Avraam Avramidis: “Echos Fotos” (Sound of Light) – moves the lute into the new century

Avraam Avramidis is an artist performing and composing music from Crete. He was born on in Athens, Greece. His roots are half from Nafplio of Greece and half from Istanbul of Turkey. At the age of 14, his father bought him his first guitar and he immediately started to learn playing songs. After a few years, during his studies at University (Department of Applied Informatics in Management and Finance), he developed strong relationships with friends coming from the island of Crete. That’s where he first started to experience the great Cretan traditional music culture, and the Cretan lute (or so called lagouto). Two great mentors of the Cretan lute, Yiannis Ksilouris (aka Psarogiannis) and Paris Perisinakis helped him to develop his technical skills as well as how to express his feelings through music.

Avraam Avramidis eventually built his own professional studio and began recording the music that he wrote, bringing the lute into the modern music idiom. His latest release is the world music single, “Echos Fotos” (Sound of Light). Avramidis has always been a great player – technically superb, musically imaginative and never afraid to take risks.

His latest single once again fortifies that theory. The instrumental musical piece is in many ways designed to appeal to a broad, albeit relatively sophisticated, audience. And appeal it should: after all, who can resist a fabulous sounding lute.

Far from being an outdated or even obsolete instrument, the lute makes a stirring pitch for its continued relevance in the hands of Avraam Avramidis who excels at moving the lute into the new century together with rich and lively acoustic guitar moods and a bass driven beat while retaining his signature that we enjoy so much.

From the solid opening bars Avramidis drives the music at a light, almost dancing pace, constantly stepping just ahead of expectations to delight and entertain with his melody. At times he handles his playing duties with intoxicating relish, as the music weaves itself between a lyre, the lute and a mixture of traditional percussion.

There’s a sincerity to Avramidis musical storytelling that draws the ear and holds it willingly captive. The track showcases the band’s precision, so organic that it sounds like a single performer rather than three or four individuals. The sudden dynamic shifts are also impressive. The care that went into recording this music is apparent, and the result is a sincerely flawless.

“Echos Fotos” (Sound of Light) is a wonderful feat of skill, and taste, an excellent addition to any world music lover’s collection. Here everything harmonizes ideally: the virtuosity and taste of the performer, the instrumentation, and their intonation. Essentially Avraam Avramidis plays music with the greatest possible melody and clarity.

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