Apostolis Anthimos - 1999 - Theatro Live

Apostolis Anthimos

1999

Theatro Live

01. Oh My Dear

02. Six Caribe

03. Bony

04. Pontiac

05. Foxy Lady / Third Stone From The Sun

06. Living For The City

- Apostolis Anthimos / guitar

- Jorgos Skolias / vocals

- Christos Takis Papadopoulos / bass guitar

- Stefanos Dymitriou / drums

Recorded at Studio S-5, Radio Kraków, 4.06.1999

Second album by Polish (of Greek ancestry) guitarist / composer Apostolis Anthimos, recorded live with a quartet, which includes Polish (also of Greek ancestry) vocalist Jorgos Skolias and two Greek musicians: bassist Christos Papadopoulos and drummer Stefanos Dymitriou. For this reissue the original album was remastered and extended by two bonus tracks, which were recorded a few months later and are studio versions of two of the live tracks on the original album. Apostolis composed three of the six tunes on the album, Papadopoulos composed one and the remaining two are Pop / Rock standards.

Stylistically the album presents an amalgam of Jazz-Rock Fusion with some ethnic / World Music elements and traces of Blues. Apostolis, who is well-known as a member of the legendary Polish group SBB, presents here a much gentler and relaxed side of his playing, which is much Jazzier than most of the stuff he played with SBB. His guitar work is always a pleasant experience and on this album he delivers some truly moving grooves. Some SBB fans might find the guitar work on this album surprising, but in all honesty it is in many respects more interesting than his contributions on SBB material, which tends to be extremely repetitive, especially in view of the seemingly limitless number of live albums released by the band.

Skolias contributes his impressive vocal parts, which are a mixture of English lyrics and improvised vocalese, fitting the raw format of this music perfectly. The rhythm section is solid and very attentive to the soloists, driving the music forcefully, but unobtrusively. Overall the quartet swings and rocks wonderfully, and the album is a joy to listen to, provided one takes it for what it is; a live gig that is supposed to be fun.

The album was released on a new label, owned by Apostolis, called Skiathos, which will hopefully serve as a platform for more reissues / archival releases involving him. Considering the fact that this album, released originally by a small semi-legal Polish label, has been out of print for many years, this reissue is definitely a right and welcome move.