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Ioannis Anastassakis
was born in Greece in the island of
Crete. He studied music at the Greek
National Conservatory and the Nakas
Conservatory and he completed his
bachelor degree at the American College
of Greece and subsequently studied
at the Distinquished Musicians Iinstitute
where he has hired as an instructor,
after graduating at the top 1% in
his class! From there the California
State University was next where he
completed an MA in Guitar performance
graduating Magna cum Laude. He presented
over 300 solo recitals in the E.U.
and U.S.A and has been a guest lecturer
at several American colleges and Universities.
I'll just make a quick reference to
some of his teachers on the electric
guitar just to give you a hint. In
no specific order these are: Steve
Vai, Vinnie Moore, Marty Friedman,
John Petrucci, Frank Gambale and Paul
Gilbert just to list a few. Of course
there are some more famous and important,
but I think you get the picture.
On "Suspension
of Disbelief" Ioannis got as
much help as he could from Bob Katsionis,
a good guitarist and an exceptional
keyboardist. Katsionis did the programming
on the drums, undertook the keys and
his was also the producer and recording
engineer. The cd contains 8 tracks
plus 3 bonus ones that count almost
73 minutes. The compositions present
a wide range of influences having
as main asset a smooth flow that doesn't
tire the listener with techniques,
harmonies, tempos and the likes, things
I don't possess therefore I
can't go into a more detailed
explanation. What I know for sure
is that I richly enjoyed this offering
and for me that's what counts
in the end. Ioannis manages to filter
and mix his influences in a very interesting
fashion, spicing them up with some
flamenco touches. In many cases I
could distinguish some resemblance
to Malmsteen, Vinnie Moore a bit of
Jeff Beck, Frank Gambale and even
Iron Maiden. Not bad at all for influences,
don't you think? Moreover there
are some fusion rhythms here and there
that I personal have no problem with,
quite the opposite I'd say.
Technically exceptional solos filled
with fantasy and imagination, nice
rhythms on the lead parts and a very
good drum programming.
What else can I say
to convince you that "Suspension
of Disbelief" is a brilliant
piece of work from a very talented
Greek guitarist? A delivery you'll
absolutely enjoy, trust me on that.
Two thumbs up Ioannis!!! |
