Born in Athens in 1978, Sideris moved early from flute to first electric and then acoustic bass and has studied at Boston’s Berklee and also in New York, including spending time with leading bassist John Patitucci.
Sideris has certainly become a fine player: sample the solo pizzicato and somewhat brooding Improvisation, the further fine pizzicato work on the fleet and elegantly turned Sober or the broadly woven arco lines of Despina. He leads here what is an imaginatively conceived, sometimes contemplative, sometimes up and burning date, epitomised by Dream In A Dream.
The core instrumentation comes from Sideris, the Argentinian Leo Genovese (p) and Apostolos’s compatriot, Dimitris Klonis (d), with Andrea Romani (ney flute), Giannis Poulios (vn) and Yiannis Moutsakis and Christos Sagient (pc) supplying various additional texture and colour.
Classic modern modal jazz (Orbit) fuses with folk elements from Greece and the Middle East to make for an album of potent rhythmic drive and floating, fluid melodic nuance (Science-friction, Makeshift Fishing Net), intricate rhythmic figures (Elephant In The Room) and reverie-rich texture and mood (La Danca Occasionelle).
An accomplished album which augurs well for future projects.
Discography
Alev (dibililili); Dream In A Dream; Ramallah; Science-Friction; Sober; Makeshift Fishing Net; Elephant In The Room; Despina; Improvisation; Orbit; La Danca Occasionelle; Reprise (53.00)
Sideris (b, v); Leo Genovese (p); Dimitri Klonis (d) plus, variously, Adel Christos Sagient (pc); Andrea Romani (ney f); Giannis Poullios (vn); Yiannsi Moustakis (pc). Athens 4, 5, 6 June 2018
Fresh Sound Records FSNT 581