Description
recorded April, May 2021 in Berlin
mixed by Alexis Baskind
mastered by Werner Dafeldecker
design & layout: Stéphan Guéneau
cover art: Zoë Dimitriadis
produced by Yorgos Dimitriadis
© 2023 Trouble in the East Records 027
Drummer Yorgos Dimitriadis creates his proper memory manual
One of the outstanding personalities of Greek musicians of free improvised music, drummer Yorgos Dimitriadis has been living permanently in Germany since 2006. Having managed to collaborate with important musicians in the field from all over Europe, to travel and play at many important festivals and already having a rich discography of almost fifteen albums (as leader and co-leader), the musician from Thessaloniki presents his most profoundly personal album to date.
“14 20 22” is a strictly personal, almost “handmade” (as he describes it) work. Dimitriadis plays drums, percussion and some electronics, while he also supervised the recording, which took place in his own studio. It consists of nine compositions, inspired by a series of fragments of memory: photographs, newspaper clippings, advertising and household appliance manuals, film stills, etc. from the period 1965-1975, but also by his own scattered images and memories of his childhood. The “protagonist” is his grandmother Evdoxia, whose voice we hear in the evocative opening track that bears her name, recorded in 1992, during one of the many conversations that Yorgos Dimitriadis had with her. Other names (“Kyria Aliki”), places (“Astypalaia”, “Pyrgadikia”) and personal references of the creator himself create a musical collage that is, in a way, a small “memory manual”. The two black and white paintings on the cover and back cover of the album, which belong to Yorgos’ daughter Zoe and depict Dimitriadis’ parents, from old photographs taken in the sixties, contribute to this. As for the title, it refers to the three dates that marked the life of Evdoxia from 1914 to 1922. In short, starting with the grandmother and working his way up to his daughter, Dimitriadis creatively “engages” four generations of his family in the project!
The music itself of “14 20 22” is evocative in every way. In no way “noisy”, it resembles a mystical soundtrack. Most of the compositions are of “medium duration” (4 to 6 minutes), the use of electronics is extremely discreet in order to give the right atmosphere and the percussion permeates the images, without any desire to show off any technical skills. In this sense, it seems to be a structured and solid work, despite its improvisational character. It is, after all, a soulful statement from a musician with a very important past, present and future who adorns the Greek improvisational community and represents it deservedly abroad, along with several other colleagues who excel there.
“14 20 22” is released digitally and on vinyl (from 30/4) by Trouble In The East Records.
