ECHOES

Yes, we have no Fakanas. There are three albums by Giorgos Fakanas listed on ProgArchives:- "Horizon" (1988), "Amorosa" (1991) & "Echoes" (2004), only the last of which is currently available on YouTube. In addition, there are four later Giorgos Fakanas albums, all of which can be found on YouTube, but none of which are listed here on PA, so inevitably "Echoes" is the only one of seven Fakanas albums currently available for review. Confused? Me too! "Echoes" takes us on a jaunty, jazzy journey around the ancient historic regions of Greece, namely:- Thrace; Epirus; Macedonia; Crete; Thessaly, Peloponnese; Sterea Ellada; Aegean; and the Dodecanese - which are presumably islands with twelve sides. There are many sides to Giorgos Fakanas too, with jazzy horns, sassy sax, vibrant vibraphones and delicate piano motifs in abundance, in combination with sweeping classical strings. Fakanas is best-known as a bass player (if he's known at all outside of his native Greece) but the bass playing is very understated here, so you won't hear any heavy storm and thunder bass riffing in the style of Chris Squire, meaning it's probably not going to awaken the passions of the slumbering Greek Prog Gods on Mount Olympus. After all, this is a jazz album - not a prog album. In conclusion then, if a profusion of Jazz Fusion puts you in a land of confusion, then "Echoes" may leave you in a state of disillusion, but on the other hand, if a jazzy infusion is good for your constitution, then this album may be the ideal solution - or is that just circumlocution?