Watersong Savina Yannatou, Primavera en Salonico, Lamia Bedioui

• 1 The Song of Klidonas 02:43
• 2 Naanaa Algenina / Ivana 06:42
• 3 Ai Giorkis 02:59
• 4 A los baños del amor 03:59
• 5 Perperouna 04:11
• 6 Con qué la lavaré? 03:15
• 7 Sia maledetta l’acqua 02:21
• 8 Mawal 03:54
• 9 Kalanta of the Theophany 04:10
• 10 The Immortal Water 04:46
• 11 Full Fathom Five 03:03
• 12 An Ròn 02:20
• 13 O onda 04:40
• 14 Wade in the Water / Allah Musau 07:23
• Total Runtime 56:26

Info for Watersong

Savina Yannatou’s fifth ECM album revolves around the theme of water in its many manifestations. Water as a blessing and a curse. A life-sustaining source and a mortal threat in the elemental power of the storm. Shakespeare’s The Tempest with the spirit Ariel’s song, “Full Fathom Five”, provided an inspirational starting point for Greek vocalist Yannatou and the Primavera en Salonico band in a project in which they are also joined by Tunisian singer Lamia Bedioui. There’s a special magic that occurs when Savina and Lamia sing together – as was already evident on Yannatou’s Terra Nostra more than 20 years ago. In the present recording Bedioui embodies the desert realm, as the Arabic language and the Bedouin dialect intersect with the languages of Mediterranean Europe and elsewhere. Songs come from many compass points and historical epochs. A traditional piece from Egypt segues into one from North Macedonia. A setting of a 10th century poem by Arab prince Abu Firas al-Hamdani is situated between a South Italian lament and a Greek carol. An Irish Gaelic song precedes a Corsican tune and Primavera En Salonico’s unique take on the African-American spiritual “Wade In The Water.” Multi-cultural in their musical passions, and daring in their stylistic juxtapositions, Savina and friends also illuminate the connections between the traditions.

"Dark-toned but ambrosial, highly disciplined yet seemingly bursting with a soul of pure flame, the rather staggering Athens-born singer Savina Yannatou is a virtuosic chameleon adept at an extensive range of vocal traditions…not just interpreting but leaping off from these old folk musics with a daring, exploratory technique and far-flung tonal scope that allows her to stamp it all with a brash intelligence." (Los Angeles Weekly)

Watersong was recorded at Sierra Studios, Athens, in March 2022. The album was produced by Manfred Eicher.

Savina Yannatou, voice
Lamia Bedioui, voice
Primavera en Salonico:
Kostas Vomvolos Kanonaki, Quanun, accordion
Haris Lambrakis, nay
Kyriakos Gouventas, violin
Yannis Alexandris, oud
Michalis Siganidis, double bass
Dine Doneff, percussion

Primavera en Salonico
was formed in 1993 to play Kostas Vomvolos’s arrangements of Sephardic folk songs with Savina Yannatou, and the core line-up has been stable since then, as a collective of players whose work has touched on idioms from classical and folk music to jazz, experimental music and improvisation. Accordionist and qanun (zither) player Vomvolos has written music for dozens of theatre productions, apt background for shaping instrumental scenarios for Yannatou to inhabit as she moves between songs of different traditions. Oud player Yannis Alexandris works also as a luthier, and like violinist Kyriakos Gouventas, has much experience in the worlds of rebetika and traditional music. Bassist Michalis Siganidis is active in contemporary creative music, and recently issued an album for bass and electronics. Harris Lambrakis has shaped a new role for the nay inside Primavera en Salonico, where this ancient flute is often a lead instrument, responding directly to Yannatou’s voice. Lambrakis is also a featured soloist on Eleni Karaindrou’s album Medea. Heard here as percussionist, Dine Doneff (also known as Kostas Theodorou) is a multi-instrumentalist equally at home on bass and guitar. Lamia Bedioui, born in Tunis, has lived in Greece since 1992. In addition to her own projects and collaborations with Yannatou, she has appeared in concert with Jon Balke’s Siwan ensemble.

Savina Yannatou
studied singing in Athens with Gogo Georgilopoulou and Spiros Sakkas, later attending postgraduate studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. She became widely known in Greece through her radio collaborations with composer Lena Platonos. In the 1980s she was a founding member of the Athens Early Music Workshop. In the 1990s, in parallel with the beginnings of Primavera en Salonico, Yannatou intensified her investigations into free improvised music, working with Peter Kowald, Barry Guy, Floros Floridis and others. Her music today reflects all of these influences.

Booklet for Watersong