Bonnendis - From the Mountains and the Sea (2019)

From the Mountains and the Sea is Bonnendis' debut album, featuring the iconic instruments of the Aegean islands: the traditional ziya (duo formation) of the tsambouna and lyra (bagpipe and fiddle), the Cretan laouto (lute) in its virtuosic solo and accompanist roles, the large and festive davoul (drum) and a range of female and male voices, singing words of love and longing.

The album brings together the stories and themes common to the islands, painting a musical portrait of tragic love, migration, sea raids and ritual celebrations. The music navigates through everyday lives with ritual dances from Karpathos, virtuosic Cretan kondylies played on the baroque recorder, reminiscent of the local floyera, the epic medieval tragedy of Erotokritos, corsaire dance tunes from Ikaria, wedding songs of Nisyros, and heartfelt words of longing for far away loved ones.

Bonnendis founding members, Thodoris Ziarkas (lyra), Nikos Ziarkas (laouto) and Cassandre Balosso-Bardin (recorders and tsambouna) invited three friends close to these traditions to lend their voices to the music: Dunja Botic (Don Kipper), Vasiliki Anastasiou (the Amalgamation Project) and Pavlos Mavromatakis (the Turbans, Balothizer). The result is a collection of traditional melodies and songs presented in their simplest forms, allowing the musicians to enhance the raw beauty of the music through their individualities.

01. Bonnendis - Aretousa (4:26)
02. Bonnendis - Archagelitikos (3:08)
03. Bonnendis - Yiasemi (7:03)
04. Bonnendis - Livysianos (3:48)
05. Bonnendis - Kondylies (6:22)
06. Bonnendis - Perioli (3:42)
07. Bonnendis - Sousta (5:57)
08. Bonnendis - Koursarikos (3:09)