Kolida Babo – Kolida Balkanesque / Free For All

Singles ‘Kolida Balkanesque’ and ‘Free For All’ (Release Date: 10 July 2024) offer up the very first taste of forthcoming album ‘Spirits Of Mauronoros’ by critically acclaimed Greek woodwind duo Kolida Babo, on Veego Records.

Kolida Babo is the collaboration between two Greek woodwind musicians from separate regions – Socratis Votskos is from Pella, and Harris P. is from Athens. Their self-titled debut album was recorded in improvised live-take sessions beginning on the night of the “Kolida Babo” folk rituals of music and dance in northern Greece in winter 2013. They explore the ancient music of Armenia and the folk traditions of northern Greece’s Epirus and Thrace regions alongside abstract electronics and free jazz.

Their debut album was released by MIC Records (London) in 2019 to rave reviews. Other notable releases include the Jazzman Records jazz45 series and the soundtrack for the documentary ”Gospel of Michiel” and “Loxy”. Their music has been supported by BBC 6Music, BBC Radio 3, NTS, Soho Radio and Gilles Peterson‘s WorldWide FM as well as on Greek National Radio. Last but not least, they have performed in various venues around Greece and Europe including festivals like CTM, Archipelago Festival and Vinterjazz Festival.

In their second full-length album Spirits of Mauronoros  set to be released in September by Veego Records, Kolida Babo revisit an old forgotten place in northern Epirus Greece, near the Greek-Albanian borders. A spiritual music journey dedicated to the old village of Mauronoros (Black Mountain) and its people. This village is one of the many villages in Greece that is totally abandoned as a result of the economic crises and cultural changes that Greece faced in the last century. This profound depopulation of the area left behind ruins that echo its past trials and tribulations. However the traditional sounds of the village keep reappearing in urban centers, like ghosts that haunt everyday life. This sonic dialogue between “modern” and “traditional”, between “the peaceful countryside” and “turbulent urban centers” sometimes looks irrelevant and outdated but is of great consequence. It transports the listener to an unspecified time and place, devoid of any cultural and geopolitical connotations and thus leaves them yearning for a freer and more authentic way of life.

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