Raoul D’Gama Rose , Review of "Variations", March 26, 2014 cont'd
Mr. Cotsirilos descends from Mr. Montgomery. He has that way of playing fluid single note lines interspersed with voluptuous chords, yet they are not syrupy. His soli are always something to look forward to. The excitement is in trying to guess where he will take off; at which point in the melody. He might, for instance, play a couple of choruses dancing in front and behind the rhythm that is magnificently pulsed by bassist Robb Fisher and drummer Ron Marabuto. Then suddenly at a quite unexpected point, Mr. Cotsirilos will leap off the proverbial ledge and plummet into a sea of blue chords where he picks up the melodic threads somewhere in the middle of a line, introducing a thought or two; then he pursues them in good order in a most creative fashion, opening the doors to each with block chords that function like two-way doors so he can go in and out of them at will. Mr. Cotsirilos is a very inventive guitarist as well. His soli only hint at melody, but he seems to come out of nowhere to enhance the beauty of that melody. Nothing is too far-out for him to enter from. And, best of all his command of dynamic and diction is sublime. And thus the music is always magical.
The dense chord cluster with which Mr. Cotsirilos begins his dolorous chart “Doce Presença” is altogether beautiful. And as he proceeds with the music picking notes in colours dripping with rust and brown, thick dark colours that are daubed onto a canvas begin to form like magic before the eyes. Then as the song develops Mr. Cotsirilos proceeds to make a sharp turn towards Brasil. His music from then on celebrates the masters that have adorned the guitar; from Laurindo Almeida to Sandro Albert they begin to form before the eyes as the notes begin to dance before the eyes, cajoling the body to pick up the rhythm and dance. And then there is “Chimera,” a complex chart that Mr. Cotsirilos handles with almost sensuous aplomb. He paces the song so the rhythm hangs in the air heavily and like a coat of thick paint that he seems to want to paint upon that many-coloured canvas that Mr. Cotsirilos paints. At the end of it all Variations is multi-faceted and George Cotsirilos is like that master cutter bringing each facet to life as if he were cutting a raw and priceless diamond. It glints in the cool of the night air and listeners will be captivated and mesmerised with its beauty
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