Bassist and composer
Petros Klampanis has absorbed a vibrant palette of colors over the course of a
varied musical life journey, including Mediterranean and Balkan folk music of
his native Greece, classical colorings of studies in Athens, Amsterdam and New
York City, and vibrant splashes of musical pigment developed on the diverse NYC
jazz scene through collaborations with such innovators as Greg Osby,
Jean-Michel Pilc, Shai Maestro, Oded Tzur, Antonio Sanchez and Ari Hoenig.
On Chroma,
his third album as a leader and Motéma Music debut, Klampanis explores the
colors of human character, inspired by world events and personal experience.
Chroma, the Greek word for "color," masterfully employs a full
spectrum of sonic colors to paint an introspective and emotionally daring
artistic statement. His first large ensemble project melds the animated
expressions of the composer's jazz quintet (piano, bass, drums, guitar and
percussion) complemented by lush, classically-arranged strings to create a near
symphonic work of modern jazz.
"This
project arose from a question," Klampanis explains. "What are the
elements that compose each one of us, our personal characters, our
individuality? The first answer that came to my mind is that character is
composed of all the emotions, the thoughts and ideas, the fantasies and
experiences that we have in our lifetimes. If we were to assign each of these
elements a single color, then every one of us could be seen as a unique
composition of colors, the mix of which results in our own, very personal
shade."
Klampanis'
personal shade is a rich blend of colors whose expressive highlights have
shined especially brightly during the making of this album. He explains that
Chroma was born of a period of personal turmoil and self-examination. The end
of a romantic relationship coincided with a number of other changes in the
bassist's life and in the world at large, leading, he says, to "an
introspective period where I was spending time and energy thinking of the
reasons that lead me, and other people, to make certain decisions, to think of
what we think and to be who we are."
Given his
origins, Klampanis was also influenced by the turbulent events roiling the
world, from economic stresses that hit particularly close to home in his native
Greece, to his immigrant's natural empathy for the refugee crises in Syria and
across the Middle East. Processing these global events, Klampanis' views on the
human experience came into extreme clarity and were translated into Chroma as a
riveting, synesthetic experience for listeners.
"We
need to look inside and see what is really important for us and for the world
around us," Klampanis urges. "We happen to live during a strange time
for humanity. Musicians and artists in general have historically been the
'outsiders' in most societies, and our time makes no exception. But art carries
qualities that are essential for our development, individually and socially. We
need more 'color' in our life: more love, more compassion, respect, and
imagination."
To achieve
the striking tones on Chroma, Klampanis gathered a group of master musicians,
each adding their own distinctive tint to the composer's panorama: guitarist
Gilad Hekselman and pianist Shai Maestro (both originally from Israel), drummer
John Hadfield (a native of Missouri), and Japanese-born percussionist Keita
Ogawa make up the core group, which is joined by an accomplished eight-piece
string ensemble.
Chroma was
recorded and filmed live before an intimate audience at New York's Onassis
Cultural Center. The Onassis Foundation USA, which is dedicated to exploring
and promoting Greek culture from antiquity to today, provided a generous grant
to support Klampanis' work, which he developed over a series of live
presentations in 2014 and 2015. "I thought that it was best to record to capture
the energy that this band carries in front of an audience," Klampanis
explains, and indeed, the live setting is ideal for this well-honed ensemble,
whose spontaneous interactions thrill, while never sacrificing the evocative
sensitivity of Klampanis' writing and arranging.
"I have
invested a lot of energy, love and time for the creation of Chroma. I can
confidently say that I am really satisfied with the way everything came
together. I am also happy about my first collaboration with Motéma, a label
which I admire and respect".
About The
Compositions
The slow
dawning of the title track provides a moving illustration of the concept of the
album as a whole. A radiant image
gradually comes into focus, beginning with the dream-like twinkling of Maestro's
piano, then the shimmering strings, then a gently assertive melody.
The
brooding, noir-lit "Tough Decisions (Are Always Dark Green)" offers a
hint of Klampanis' particular brand of synesthesia, brought on by his recent
break-up. While the bassist doesn't actually see colors from music, he does
associate emotions and experience with different hues. A personal crisis and
its associated olive-green tones inspired this piece, while the wonderment of
growing up in a small community and dreaming of bigger things (as Klampanis did
on the Greek island of Zakynthos) is spotlighted on the azure-splashed
"Little Blue Sun."
A nebulous,
mesmerizing intro leads into Hekselman's "Cosmic Patience," a piece
that, for Klampanis, conjures not colors but an interstellar landscape.
"Shadows," written by his countryman, pianist Spyros Manesis, fits
more easily into the overall concept, its overcast shades of gray expressing
humanity's struggle with our darker side. Klampanis reveals that interior
dilemma through his tender, wordless vocals, achingly singing the melody
accompanied by Hekselman's piercing guitar. The album closes on a more
optimistic note with the joyous, celebratory "Shades of Magenta," its
buoyant rhythms playfully countering the excited stabbing of the strings.
About Petros
Klampanis
Born in
Zakynthos, Greece, Petros Klampanis initially headed for a degree in mechanical
engineering, dropped out of the Polytechnic School in Athens to pursue his
musical passions, and in 2005 began double bass performance studies at the
Amsterdam Conservatory. In 2008, he completed his formal studies at the Aaron
Copland School of Music in New York, where he quickly began collaborating with
some of the city's most renowned jazz musicians. In addition to his extensive
list of appearances as a leader locally, including the storied venues of
Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, he has performed at the internationally
acclaimed North Sea Jazz Festival and the Palatia Jazz Festival in Germany.
Klampanis'
collaborations with saxophonist Greg Osby led to the release of his first two
acclaimed albums, Contextual and Minor Dispute, on the saxophonist's Inner
Circle Music label. Fellow bassist Drew Gress has praised Klampanis'
"aggressive melodicism, beautiful intonation, and uniquely personal string
writing." In 2012, Klampanis was invited by the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra
for a series of concerts throughout Latvia, while his arrangement of the Greek
folk song "Thalassaki" was performed by the Greek Public Symphonic
Orchestra in Athens. Also an in-demand educator, Klampanis has given workshops
internationally and serves as a guest lecturer at Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio
and the Ionian Academy of Music in Greece.
PETROS
KLAMPANIS 2017 TOURING
March 11 -
Loft - Koeln, Germany
March 12 -
Vortex - London, UK
March 18 -
Jazz Station - Brussels, Belgium
March 22 -
Philly Joe's - Tallinn, Estonia
May 3 -
Thessaloniki, Greece
May 4 -
Athens, Greece
May 5 -
XJAZZ Festival - Berlin, Germany
May 6 - Duc
des Lombards - Paris, France
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