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A musical experience with the time machine built up by Ross Daly and his workshop "Labyrinth". One of the most active and creative musicians of the world initiates us to his music which connects us with the natural current of ancient traditional music and the most sophisticated expectations of the contemporary listeners.
From the village Houdetsi on Crete (which has evolved into a magnetic pole for the traditional music of many countries of the world) the Labyrinth Musical Workshop sets off to enchant the world with the beauty of the music it represents, guards and teaches.
Musicians: Click on the names and see photos and bios
Ross Daly (cretan lyra,saz, tarhu,rabab)
Kelly Thoma (cretan lyra)
Periklis Papapetropoulos (saz, laouto)
Kostas Meretakis (percussion)
Stelios Petrakis (cretan lyra, saz, laouto)
Angelina Tkatcheva (santur)
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| Labyrinth is perhaps more a musical way of life than it is merely a group of musicians.It started on Crete in 1982 simply as a group of friends dedicated to the exploration of the various modal musical traditions from around the world and the possibilities for creative interaction within and between them. Labyrinth has included at various times musicians from a very wide range of different ethnic backgrounds, each of whom brings to it the world from which he has come, through the medium of his own personal creativity. The members of Labyrinth do not necessarily share a common ideology or philosophy, rather they are united in a common spirit and, of course, love for music.
The term "modal music" usually refers to a specific genre of music which is quite clearly defined by equally specific technical characteristics, and which is frequently identified geographically with the Middle East and the Orient.
True though this may be, for us it is something much more. Inherent in all of the great modal traditions of the world (both of the East and the West) is a primordial,transcendental spirituality which is totally independent of religious dogmas or any other specific patterns of thought and feeling of a descriptive or presciptive nature. It is this aspect of modal music which draws us irresistably towards it, and which enables us to surrender ourselves to the transpersonal and transtemporal world which it opens for each and every one of us according to his or her individual nature.
When we started this work more than 20 years ago, there was no specific category into which our music neatly fell, and often the task of describing it to others was extremely difficult. What we do is not "traditional music" per se, but it does draw, almost exclusively, on elements of specific and, usually, closely related musical traditions which are continuously developing, each in its own way. The newly coined terms "Ethnic" or "World Music", if they do indeed have any real meaning at all, both refer to interests which are, in fact, the direct opposite of what concerns us.
The "Ethnic" dimension of any given musical tradition is of little if any relevance to the inherent ability of certain elements within it to transport us from personal to transpersonal levels, a characteristic of prime importance to us. That which is "Ethnic" certainly reflects a collectivity which simultaneously contains and supercedes individuality, but it does continue to produce dualities such as "us" and "them", whereas the transpersonal refers us to another realm of existence where there simply are no such divisions and the emphasis is on the revelation of inherent unity. "World Music", whatever that term might eventually come to mean in future genedrations, remains an extremely primitive organism, lacking both a backbone as well as a central nervous system, and would seem ill-equipped to pass the harsh tests of survival and evolution. The biggest weakness of both categories, probably, is in the fact that they are both the creations not of musicians themselves, but of the music industry in search of new forms of commerciality.
From its conception up until today, "Labyrinth" has always had a nucleus of musicians which is shaped and renewed through the circumstances and the needs of the times or even through unexpected incidents. Musicians of various ethnic backgrounds come, go and, rather often, return, thus completing a cycle inside the labyrinth that Ross Daly himself has "built". They are influenced by all of the other members of "Labyrinth" and simultaneously exert their own influence, musically speaking, always offering unsparingly of their musical as well as their personal attributes.
At the same time, however, this nucleus is also influenced by visiting musicians who collaborate with Labyrinth in various projects, but are not necessarily assimilated into it. These musicians subsequently continue on their own way, often to return again at a later date. Ross Daly's collaborations as a soloist with other important artists (without the other members of Labyrinth) also influence indirectly, but deeply, the central core of the group, as Daly, the central figure of "Labyrinth" , is particularly adept at translating the knowledge he receives through collaborations with other musicians into new and creative forms.
From 1982 and for approximately one decade, the basic members of "Labyrinth" were:
Tim Powell
Vassilis Soukas
Ioanna Andrews
Sokratis Sinopoulos
Spyridoula Toutoudaki
Amin Alagabou
Elias Papadopoulos
Katerina Papadopoulou
Agnes Agopian
Senih Undeger
Vasilis Stavrakakis
Michalis Stavrakakis
Giorgos Symeonides
Important musicians that have collaborated and influenced Ross Daly and "Labyrinth" are:
Rufus Cappadocia: cello
Necati Çelik: turkish ud
Stelios Foustalieris: boulgari
Carlo Rizzo: percussion
Rakesh Chaurasia: bansuri
Shubankar Banerjee: tabla
Rabindra Goswami: sitar
Devashish Dey: indian singing
Halil Karaduman: kanoon
Habil Aliev: Azeri kemanche
Irshad Khan: tabla
Kostas Mountakis: Cretan lyra
Nikos Xylouris: lyra, vocals
Matthias Loibner: Vielle a roue
Talip Ozkan: saz
Ramiz Guliev: tar
Jean-Michel Veillon: flute
Ihsan Ozgen : Kemence
Mehmet Erenler: saz
Omer Erdogdular: ney
Selim Guler: kemence
Michalis Nikoloudis: mandolin
Nikos Koliakoudakis: Cretan lyra
Yurdal Tokcan: oud
Matthew Barley: cello
Mehmet Emin Bitmez: oud
Wafir Sheikh-el-din: oud
Zohar Fresco: percussion
Randy Crafton: percussion
Wu Wei: er-hu, sheng
Kayhan Kalhor: kemence
Georgi Petrov: gadulka
Nedyalko Nedyalkov: kaval
Okay Temiz: percussion
Mohamed Tahmasebi: zarb
Tasos Diakogiorgis: santouri
Angeliki Xekalaki: percussion
Racheal Cogan: recorder
Pantelis Despotidis: violin
Yinon Muallem: percussion
Naor Karmi: acoustic bass
Ziyad Rajab: oud
Samir Joubran: oud
Taiseer Elias: oud
Nassim Dakwar: violin
Emmanuel Mann: bass
Amir Milstein: flute
Miguel Herstein: guitar, banjo
Achilleas Persidis: guitar, laouto
Chronis Aidonidis: vocals
Giorgos Amarantidis: Pontic lyra
Fetih Ozlutas: saz
Petroloukas Halkias: clarinet
Eyal Sela: clarinet
Yann-Fransch Kemener: vocals
Gilles le Bigot: guitar
Ashley Slater: trombone
Oren Marshall: tuba
Sri Kant Mishra : pakhawaj
Giorgos Stathos: clarinet
Raquy Danziger: bones, bendir
Nezih Uzel: bendir
Giannis Zevgolis: violin
Giorgos Koros: violin
Kostas Pitsos: laouto
A large number of musicians from all over the world that have collaborated with "Labyrinth" in various musical projects are mentioned at Projects
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