{"id":9285,"date":"2018-03-09T15:58:03","date_gmt":"2018-03-09T23:58:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/?p=9285"},"modified":"2018-08-23T16:30:38","modified_gmt":"2018-08-23T23:30:38","slug":"album-releases-from-thomas-athanaselos-michel-grizard-and-music-of-kai-nieminen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/album-releases-from-thomas-athanaselos-michel-grizard-and-music-of-kai-nieminen\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Releases from Thomas Athanaselos, Michel Grizard, and Music of Kai Nieminen"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most weeks we take a peek at recent albums or sheet music releases. Here are three of the CDs that have come into the\u00a0Classical Guitar<\/em>\u00a0office recently.<\/p>\n

If you have a CD you\u2019d like to submit to us, here\u2019s our address:<\/p>\n

Classical Guitar
\n501 Canal Blvd. suite J
\nRichmond, CA 94804-3505<\/p>\n

Some of the albums we talk about online will be reviewed in the magazine, some not. But we want to at least mention most of them here. You can listen to some of these on various of streaming services, but we always encourage you to support the artists by actually\u00a0buying<\/em>\u00a0anything you like! Obviously we cannot research and report every outlet or online business where these albums are sold, so check your favorite places that sell CDs and downloads!<\/p>\n

To see links to all our online album listings\/reviews, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u2014Blair Jackson<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
\nIn Memoriam<\/strong><\/em>
\nThomas Athanaselos<\/strong>
\nathanaselos.com<\/p>\n

There are four key names here: The Greek guitarist Thomas Athanaselos<\/a>, who besides playing splendidly throughout this album, also wrote three attractive and engrossing works of his own, did all the engineering himself, and added some interesting synth textures to a few of the pieces. Second on the list is \u00c1stor Piazzolla, whose complete, four-part Estaciones Porte\u00f1as<\/em> takes up the first third of the album and is rendered with the requisite rhythmic flair and deep emotional colors; plus, in the middle of the disc, we find Piazzolla’s sad and beautiful Milonga del Angel<\/em>. The third name is S\u00e9rgio Assad, who wrote the brilliant guitar arrangement of\u00a0Estaciones Porte\u00f1as <\/em>and is also represented by his transcendently gorgeous Farewell<\/em> (from the Summer Garden Suite<\/em>). And the fourth is Roland Dyens, for his arrangements of two standards from the Great American Songbook, All of Me<\/em> and All the Things You Are<\/em>, and his much-played take on Jobim’s Felicidade<\/em>. What a fantastic selection!<\/p>\n

Though there is clearly an emphasis on ear-caressing melodies on the album, these pieces still demand much from the guitarist, and Athanaselos does an outstanding job putting across the many different moods. I’d also like to single out two of his originals (for which he has created videos I’d recommend checking out): the alternately stirring and moving title track, In Memoriam<\/a><\/em>, and the powerful ballad Aurora<\/em><\/a>, which builds to a nice peak, on the wings of guitar and tasteful synths. This is a guitarist to watch for!<\/p>\n

Estaciones Porte\u00f1as<\/em> (Piazzolla, arr. S. Assad); All of Me<\/em> (Marks, Simons, arr. Dyens); Felicidade<\/em> (Jobim, arr. Dyens); Milonga del Angel<\/em> (Piazzolla, arr. Benitez); All the Things You Are<\/em> (Kern, Hammerstein, arr. Dyens); Farewell<\/em> (S. Assad); Aurora<\/em> (Athanaselos); In Memoriam<\/em>\u00a0(Athanaselos); Atonement\u00a0<\/em>(Athanaselos)<\/p>\n

The full album can be sampled and downloaded from CD Baby<\/a>\u00a0 The track In Memoriam<\/em> can be heard on Apple Music <\/a>and Spotify<\/a><\/p>\n