Broken Blue
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley August 23, 2022
Artist – Spyros Manesis: Arionas Gyftakis: Anastasis Gouliaris
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https://www.odradek-records.com/release/broken-blue/
Considered as one of the foremost Greek Jazz Combinations, Spiral Trio have on their second album Broken Blue created a work of intimate and well considered jazz, featuring some outstanding piano work from Spyros Manesis on piano, ably backed by Arionas Gyftakis on double bass and Anastasis Gouliaris on drums.
The opening number Rubicon, is moody, soft, subtle and a perfect introduction to an album that ranges from upbeat, catchy rhythms to gentle, smoky vibes reminiscent of the Jazz bars of yesteryear, where muso’s hung out in dark glasses, wore berets and smoked endlessly, creating a dense, almost mysterious atmosphere in which to work their alchemy. Once Upon a Summertime a little later in the carries on this soft smoky vibe.
As the work unfolds it retains that certain mystique which could be considered as a jazz signature of a very high standard. Broken Blue is a fast, up-tempo piece which immediately dispels the mellow vibe of Rubicon, which showcases their talent with a multilayered delivery that is seamless and transports into a world of pure pleasure. An outstanding piece encapsulating all that is modern Jazz music.
As a ‘free style element’ Jazz is relatively hard to describe as it is a mix of folk, blues and a whole lot of improvisation, which when combined, gives a signature style that is easily recognisable. This has been captured perfectly once again by the trio in Blue Flower a catchy piece with a distinctly snappy beat.
Ding Dong powers into the spectrum with a bold, punchy bass element which could easily be considered as the trio having a little fun within the very broad range of jazz, almost as if they are trying to out play each other. In doing so, if that is what they are doing, they have created a rather interesting delivery.
As a final offering from this absolutely intriguing and enjoyable album, Portrait in Yellow is a rather interesting option. Slow, broody, subtle and almost melancholy, the piano work highlights the deep, somewhat ‘messy’ bass with a slight overlay of percussion, which then simply steps back to allow the percussion to take over, before re-joining the other instruments to draw the piece and the album to a slow finale.
Broken Blue: Different, enjoyable and definitely well worth the listen.