I'm a fan of Yanni for like 10 years now and i still listen his music, it's simply amayzing and relaxing in the same time. One of my favorite album is his last performance. Yanni Live!: The Concert Event, could well be the closest unconscious...
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I'm a fan of Yanni for like 10 years now and i still listen his music, it's simply amayzing and relaxing in the same time. One of my favorite album is his last performance. Yanni Live!: The Concert Event, could well be the closest unconscious approach in the greek musician's career to a Shiatsu session: invigourating rhytms that are impossible to resist. And this is about showcase; about boasting his ensemble, multicultural band and his cutting-edge recording equipment, with its sharp, clear, unparalleled sound. A spectacle grandeur worthy of a Las Vegas' venue. Still, for an old-seasoned Yanni fan, this could be an album that takes a tad bit to digest, for this is not the Yanni we're all used to. Change is good, anyway. The most dramatic one came with his latest studio recording, Ethnicity: no more slow-paced melodies, but voice and electro-beat-driven pieces, in a very "world music" fashion. Mr. Chrysomallis preaches about tolerance and unity and he's been up to his word since Tribute, and YLTCE is no lesser. Although, long gone are the concerts that carried on for the compositions' sake. Yanni's decision of giving his band members a time to stand on their own, ought to be commended. But the record becomes lost between all the soloists' contributions. Still, make no mistake: whenever Sayaka Katsuki (marvellous, but still not quite Ms. Briggs), Armen Movsessian, Samvel Yervinyan, Alexander Zhiroff, Pedro Eustache, Ming Freeman, Ramón Flores and Alfreda Gerald take the lead, you can't help but be surprised and delighted. The record's best moments are On Sacred Ground, where Ms. Gerald introduces Ms. Katsuki to a dazzling combination, and in Until The Last Moment where Mr. Yervinyan delivers along Yanni the best rendition of the piece so far. One fact still remains. Yanni had still so much material to draw from and put on a live recording that it's difficult not to wonder why did he choose to place compositions we have already heard in past live albums yet once more here, being this the only catch.
Yet, Yanni Live! stands out for it's technical superiority and altogether memorable and enjoyable performances. With such music, for once, laser-lighting and musicians clad-in-black can be justified.
