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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Original 2019 CD with booklet & jewel case. New but not shrink wrapped.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Lethe via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Streaming + Download

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1.
River of Hades 14:42
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2.
The Windows 06:45
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3.
Conversation with Birds 04:52
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4.
Spiritual Fall 07:04
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5.
Life in Wrong Way 05:34
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6.
Nostos 09:42
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7.
No Plans 03:51
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8.
George Haslam, Nikolas Skordas & Sophia Koroxenou - Eternal Dreams 07:40
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9.
Praying in Desert 07:09
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10.
George Haslam, Nikolas Skordas & Sophia Koroxenou - Lethe-Ληθη 11:18
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about

SLAM Productions label owner and saxophonist George Haslam with an improvised duo alongside Greek multi-instrumentalist Nikolas Skordas.

"I went to visit Nikolas in Thessaloniki, December 2018. We played a few gigs there and in Athens, I took my taragato and zither, also various sax mouthpieces - I borrowed his alto for the gigs; he played tenor and soprano saxes and various ethnic flutes, bagpipes etc.. It was my first outing with zither, which I had bought in auction a couple of years earlier. I have not learnt the technique of playing it but I have experimented with sounds, I like the natural acoustic feeling.

Anyway, in addition to the gigs and a workshop in Greece we recorded a session in Shellac Recording Studios Thessaloniki, vocalist Sophia Koroxenou, who had made the tour possible, joined us in the studio."

Nikolas Skordas: soprano & tenor saxophones, tarogato, traditional flutes, bagpipes
George Haslam: tarogato, alto saxophone, zither
Sophia Koroxenou: voice (tracks 8 & 10)

“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...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.” - Ken Cheetham, Jazz Views

“The overall sound is filled with spaciousness and suspense, the sound of the zither and taragato sounds perfect together like ancient partners from related cultures. By the second piece, Mr. Skordas switches to soprano sax while Mr. Haslam plays alto. There is something truly lovely going on here as both reeds work so well together, swirling around one another like graceful birds in flight, sailing on the wind, being held aloft by the tides underneath. The overall vibe here is mostly mesmerising, an enchanting dreamworld that is exotic and enticing. This is a true blend of different cultures, so well integrated into a delicious stew.” - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery

“The music may well be outside of the experience of many readers with its leaning towards folk elements and experimentation, but much of it is firmly fixed in the jazz tradition which extends the explorations of sound, patterns and textures. There are tracks which are overtly more folk-orientated, using instrumentation not usually associated with jazz - the zither and tárogató, a small reeded Eastern European instrument, used in the past by Charles Lloyd and Peter Brötzmann. These serve to evoke a spiritual, often contemplative and meditative feel that is at times complemented by bells and the voice of Sophia Koroxenou, giving a denser backcloth on which the improvisation lies. There are passages of real beauty and intensity.” - Matthew Wright, Jazz Journal

credits

released July 26, 2019

Recorded, mixed and mastered at Shellac Recording Studios, Thessaloniki 9-10 December 2018 by Kontantinos Fragkopoulos.

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SLAM Productions London, UK

Free jazz, contemporary jazz and improvised recorded music label founded by saxophonist George Haslam in 1989, which has released over 250 albums.

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