London Taximi by Tasos Stamou & Mike Cooper

Taximi is the improvisation during the performance of traditional musical pieces, using soloistic folk instruments. It has roots in the eastern Mediterranean and Arabic culture and can be commonly found in Greek music and specifically in rebetiko. Taximi is a free rhythm melody, an author's imagination, alternating between various emotional paths with a passion respective to each one who carries it. The main prerequisite in order to play a taximi is not to have excellent technical knowledge, but rather to deposit your soul. You could say that at this point, rebetiko seems much similar to improvised music. And when that singular sound of rebetiko is embellished by a vast range of sonic influences starting from the blues, traditional music, instrumental exotica and ends in electroacoustic / free improv fields alongside distinctive electronic manipulation, it is certain that we are talking about an experiment moving on the fringes of unexplored improvisation, perhaps pushing them even further. And if you asked us to guess which people are responsible for that, the name of Mike Cooper would certainly be the first to come to mind.

The "London Taximi" cassette consists of some tracks recorded by Greek experimental musician Tasos Stamou and international artistic explorer Mike Cooper. These recordings took place from 2014... more
credits
released February 24, 2017

1.Recorded at the IKLECTIK Art Lab, London, October 27th 2015.
Tasos Stamou: bouzouki & handmade modified electronics
Mike Cooper: Lap steel guitar & smartphone apps

2.Recorded at the IKLECTIK Art Lab, London, March 1st 2016.
Tasos Stamou: half-bouzouki (misobouzouko) & looper
Mike Cooper: Lap steel guitar, effects & smartphone apps

3.Recorded live at the Hundred Years Gallery, London, November 16th 2014
Tasos Stamou: bouzouki
Mike Cooper: Lap steel guitar

All tracks mastered by Tasos Stamou
Artwork by Robbie Judkins

Electroacoustic music composer and performer, alternative electronic music instrument maker, tutor and sound technologist.

tasosstamou.com