With SOLO, Tania Giannouli realises a project that has been in the making for several years, but it seems that she needed the German catalyst of the Enjoy Jazz Festival (2020) for the idea to coalesce. While the new album is consistent with previous collaborations, Rob Thorne, Paulo Chagas, her trio recording, and the Tania Giannouli Ensemble release, it is also something very new and very different.
On this album, her classical training is more apparent but tempered with a language one is more likely to associate with a modern jazz context. A balance that is implicitly conveyed by the black-and-white album cover image, which communicates both the power and simplicity of a solitary recording.
The volume of material is expansive. With a duration reaching 71 minutes, one might not call it "Spotify-friendly", but the fluid arc of the album holds the listener's attention and interest undiminished. It's particularly important to know that this is an album of improvisations through which a coherent whole is formed. Above all the individual elements, the way Giannouli perceives not only pure music but also pure sound is what shines on this recording. In this way, the pure structures and minimalist melodies that emanate from her playing are endowed with absolute beauty.