Giannis XYLOURIS (PSAROGIANNIS) - THE UNIVERSE
Yiannis Xylouris (PSAROGIANNIS): Lute, lias Zoutsos: Lyra, Panagiotis Katsikiotis: Percussion
Places and times of memory ...
An emblematic figure in Cretan music John Xylouris (PSAROGIANNIS) collapses to a compact disc its own "Universe". He travels between constellations, enchant the time with the music, flees in yesterday to cool the memory condenses old and new sounds to create. He was born in Anogia by the family that gave our music tradition top three artists (Nikos, Antonis and John Xylouris), is still on the ramparts nearly sixty years since he first touched the lute and accompanied his prematurely lost brother, Nikos Xylouris in his musical wanderings.
His latest music work is divided into two sections. John climbs again the mountains of his childhood memories, walking in the paths of the shepherds, pilgrims and wayfarers, listen to the whispers of the wind makes the branches bend and transforms remembrance into music.
"Whenever I am thinking of the mountains of Crete tears are coming in my eyes" he said in one of the conversations that we exchanged when he drew his own musical universe. "And when I catch the lute I suppose that every slope and every canyon make notes and talks to me. Inspired by Psiloritis and Madares of Chania, Lassithi, Kouloukounas in Stroumpoulas, center, of the volcanic eruption and Asterousia mountains in southern ... '. When we listen to him to think that nobody followed him into nostalgic paths, he is thinking also of calming places of dream. The music humanizes the space and Psarogiannis knows this. In the shepherds, the notes and the lyrics were a beautiful companion of him. He was still a child when he brought the wind in his ears the first asymmetric notes from another mitato from an anonymous musician who was away. And these notes were marked ...
In another section stirs our collective memory with music once declared urban modernization: the so-called "European" and especially the tango, a sensual dance that North Americans had already travelled thousands of miles and had adapted to European dance culture. We did not know to play tango in the years after the Second World War, the 1950 and 1960. Nikos and Giannis Xylouris, always inseparable, they tried to give Cretan color in the dance of Argentine passion and French discretion (in Europe the dancers kept some distance apart). In Crete the strict morals and stereotypes maintained displaced whole during the first post-war era, the distances between the dancers further lengthens, the musicians had to harness their passion, also not a coincidence that the tango was not immediately accepted by many highlanders populations. "Glued dance" called him with some impairment dose.
Psarogiannis brings back the ears of our era of tango. And do it with the mastery of the man who co-formed the musical world of Crete during the time of great transition. Besides, he starred along with Nikos Xilouris, the restoration of Cretan music from the mid-1960's. Besides evasion of CD in the memorable brother, Nick dedicates .. .
One could say that John is the living history of the music of our country. Although handles well all traditional musical instruments, embracing knowledge and wisdom of the great love: the lute. And travelling ...
Travelling in xyloureiko universe two great musicians, Elijah Zoutsos and Panagiotis Katsikiotis (Tsikos). Both already write their own story in our music scene. Elias has roots in Crete. And music education. Playing the lyre, violin, lute, guitar ... It represents a new generation of musicians quite different from ploigoumenes, than those who learned the lyre in the mountains. Is a doctoral candidate in Musicology at the University of Athens and the far term makes us hopefully a new dynamic development of our music.
Nikos Psilakis, December 2014.
