as Chronis Aidonidis, Domna Samiou, Christos Tsiamoulis, Nikos Saragoudas, and Ross Daly. He has also participated in concerts with contemporary songwriters Christos Nikolopoulos and Pantelis Thalassinos. In recent years he is a regular member of the Archive of Greek Music and of the Estudiantina Orchestra of Nea Ionia Magnisias.
Influences
Habil Aliev, Vilayat Khan, Nikhil Banerjee, Kostas Mountakis, Nikos Xylouris, Vassilis Soukas, Ballake Sissoko, Trio Chemirani, Kelly Thoma, Pedram Khavar-Zamini, Ziryab Trio, Yurdal Tokcan, Necati Celik, Niyazi Sayin, Omer &; Ahmet Erdogdular, Mirza, Huun Huur Tu, Vassilis Soukas, Thanassis Skordalos, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Zacharis Spyridakis, Ustad Mohammed Omar, Ustad Daud Khan Sadozai, Mohammed Rahim Khushnawaz, Humayoun Sakhi, Ustad Munir Sarhadi, Abdul Rahman Saruzehi, Haris Lambrakis, Shubankar Bannerjee, Rakesh Chaurasia, Rabindra Goswami, Devashish Dey, Dhruba Ghosh, Hamid Khabazi, Periklis Papapetropoulos, Zohar Fresco, Gerry Philips (Manualist), L'Ham de Foc, Stellamara, Necdet Yasar, Ihsan Ozgen, Derya Turkan, Sokratis Sinopoulos, Zohar Fresco, Omer and Ahmet Erdogdular, Khaled Arman, Margaret Daly, Leonidas Klados, Osman Aktas, Georgi Petrov, Goksel Baktagir, Michalis Stavrakakis, Halil Karaduman, Atanas Vulchev, Karvounis, Hamza el Din, Mike Bloomfield, Bismillah Khan, Aka Gunduz Kutbay, Efi Thodi, Glen Velez, Djivan Gasparian, Ramiz Guliev, Talip Ozkan, Mehmet Erenler, Leonard Cohen, Erdal Erzincan, Taiseer Elias, Angela Dimitriou, Naseem Dakwar, Ugur Isik, Fahrettin Cimenli, Ismail Cimen, Efren Lopez, Paco de Lucia, Stelios Petrakis, and thousands more
Sounds Like
Contemporary Modal Music, influenced by modal musical traditions from all over the world
Many years before what we call “World Music” appeared on the scene, certain individuals had already understood the enormous value and vast variety of the world’s various musical traditions and had dedicated their lives to the study of them. One such person is Ross Daly. Although of Irish descent, Ross Daly does not really fit into any particular ethnic stereotype given that his life has been spent in many different parts of the world and his home for the last 35 years is the island of Crete in Greece. Ross Daly, at a very early age, discovered that music was, in his own words, “the language of my dialogue with that which I perceive to be sacred”. This dialogue eventually led him to the great modal traditions of the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Indian Subcontinent where he finally found the musical archetypes that he had been searching for all his life. In these traditions he encountered music which was not merely a vehicle of self-expression, but which was able to take one beyond what one normally perceived to be the boundaries of one’s self into other realms of experience. This discovery changed everything in Ross Daly’s life and he subsequently ceased all other activities and dedicated his life to the study of the intricacies and innermost secrets of these musical traditions as well as to the art of composition. He subsequently travelled extensively, studying under many of the world’s greatest masters of modal traditions. Since 1975 he has been based on the island of Crete where he is universally recognized as one of the foremost experts on the island’s rich musical tradition. He is also especially well known and respected for his ability to bring artists of different and seemingly unrelated traditions together in collaborations of unique quality, originality and depth. In 1982 he established the Labyrinth Musical Workshop which is today situated in the village of Houdetsi 20 km south of the capital city of Herakleion. The Musical Workshop Labyrinth (www.labyrinthmusic.gr) is a unique educational institution dedicated to the study of the world’s modal musical traditions and every year Ross Daly and his colleagues organize a significant number of seminars and master-classes which are taught by many of the world’s greatest master-musicians. These seminars and master classes are attended every year by hundreds of young and aspiring students. Ross Daly’s impressive collection of more than 250 instruments which he has gathered over the years during his travels is also permanently on exhibition in the building of Labyrinth.
After many years of intensive training in a variety of musical traditions, Ross Daly turned his attention largely to composition drawing heavily on all of the knowledge which he acquired during his long apprenticeships. A master multi-instrumentalist in his own right, Ross Daly has repeatedly teamed with distinguished musicians from all over the world working both within the strict discipline of Eastern modal traditions while at the same time freely exploring new forms and creative improvisation. Despite being an accomplished exponent of various musical instruments, he feels a special affinity for the Cretan lyra, the Tarhu, the Afghan rabab, and the saz. A unique composer, Ross Daly, builds his compositions around the subtle but powerful interaction between the sound textures of the various traditions which he has studied. His close personal relationship with the musicians he works with is of paramount importance to Ross Daly himself as he believes that it is this inner personal connection which brings music alive. The unique sound of his music reflects his personal philosophy which stresses the sacred nature of music itself, the enormous potential contained within it, and the necessity for those who concern themselves with it to unreservedly and selflessly surrender themselves to it. This process results in an experience of music of a transcendental and spiritual nature, equally shared by musicians and audience alike, which has nothing to do with the fashions of "World Music" or "Ethnic". Ross Daly's music provides something that is increasingly difficult to find in modern times: a sense of continuity and unity. Sharing in the essence of a music that really has no physical boundaries is a magical experience puts the listener outside of time and space, connecting the natural flow of ancient traditions with the most complex needs of today's audiences.
