Alekos Vretos - Press

Apofasi - 19/01/2005 (English Translation)

MELODIES IN THE EASTERN WAYS By .............MARIA LAMBROU ALEKOS K. VRETOS SPEAKS FOR AN ORIGINAL MUSICAL APPROACH YUNAN MEANS GREECE IN ARABIC. THAT IS THE NAME THAT THE “MELITI ENSEMBLE” CHOSE TO NAME THEIR FIRST RECORD. THE REASON ACCORDING TO THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, ALEKOS K. VRETOS, IS “THE CONTINIUS INTERACTION OF OUR HISTORY. WE INTERPET GREEK SONGS WITH AN ARABIC FLAVOR AND THE ARABIC ONES WITH A GREEK COLOR, AFTER ALL WE ARE GREEKS.” MELODIES IN EASTERN WAYS WITH VIRTOUOSIC INTERPETETION AND A MODERN LOOK FROM YOUNG MUSICIANS ARE DOMINANT IN “YUNAN”, WICH BECOMES EVEN MORE INTERESTING WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF NIKOS AND YIASEMI SARAGOUDA AND KORINA VENI. -WHAT DOES MELITI MEAN? IT IS THE NAME OF A NAIAD, DAUGHTER OF POSEIDON, NYMPH OF THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA. YOU SEE, OUR MUSICAL REFERENCES ARE THROUGH OUT THE MEDITERRANEAN. IN THE PROCESS WE DISCOVERED THAT MELITI WAS THE ANCIENT NAME FOR MALTA, WHICH, OF COURSE, IS THE CROSSROAD OF THE MED. -WE HAVE CONNECTED THE SOUNDS OF THE EAST WITH OUR BOUZOUKI MUSIC… OUR MUSIC HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE BOUZOUKI MUSIC OF TODAY. IT HAS AN ENTERTAINING CHARACTER, BUT IT’S ALSO FOOD FOR THE BRAIN. WE WANT TO GIVE TO THE AUDIENCE A DIFFERENT ASPECT IN MUSIC NOT SOMETHING THAT HAS HAD BEEN PLAYED BEFORE. WE ARRIVE TO OUR OWN COMPOSITIONS THROUGH ARABIC MUSIC, TURKISH MUSIC, WESTERN MUSIC AND GREEK MUSIC. THE MUSIC OF THE WORLD CAN BE FUSED TOGETHER IN A VERY GOOD MANNER- ESTHETICALLY- WITH OUT COMPROMISES. -WHERE WOULD MELITI BE CATEGORIZED? I WOULD RATHER NOT GET IN TO THAT LOGIC OF THINGS. I WILL NOT GIVE MY MUSIC A NAME SUCH AS POPULAR OR CLASSICAL. GOOD MUSIC IS GOOD MUSIC. FOR EXAMPLE, ONE WOULD NEVER CATEGORIZE THEODORAKIS, YOU COULDN’T. CATEGORIZING MUSIC IS FOR PEOPLE TO HAVE AN IDENTITY SO THE BIG RECORD COMPANIES CAN SORT OUT THEIR TARGETING GROUPS. MUSIC IS UNIFIED. -IN THE RECORD YOU MEET WITH NIKOS SARAGOUDAS… OUR COOPERATION WITH MASTER SARAGOUDAS WAS ASTONISHING. HE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST TO REVIVE THE OUD IN GREECE AND FOR MOST OF US HE IS CONSIDERED TO BE A GREAT MASTER. HE MAY BE SELF TAUGHT BUT HE REALLY CONSERVES A LONG TRADITION. HE IS A “MUSEUM” FOR THE MUSIC AND SONGS OF SMYRNA AND CONSTANTINOPLE. AND HE PLAYS THE MUSIC LIKE IT SHOULD BE PLAYED AND NOT IN THE NEW “NIGHT CLUB” FASHION. -WHY DO YOU STUDY AND PLAY THESE PARTICULAR STYLE OF MUSIC. I STARTED WITH CLASSICAL TRAINING WHEN I WAS THREE YEARS OLD. LATER ON I STUDIED THE PIANO. IN 1996 A SCHOLARSHIP SENT ME TO BOSTON TO STUDY JAZZ COMPOSITION. IN 1998 AN OUD CAME IN TO MY HANDS AND I COULDN’T LET GO. MY BIGGEST BREAK CAME WHEN I MET MASTER SIMON SHAHEEN, MY OUD TEACHER AND MENTOR IN ARABIC MUSIC. -WHAT WAS THE THING THAT LED YOU TO THE SOUNDS OF THE MIDDLE EAST? IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS THE STRONG CONNECTION WITH THE BYZANTINE AND GREEK MUSIC. MUSIC IS A CASE OF GEOGRAPHY. IN A SENSE WE COME ACROSS THE SAME MUSIC CHARACTERISTICS THROUGH OUT THE MEDITERRANEAN BUT EVERY REGION HAS ITS OWN STYLE OF PLAYING. -HOW DO YOU FUSE EASTERN AND WESTERN MUSIC. TROUGH VIRTUOSITY AND ARRANGING THE MUSIC. THERE SHOULD BE AN ACCURATE WAY OF PLAYING THE MUSIC AND NOT SELF TAUGHT GIG MUSICIANS TRYING TO PLAY IT. IN GREECE IT IS CUSTOM TO HAVE LESS QUALITY IN THE NAME OF THE MONEY. “PROFESSIONAL” MUSICIANS DO A KIND OF HARD NIGHT’S WORK BECAUSE THEY DON’T HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY THE MUSIC PROPERLY, THUS BEING THE BACKGROUND FOR THE SINGER. -WHAT FOLLOWS AFTER YOUR FIRST RECORDING? OUR RECORD WAS RELEASED IN DECEMBER. MY PLANS WILL CHANGE A LOT FOR MY SECOND ALBUM. NOW I KNOW WHAT THINGS TO LOOK AFTER MORE THAN OTHERS. AND MY NEXT STEP WILL BE SOME LIVE CONCERTS IN ATHENS FOR THE TIME BEING.