Canary Records owner (and a rather fine experimental musician himself) Ian Nagoski should be commended for his work in bringing to life so many wonderful albums from the turn of the 20th Century cut by Balkan and Jewish musicians who left their home countries and made quite good names for themselves in places like New York City. These recordings are lovingly restored, and apparently are leftover tracks transferred from 78rpm discs for a forthcoming 5-volume / 6-LP series to be issued in early 2019. Considering how lovingly Ian treats this material, this upcoming collection sounds like a grand project!
Greek Music
[Video] Jani Christou: Mysterion (1965/1966)
Here is a man who should have been featured far earlier in the blog’s life, but I’m coming around to him today after being reminded of his freaky scores.
Jani Christou was a Greek-Egyptian composer and philosopher, one of the most brilliant minds in composition in the late 1960s. His life was cut short due to a terrible auto accident, which rumor said he had predicted.
[Video] George Avramidis – Shadow Man
I’m very hesitant to call the music of George Avramidis jazz. It’s ‘jazz’ in the way that The Durutti Column is. It is, yet, not quite. There’s a dark vibe hiding underneath, which belongs to a class of musicians who I feel would include The Necks, among others. Really worthwhile listening here.
You can purchase George’s new album here, courtesy of Amazon.com.
Greek singer Demis Roussos dies aged 68
I hate it when my blog becomes a necropsy report. Unfortunately, the world lost former singer of Aphrodite’s Child, and an amazing singer in his own right, Demis Roussos.
The BBC provides an obituary here.