As of today he has released more than thirty five albums of his own compositions as well as of his own arrangements of traditional material which he collected during his travels. The island of Crete in Greece still provides a base for his personal and musical research as he continues travelling around the world performing his music.
In the Summer of 2004 he was the artistic director of the cultural program of the Olympic Games for the Olympic city of Heraklion on the island of Crete, titled “Crete, Musical Crossroads”. He organized and artistically supervised 15 concerts with the participation of 300 musicians from all over the world. Amongst the many musicians of international renown were : Jordi Savall, Eduardo Niebla, Huun Huur Tu, Habil Aliev, Dhoad Gypsies of Rajasthan, Mohammad Rahim Khushnawaz, Trio Chemirani, Adel Selameh and many others..
Ross Daly has performed in many important venues and festivals such as: Migration Festival, Taipei, Taiwan (2006), International Lute Festival, Tetouan, Morocco (2006), Madrid Summer Festival, Sabatini Gardens, Spain (2006), International Festival, Warsaw, Poland (2006), Manresa Festival , Barcelona,Spain (2006), Athens Concert Hall (1993, 2006), National Concert Hall, Dublin, Ireland(2005), Konzerthaus Mozart Saal, Vienna, Austria (2005), Thessaloniki Concert Hall (2002), San Francisco World Music Festival, U.S.A (2005), State Theatre Company, Adelaide, Australia,(2005), Theatre de la Ville, Paris, France (1992-93, 2002,2003,2005, 2008), Festival de Saint Chartier, France(2003), Municipal concert hall, Kayseri, Turkey (2006) Skala Aglantza Nicosia, Cyprus (2005), Urkult Festival, Sweden(2003), Passionskirche, Berlin (1994,95,96), Rudolstadt Festival, Germany (2002), Aarhus, Denmark(1997), Huset theatre, Ahlborg, Denmark (1995-97), Copanhagen, Denmark (1995-97, 2003), Les Nuits Atypiques Festival, Langon, France (1995), Nikos Kazantzakis Theater, Herakleion, Crete 1996, 1999, 2001, 2008), Sodern Theatre Stockholm, Sweden (2004), Archaeological Museum, Madrid, Spain (1998-99, 2001), Festival of Murcia, Spain (1999), Isle of Wight Festival (2000), Oslo Cathedral (2004), Cemal Resit Rey Conser Salonu, Istanbul, Τurkey (1997, 2005, 2006), World Music Festival, Skopje, FYROM (1999, 2003), Lycabbetus theatre, Athens (1987,91,93,98), Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, U.K (1998-2000-2), Purcell Room, London (2007), Clarinet Festival, Bretagne (2008), Jerusalem Oud Festival (2008), WDR, Munich, Germany (1999), WDR Wuppertal, Germany(1992), Protestant Church, Brussels, Belgium (2001), Luxemburg Concert Hall (1992, 1994), San Sebastien Festival, Spain (2008), Nuremberg, Germany (1992, 2006), Cairo Opera House (2006), Emirates Palace Theater (2006, 2007), Frankfurt, Germany (1992), Epidaurus Theatre, Greece, Herodion Theatre Athens, Greece (1992, 1998), Bourges, France (2008) Al Dhafra Concert Hall, Abu Dhabi (2008), Rainforest World Music Festival, Sarawak, Malaysia (2008), and many others.
After creating the World, the Gods wondered where they could hide the key of Life. One of them paused and said: “There is one place on earth where the Humans will never look. Their own heart”
To the flashes of lightning and flashes In the desert of the cold darkness Of these sad idle nights Of extravagant beauty if to let if it was going signs of love To the south wind Sweat, moans and whispers When the immaculate image was framed Of the incessant scenery Prisoner to the ingenious memory It was vanishing in multiple orgasms Lovely bodies under the opaque sky Shaking inside you the exuberant sensation of the future The voyeur bewitched with the crazy self-confidence Of the fascinating mature woman It pleaded on his feet Take me to his hiding place Happen without brakes and with abundant saliva His hot language for my worried body Feed my wish of seeing it for again taken off Flood of seduction as the moon.... You are the exuberant definition of the feminine beauty Curves that burn the imagination of the lovers and delirious poets, Preparing the orgasm without end... Inside the subtle foundations Of the insatiable bedrooms without voices. Smelling of perfume of flowers jasmines.
Kalyspera Ross, To kainourgio CD mou einai etoimo, sas stelno kapoia kommatia. Einai ymnous apo tis megalis evdomas (apo Konstandinoupoli) Elpizo oti tha sas aresoun... Emena mou aresei eidika to "Kyrie i en pollais amartiais..." "Seigneur la femme qui était tombée" i mousiki einai para poly omorfi. Elpizo oti eisaste kala ! Kalo xeimona ! Filika Frédéric
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