Irini Konstantinidi: The Wonderfall Quartet was born in the fall of 2009 when drummer Thanos Hatzianagnostou started composing at the piano. (Until then he was evolving his musical ideas, playing the guitar.) I was listening to his melodies, that had this ability to arouse my imagination and thus I could almost instantly create images in my mind and write little stories for each song. It was then that we both realized that we had to find a pianist and a bass player, in order to start performing and give life to all these songs! The primal Wonderfall quartet was formed one year later in October of 2010, when pianist Dimitris Theoharis and upright bassist Haris Mermigas joined in. On November 7, 2011 we released our debut album “the Wonder-fall Quartet”, with guest musician Haris Lambrakis on ney, participating in 3 of the album’s ten original compositions. One and a half year later, in spring of 2013 Thanos and I decided to give a fresh orientation to the group by collaborating with pianist Yiannis Papadopoulos and bassist Konstantinos Manos. On November 29 & 30 of 2013 we recorded our second album (HORIZON) with this new line up and we released it on April 15, 2014, through the quartet’s official web site.
How would you characterize your music ?
Irini Konstantinidi Our main influences derive from the sound of European Jazz. The main features that characterize our music are the atmospheric sound, the lyricism of the melodies, the improvisational mood, a minimalistic yet powerful style of playing, the constant interplay that creates a sense of an intimate musical dialogue between the four of us and finally our indulgence in moving between dynamics, contrasting environments and moods.
Could you tell us a few words about this new cd ?
Our new CD is called HORIZON and contains 10 original compositions of Thanos, with lyrics of mine in seven of them. It preserves the atmospheric sound of European jazz scene and demonstrates our major influence by our beloved Esbjorn Svensson Trio (e.s.t.). It begins with Dawn | Αυγή which introduces the listener to a soft and optimistic mood about every new beginning !
We’ve decided to name the album after the second song’s title though, because we feel that it is a significant composition, that has a symbolic potential of its own. It’s comprised of two different parts, just as horizon draws the line between the earth and the sky and symbolizes the boundaries between the fall and the uprising. The essence of the lyrics of this new “concept” album sums up to the acceptance that the time of humanity as we know it, is running out quickly unless we realize that life is just a slender string and try to make it worth living. A single glance at the horizon is a reminder of our insignificance within the vast universe, setting things into proportion. Trying to be more specific, I’d say that it is filled with an esoteric dark mood which escalates and finally acts as a catharsis. The listener is getting deeper into the existential issues of humanity and proceeds towards the final song of the album, called Undulations, which is the most melancholic and sombre piece of the album yet it works as a redemption.
Are you planning a tour or special performance to promote this new cd ?
We certainly hope to perform in jazz festivals, during the summer and we’re working on it!
For the near future we’ve arranged an official HORIZON album presentation LIVE performance on Sunday May 18, 2014 at Athenaeum Kelari at 21:00 with free entrance, of course! You can always visit our renewed web site where you can listen to (and order or download) both our albums and also get all the information about the quartet’s latest news, concert dates, etc.
More about The Wonderfall Quartet http://jazzonline.gr/en/articlesinterviews/interviews/itemlist/tag/The%20wonder%20%20fall%20quartet.html
More about Horizon http://jazzonline.gr/en/cd-releases/item/2654-horizon-2014.html
www.thewonderfallquartet.com
