Recordings
Released in 2010
Sfumato by Demetrius Spaneas and Galina Parfenova, released on DSM
I am a part of all that I have met.–Alfred, Lord Tennyson
What happens when two artists from different cultures, different backgrounds, and different artistic worlds come together? What happens when you bring together a Russian Medieval-style vocalist and a Greek-American contemporary experimentalist? When these two artists share a commitment to improvisation and interest in overtone harmonies, the results transcend time and culture.
This is the resonance of Sfumato, a collection of meditative improvisations that unite two very different artists. In painting, sfumato is a blending technique used to create imperceptible transitions between colors and tones. In our Sfumato, we have blended two varied palettes of sound color to create music that defies categorization.
Studio recordings of me playing my compositions; 2008-09
Spoken Origins
(2008) for saxophone and electronics (a piece based on Ancient thought and ritual)
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In Celebration of Sunrise
(2007) multimedia work for flute/saxophone, electronics, and film (film by Nikolay Leonuv)
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Interlude 3 Ascension
(2007) for saxophone and electronic drone (third of three Interludes)
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Just Another Night on Plastic
(2008) for saxophone and electronics (my Ode to Insomnia)
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Paleo Rock
(2008) for alto flute and electronics (if Pythagoras wrote the Blues…)
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The Carefree Princess
(2008) animation film score for voice/saxophone and electronic orchestra (animation by Andrey Efi)
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The Ballad of Olga D.
(2009) electronics
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Released in 2007
Take Two Live | tenor and baritone saxes, horn arrangements, on Beginnings
Shaun Naidoo Fiat Lux; alto sax solo with electronics in Naidoo’s Blood Memory; Capstone Records
Released in 2006
From a Far-off World by Demetrius Spaneas released on Capstone Records
The oppressive closeness of the evening was broken by a sudden gust of wind, and the still surface of the Suista rippled and curled like the hair of a nymph, and from the woods wrapt in the evening gloom there came forth a simultaneous murmur, as though they were awakening from a black dream. Call it reality or dream, the momentary glimpse of that invisible mirage reflected from a far-off world, 250 years old, vanished in a flash. The mystic forms that brushed past me with their quick unbodied steps, and loud, voiceless laughter, and threw themselves into the river, did not go back wringing their dripping robes as they went. Like fragrance wafted away by the wind they were dispersed by a single breath of the spring.
Poem entitled, From The Hungry Stones, by Rabindranath Tagore
Color Me In | Lyz Coolidge, (flute and alto flute)
Evan Ziporyn, Frog’s Eye; tenor sax in Drill with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Cantaloupe Music
Released in 2004
All in Your Mind , The Music of John Mallia and Julia Werntz-Alto Saxophone in John Mallia’s Plexus with the Auros Group for New Music; Capstone Records
Crimean Dance Party, The Black Sea Salsa Band- Tenor and Baritone Saxes
Released in 2003
When Wind Comes to Sparse Bamboo by Demetrius Spaneas, Capstone Records
When the wind comes to sparse bamboo, the bamboo doesn’t keep the sound after the wind has passed. When geese cross a cold pond, the pond doesn’t retain their reflection after the geese have gone. Similarly, the minds of enlightened people become manifest when events occur and then become empty when the events are over.
Poem entitled, A Wayfayer Back to Beginnings, by Hong Yingming (Huanchu Daoren)
