The Greek pianist and composer Markos Chaidemenos is joined by plenty of strings, a rhythm section and a vocalist for these seven detailed tracks that blend contemporary jazz and chamber music with much attention to detail, for his most ambitious recording to date.
“Si-iS” starts with Chaidemenos’ pretty keys alongside the stirring violin thanks to Babis Karasavvidis for plenty of melodic structure, and “Light Beam” follows with a similar amount of sophistication, where Irini Arabatzi’s flowing vocals help illuminate Panagiotis Kostopoulous’ rhythmic drumming.
“EGO” and “11 Stars” occupy the middle spots. The former allows for Yiannis Vagianos’ meticulous bass to shine amid the expressive singing and waves of strings. The latter injects the colorful keys into the scrappy rhythm section for a frisky and mesmerizing album highlight that you’ll revisit over and over.
On the back half, the emotive viola thanks to Stelios Papanastasis makes in impression as the setting of “Pisa” builds into a lush climate, and “33” brings back Arabatzi’s smooth voice to a dynamic interaction that benefits from meticulous key progressions and animated drums and bass.
At the end, “Aai” showcases Arabatzi’s scatting abilities in an adventurous and also cautious landscape of timeless ideas.
Chaidemenos was raised on classical music, and his inclination towards improvisation is much appreciated with this top notch ensemble at his side. In addition to the above mentioned, Kalliopi Mitropoulou handles violin and Giorgos Tamiolakis plays violoncello for the enlightening and pleasant record that was fleshed out over just two days in 2025.
Somewhat of a fusion affair, Light Beam is for fans of jazz, chamber, orchestral or classical sounds, who will with admire the cinematic bouts, strategic texturing, attentiveness to melody and balance of intimacy and vibrancy for seven songs that just end entirely too soon.
