Search - Apostolos Anthimos, Matthew Garrison, Paul Wertico :: Days We Can't Forget

Apostolis Anthimos - Lakis

Chazz for Jazz | Long Beach CA | 02/10/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Line-up:

Apostolos Anthimos - guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, drums

Gil Goldstein - Fender Rhodes, piano, accordion

Jim Beard - Fender Rhodes, piano

Matthew Garrison - electric bass

Paul Wertico - drums, percussion

Sugar Blue - harmonica



Recorded:

at Skyline Studio, New York, February 24, 1994



About:

Apostolis Anthimos ('Lakis' as he is called by friends) was born in 1954 in Siemianowice Slaskie to a family of Greek immigrants. He is most significantly known as guitarist for the Polish rock supergroup SBB. He has also been involved in co-operation with Czeslaw Niemen, Tomasz Stanko, George Dalaras, Vangelis Katsoulis, and also a number of bands, including Krzak and Dzem. Anthimos is a musician of exquisite subtlety, playing both the guitar and percussion instruments. Since 1971 he has continually appeared with Jozef Skrzek in the consecutive SBB incarnations. Starting with the eighties, he has split his time between Poland and Greece, where he became a highly regarded session musician. Back in Poland, he worked with Tomasz Stanko as a drummer and guitarist. During the nineties he has run his own trio, Trias. The new millennium saw the emergence of Apostolis Anthimos Trio. The line-up featured Lakis and two young Polish musicians: the bassist Robert Szewczuga and the dummer Krzysztof Dziedzic. Apostolis Anthimos has participated in the recording over fifty albums, including thee of his own: Days We Can't Forget (1994, backed by Pat Metheny Group musicians), Theatro (1999) and the latest release called Back to the North (2006, backed by Paul Wertico and Marcin Pospieszalski).

text courtesy of Lakis's official website



Testimonials:



Jaroslaw Smietana:

Anthimos is a versatile and superb guitarist. Not only is he a fine soloist endowed with a great deal of fantasy, but also an alert and thoughtful accompanist. He is capable of incorporating hard phrasing in rock fashion, but at the same time his manner may become subtle - swingy or jazz-like. He is a great rhythmical guitarist, able to create a beautiful sound and does not exaggerate with dynamics, even in the most expressive moments. All in all, he can 'weigh' his music, which is a mark of all great artists.



Tomasz Stanko:

I have been working with Lakis the guitarist and Lakis the drummer to this very day. He has his own, very recognizable style of playing. Nice and melodic on the one hand, and predatory on the other, and always rhythmically confident. You may say he is very elegant.



Grzegorz Skawinski (Kombi):

When I was young, I learnt by following his path. I believe he has exerted a big influence on the Polish rock music.



Wojciech Waglewski (Voo Voo):

Apostolis has always been a charming and magnificent player. For many years now he's been one of the greatest avant-garde guitarists. And to me personally, Lakis is among my primary inspirations, a man who would fight against the stagnant blues scales. His approach to playing is highly individual; he is a bold and adventurous musician.



Jan Borysewicz (Lady Pank):

He's a real hero for me. A superb guitarist, surely one of the greatest in the world. When I was a teenager, I would follow SBB on their tours and I witnessed every gig. They were the best trio I'd ever heard. Their energy was so different - nobody else would play like that.

"