Andreas Georgiou – Rainforest
From Andreas Georgiou – Asate
Released on Libra Music, 2003

There’s something weird in extensively using the adjective « ethnic » (and we do use it a lot) to describe music we are posting about, as the definition of this word seems to be quite blur and ,in the end, the word may only sounds like a more politically correct way of referring to « world music ». Fortunately, Andreas Georgiou gives a very precise definition of it : according to him ethnic jazz is not about reproducing elements from certain musical traditions (related to specific country, religion, etc.) with the aim of sounding authentic (that’s the aim of the so-called « world music »); it’s more about keeping one’s mind open to all musical traditions and drawing inspiration from them.

It’s a blessing that the artist himself clarifies the meaning of the musical adjective, firstly because it demonstrates that it is in no way a pejorative adjective for the musician we’re talking about today and also because it shows that it’s not only a journalistic word, to talk about music – a posteriori – but also a musical genre musicians consciously adopt.

So, what about the music on this album ? Well, it is not an overstatement to say that Asate has been a huge favorite for years, featuring legendary musicians at their best, like Airto Moreira or Eberhard Weber – whose bass magnificently resonates on all the songs of the album. Add to this Georgiou‘s wonderful arrangements, celestial vocals by Savina Yannatou and the whole spiritual background behind the songs… and Rainforest encapsulates all these elements in a 11-minute long  musical trip, taking us deep into the musicians’ own mythological forest.