The JAK Trio brings together three longtime collaborators and friends: Alexandros Arkadopoulos (clarinet), Yannis Kyri-Kyriidis (piano), and Kostas Meretakis (percussion), in a project that combines the depth of traditional music with the harmonic language of European jazz.
Clarinetist Alexandros Arkadopoulos is considered one of the most influential traditional clarinet soloists in Greece. Pianist Yiannis Kyri-Kyriidis (Yann Keerim) has developed over the past few decades a personal sound that reflects both his classical training and his love for jazz and neoclassical improvisation. Percussionist Kostas Meretakis possesses a deep understanding of a rhythmic language that unites his Thracian roots with the folk traditions of the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean,
The three soloists connect, improvise, and create original suites inspired by iconic traditional pieces (such as the Epirote “Berati”). They juxtapose the Macedonian gaida with Erik Satie, and folk tunes from Asia Minor with Domenico Scarlatti. They record original compositions in the tzourtzouna rhythm in the studio. They share a common understanding of the role that each of them individually—and all three as a whole—must play in the evolution of the music they each love, and for this reason they set aside the classical piano, the traditional clarinet, and percussion to create a new, fresh sound and a new perspective rooted in traditional music.
In this creative process, the visual aspect plays its own distinct and important role. The JAK Trio collaborates with Dimitris Mitsiopoulos (Altervision), who translates the relationship between people and instruments into visual material, designs the covers for each release, and translates the music’s aesthetic into images.
