(Irida J007)
In his musical journey so far, Stefanos Andreadis has displayed a strong mix of ele‐ ments, choices and experiences that make up his musical personality and his iden‐ tity as a creator: Original ideas, on which he bases his compositions, his tenacity and devotion to his purpose and aesthetic choices and patience and perseverence in building his musical identity that make him stand out and conquer his own space the Greek jazz scene, which has evolved to become particularly rich, dy‐ namic and demanding.
Since 2017, Andreadis' musical vehicle, the "Flying Jazz Trio", consists of himself on guitar and compositions, his permanent collaborator, the imaginative Hammond Organ virtuoso George Kontrafouris and the creative drummer Billy Pod. His new album, “Abel", which follows in a long tradition of or‐ gan trios featuring the electric guitar, manages to simultaneously stand out em‐ phatically on the one hand with its intense melodic and flowing soundscapes where the guitar is at the forefront and on the other hand, with its groove that stems from the combination of hammond organ and drums and which appears when and where it is called for, bringing forth a final result of high musical quality with expressive power and sonic intensity. It would be difficult for me to single out any one of the tracks on the album since they make up a cohesive musical narra‐ tive with lyricism and a blue atmosphere, but also a playful mood and bohemian carelessness. In the interests of clarity, however, I will mention the title track, "Abel" that opens the album and stands out for the crystal purity brought out by the notes of the guitar, "Turn Out The Stars" for the creative and tender orchestra‐ tion of by Bill Evans, a tribute to the great American pianist, "Melancholy In Lon‐ don", generously dedicated to drummer Vassilis Podaras by the composer and "I once saw Anna" by Dionysis Savvopoulos, where Andreadis brings out the tender melancholy of the excellent original through his own charming jazz atmospheres. Dimitris Trikas