Being a great
admirer of Yanni's
music (his compositions can't be less
than a
work of a
genius,
IMHO), I would like to
contribute some
facts
about him to our E2
community.
Yanni's Biography
Yannis Chryssomallis, also known as Yanni, was born in 14 November
1954, in
Kalamata,
Greece.
Yanni, as a child had a passion for swimming. Indeed,
at the age of 14, he broke the national freestyle record being a member
of the National Greek Swimming Team. In 1972, immediately after finishing
high school, he moved in the US where he attended psychology courses
at the University of Minnesota, and while trying to get his psychology
degree, he also played with a prog-rock band called Chameleon. Yanni
subsided his psychology courses in order to go after what he really loved:
composing music. And it may sound a little bit unusual, but Yanni,
being a self-taught musician has developed a music "writing" of his own
and even now claims he cannot "read" music.
Given his passion for music, it did not take long for
him to establish himself as a world-class musician, composer and producer.
As seen below, in Yanni's discography, his first albums were released by
Private Music which, after the tremendous success of Yanni's first independently
released album, had probably seen in him the capability of becoming one
of the top names and most selling artists in this kind of music.
A boost in Yanni's fame occured in the early 90's when
his relationship with the well-known (from Dynasty) actor Linda Evans gave
Yanni access to the most popular tv-shows and magazines in the U.S.
Yanni's Works
Before Live At The Acropolis, Yanni's most famous
release ever, he already had another 8 albums released, which also met significant
success. Among them, Chameleon Days, an album reminding of Yanni's first
days in music, when he played with the prog-rock band Chameleon. But Live
At The Acropolis was the album to give him way out to the very first
places in world's discography charts, for an astonishingly long time, in
the course of which, Live At The Acropolis album became platinum several
times. There is one more reason that Live At The Acropolis was a
release of major significance in Yanni's life. It was the first time (and
last as by now), September 1993 that Yanni performed live in his own country,
in a concert still unforgetable for the more than 2,000 people who attended
it. Live At The Acropolis refreshed memories of some of the artist's most
memorable compositions, including new versions of "Keys To Imagination",
"Nostalgia", "The Rain Must Fall" and "Reflections Of Passion', the latter
the title track to 1990's platinum-selling album.
In March 1994, the concert was broadcasted throughout
USA deploying more 150 cameramen, sound and light experts, in a spectacle
which again met with public's love. In 1997, Yanni signed with Virgin Records
who released Tribute, a live album recorded in India and China (at the
Taj Mahal, the following year. Again, IMHO, Tribute is a collection
of ingenious masterpieces.
Yanni's Releases
Discography:
Keys To Imagination (Private 1986)
Out Of Silence (Private 1987)
Chameleon Days (Private 1988)
Niki Nana (Private 1989)
Reflections Of Passion (Private 1990)
In Celebration Of Life (Private 1991)
Dare To Dream (Private 1991)
In My Time (Private 1992)
Live At The Acropolis (Private 1993)
In The Mirror (Private 1997)
Port Of Mystery (Windham Hill 1997)
Nightbird: The Encore Collection (BMG 1997)
Tribute (Virgin 1998)
Winter Light (Private/Windham Hill 1999)
If I Could Tell You (Virgin 2000)
Compilations:
Devotion: The Best Of Yanni (Private 1997)
Love Songs (Private 1999)
The Private Years 5-CD box set (Private 1999)
The Very Best Of Yanni (Windham Hill 2000)
Videography:
Live At The Acropolis (Private Music 1994),
Tribute (Virgin 1997).
Some Quotes of Yanni
"Sometimes we get caught up in our troubles and our problems
and we let life slip away, but life is precious, all of life, and one must
try to take in as much of it as possible."
"Symphonies can generate a tremendous amount of
sound, beauty and emotion. That is part of their human feel and sweetness.
Keyboards give us access to millions of sounds. When I put the two together,
the result is unique, and it's not only pleasing to the ear, but produces
emotional responses that neither can achieve on their own."
"Creativity is an inherent quality of highest order. When we create, we become more than the sum of our parts."