Joel Lyssarides & Georgios Prokopiou. Bill Laurance & Michael League
Here are two must-haves on the German ACT Music label: “Arcs & Rivers”, an album by Swedish award-winning pianist and composer Joel Lyssarides and Greek bouzouki player Georgios Prokopiou, based in Sweden, came out in late September. And today sees the release of the second duo album by Bill Laurance and Michael League. Both albums are best examples of intense and beautiful musical interactions. The combination of Jazz and traditional Greek folk music is just breathtaking. Recorded in one session, both Joel and Georgios excel in finding the perfect balance between the tender and sweet, and the raw and spontaneous, in-the-moment sounds. Just listen to “Anamnesis” and get caught in the mellifluous sonic trance. There is also some oblique whirlwind on pieces such as “A Night In Piraeus” where both musicians seem to fly. “Echoes” and “Rivers” are both oozing sweet melancholy, somewhat getting you in a wanderlust mood. But it’s not all smooth and lighthearted: “Kamilieriko Road” exudes enough drama to bounce things off again. It’s really in the slower pieces though where both really shine bright: on “Orange Moon”, it’s like they actually engage in a charming, nonchalant conversation, sometimes teasing each other, often being like-minded, finding their way back to a congenial melody. Probably the best way of putting both worlds together here (the jazz and the folk) is “From East To West”, sort of a preternatural flight of fancy. And the bouzouki is the star on the album closer “Zafeirious Solo”.
Bill Laurance and Micheal League had a five-paw rated duo album back in early 2023 with “Where You Wish You Were”. Now they’re back with “Keeping Company”, another hauntingly beautiful journey. Bill Laurance again on piano and Michael League on bass guitar and oud. Together, they weave several individual pieces to a coherent palette, with wonderful intense colors like on “You” and “Yours”. There are a lot of deeply pure sketches, like on “Escher”. There are also elements of soul jazz on the brilliant “How Does It Feel” and the equally catchy “Where You Wanna Go”. It seems that they both feel a lot more comfortable and at home with their second effort. The vulnerable and intimate sound is still there, but it’s even more about letting loose, while retaining the striking organic notion. There are tentative pop/folk sensibilities here and there on “Stonemaker”, another fascinating tune. I really dig the driving impulse of “Africa”, a composition by British ska trombonist Rico Rodriguez. You can totally indulge in the joyful and at the same time thoughtful “Trails” and the traditional “Iki Keklik, Bir Kayada”, which closes this highly entertaining album, once again shows the immense virtuosity and charme of these two musicians. They will be on tour in March, with a performance at Berlin’s Kammermusiksaal on March 7th.
