Nicky Skopelitis Revelator CD

Those familiar with guitarist Raoul Bjorkenheim from his work with the harder-edged Krakatau and with guitarist Nicky Skopelitis from his work with the very soft-edged CyberOctave label may be surprised by what they hear on this duo album. Featuring the percussion talents of Bill Buchen and the spiritual oversight of bassist Bill Laswell (credited here with "sounds"), Revelator delivers mainly lush, exotic grooves that are consistently both easy on the ear and sonically challenging. It would be easy to let these ambient soundscapes fade into the background, but then you'd miss the complexities -- the way Bjorkeheim's bowed guitar snakes around until Buchen's tabla enters to clear the way for Skopelitis' Delta blues figures on "Epiphany" or the gorgeously polytonal "Fresh Meat and Roses." Those who enjoyed Laswell's Hear No Evil will find a lot to like here, as will fans of the first Robert Fripp and Andy Summers collaboration. Recommended. ~ Rick Anderson

Although they both claim the guitar as their instrument of choice, Nicky Skopelitis and Raoul Björkenheim probably couldn't come from more radically different backgrounds. But one essential trait they do share is an inexhaustible thirst for new directions and new sensibilities in music, and with Revelator - a collaboration that, true to its title, attempts to reveal the unexpected as it also explores a slightly spiritual edge - the guitar becomes a vehicle for two distinct voices. From there, the quest for a third voice begins: where creative forces meet to offer up a glimpse of one possible musical future.Nicky Skopelitis, a lifelong New York native, studied the trumpet as a child before gravitating to the guitar and a multitude of stringed instruments. True to his Greek heritage, he was fueled by an ongoing interest in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern musical styles. As a teenager he became an integral fixture on the East Village downtown "no wave" scene, and in the late 70s and early 80s performed with bassist and partner-in-crime Bill Laswell in the avant-rock unit Curlew and in a later manifestation of Material (with Laswell, Michael Beinhorn and Fred Maher), as well as with offshoots like Anton Fier's Golden Palaminos. Skopelitis has recorded and played with such luminaries as Ginger Baker, guitar great Sonny Sharrock (on the now-classic Faith Moves) and Palestinian oud and violin player Simon Shaheen, to name a few, and has contributed to numerous Laswell-generated studio projects over the years both as musician and producer - most notably on his own Next To Nothing (Virgin/Venture) and his quintessential Axiom label release Ekstasis, a name that he took up once again for a group recording in 1999 called Wake Up and Dream, released by the CyberOctave imprint. Skopelitis' influence can also be heard on a multi-layered ambient-jazz excursion with legendary drummer Tony Williams (featuring Pharoah Sanders, Byard Lancaster and cornetist Graham Haynes) under the group name of Arcana, released on Axiom in 1997 as Arc of the Testimony.Raoul Björkenheim was born in Los Angeles and spent his childhood shuttling between cosmopolitan centers in Europe and America before eventually settling in his familial homeland of Finland. He enrolled in the Helsinki Conservatory of Music, where he spent a year studying guitar and various forms of ethnic percussion. In the late 70s, he transplanted to the Berklee School of Music in Boston to immerse himself in composition, drawing from the work of Bartok and Stravinsky and jazz monoliths Eric Dolphy and Charles Mingus for inspiration. Björkenheim first appeared on three recordings with drummer Edward Vesala and his Sound & Fury ensemble before forming his own group Krakatau - a revolutionary and constantly evolving collective of musicians that combined ethnic rhythms and harmony structures with sheer visceral impact. After two independent recordings titled Ritual and Alive (the latter a live document of a stripped-down power trioAlternative Press (2/02, p.68) - 8 out of 10 - "...Mellow and laid-back...also containing depth and substance..."
Down Beat (4/02, p.74) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Illuminates a fine rapport between the 2 guitarists....Flowing in a dreamlike fashion, REVELATOR contrasts sharp, electrified interaction with delicate acoustic interludes and brisk Eastern-styled picking..."