“Zahrenia can be the object of desire, the airy meaning of existence, a lover or a beloved, the nostalgia of embryonic fullness, any destination”….as described by the composer of the album “Zahrenia”, the one and only Gerasimos Papadopoulos.
“Zahrenia” is an oriental album that takes you on a journey through the fairy tale “Zahrenia” by the Greek writer Foteini Kaimaki, the album goes hand in hand with the story and tells the story from the heartfelt music side of the story.
The album has 10 tracks that tell the story and take us through the journey…
“Zahrenia” is the love project of a team of amazing musicians and artists, and it’s a privilege to get to know these brilliant minds…
All the music has been composed by Gerasimos Papadopoulos and also Gerasimos did vocals and oud.
Lyrics by Foteini Kaimaki
Vocals were also performed by Evangelia Chaldeaki
Ney by Achilleas Tigas
Percussions by Stefanos Agiopoulos
Contrabass by Thomas Meleteas
Recording and mixing by Yiannis Skandamis
Mastering by Apostolos Siopis
Cover photo by Karim Amr
Graphic design by Evros Voskarides
…a brilliant team of artists that worked harmoniously to bring out the best in each other and deliver “Zahrenia”, the album.
The album starts with Taksim which is some kind of an oriental improvisation on oud, serving as an intro to the whole experience.
Within its tracklist, the album goes into different moods and different vibes…
…for example, the fourth track titled “The Garden Of Allah” is an instrumental and percussive experimental journey, very hypnotic and very explorative.
Diving deeper into the album we come across “Bazar” a more upbeat and positive vibe-instilling track…and with more movement.
Stopping by the seventh track, “Aman, Aman, aman” you’ll come across this common phrase, evident in the Turkish and oriental culture and can be found across the culture actually, music or otherwise…the album is once again one of the faster-tempo tracks in the album…with Gerasimos’ vocals shining through across with Evangelia’s…both of them are delivering highly emotional performances.
Before the last track, once again the oud plays some Taksim, but on a different scale this time, this track-once again-acts as a portal, but this time around, it’s a portal to the end of this amazing journey, and to open the gate to the final track…
The tenth and final track of “Zahrenia” is “Ah, My Heavens”.
The track is very spiritual in its naming and its nature…
A very apt ending for this journey and finishes off on a very traditional oriental ending.
“Zahrenia” clearly showcases and highlights all of the artist’s talents and skills gracefully through Gerasimos’ musical compositions.
It’s a relaxing oriental folkloric journey in modern times…
To Gerasimos, and the whole team, we wish you all the best in life, you deserve it…and a lot more.
Can’t wait to see what you come up with next, we’ll be on the lookout.
Cheers!