Songs of love with womens’ voices
For a variety of reasons, the number of albums produced collectively by groups of individually successful artists has recently increased. An overall lack of new trends, shortage of worthwhile new songs, or the insecurity felt by recording artists are all contributing factors. In many cases, songwriters try to blend the work of two or three vocalists on one album. Notis Mavroudis, an accomplished songwriter and guitarist, had specific ideas in mind when preparing the material for his latest album, «Stin Icho Tou Erota,» which features interpretations by a cast of leading female vocalists. One of Mavroudis’s main intentions was to extract a wider vocal range and variety from his all-female singing cast, which, he believes, is a quality inherent, to a far greater degree, in female vocalists. «The female vocal range is far wider than it is for men. Men base their efforts on three or four models which are repeated,» Mavroudis asserted. «I think female vocalists carry Greece’s musical tradition…if one takes note of the specific voices that merge on this album, one will realize that the singers represent a large body of Greek song. Also, they’ve created new and interesting textures,» added Mavroudis, who, besides his compositional and instrumental skills, is also a renowned guitar instructor. On board for Mavroudis’s latest release are a group of seasoned vocalists, Eleftheria Arvanitaki, Eleni Vitali, Glykeria, Elli Paspala, Haris Alexiou, and the young Lizetta Kalimeri. «It’s tiring listening to one singer over 15 tracks. In contrast, it is more enjoyable to listen to 15 different voices,» said Mavroudis who has released over 30 albums – both classical and modern – since emerging as a recording artist in the mid-1960s. Apart from commenting on the textural variety provided by the women vocalists on his latest release, Mavroudis also stressed their high values, which, he said, have steered them clear of commercialization and the accompanying seedy nightclub activity, a scene that generally lacks artistic conviction. «They’ve remained protected from the tawdriness of success and the nightclub circuit. They’re singers with moral standards, and that’s touching. These are important things to me – I can’t wiggle my way into scenes where I don’t feel right,» remarked Mavroudis. «These vocalists, then, serve my needs both on aesthetic and ethical levels. These ethics, of course, have nothing to do with religious morality. It’s a far deeper thing,» he added. Besides designating the album’s vocal requirements to a large cast, Mavroudis has also employed a variety of lyricists: Aris Davarakis, Tassos Samartzis, Giorgos Kordellas, Smaro Papadopoulou, Tatiana Lygari, Maria Thanoglou, and Agathi Dimitrouka have all contributed lyrics to the new album. «The writing’s rich and thematically consistent. They are all ballads that complement one another and evolve,» explained Mavroudis. The songwriter previewed his new material with a recent series of shows including dance, which were directed and choreographed by Sophia Spyratou and titled «To Minore tis Fonis.» «It was a challenge I wanted to attempt,» said Mavroudis, while adding that before he «had not suspected how the emotions in songs give birth to a choreographer’s ideas.»
