Kolida Babo

This is an intriguing experiment by two Greek exponents of the duduk, an Armenian oboe. Socratis Votskos and Harris P pair the rich sound of the duduk, as well as saxes and gaida (bagpipes), against a background of electronics. The latter are complementary and treated with care, and tend towards washes of sound that highlight, rather than obscure, the top lines (for example on ‘The Epirus Lodge’ and ‘Kolida Grotesque’). I particularly enjoyed the discursive improvisations of the duduk against a bass ostinato on ‘Kolida Babo’, while the rhythmic counterpoint of ‘Kolida Arabesque’ brings the music back to the traditional roots of the instruments.

The more traditional ‘Waltz in G Minor’ comes as a bit of a pleasant surprise but adds a cheeky contrast to the more contemplative feel of many of the other tracks. The two musicians are ably assisted by Nick Varelas on a variety of drums and what could have been merely a slightly off-the-wall experiment turns out to be highly enjoyable and interesting listen.