Chris Spheeris
Chris Spheeris Biography
If you have owned a television or a radio in the past 15 years in any of more than 40 countries around the world, you have probably heard the music of Chris Spheeris. In addition to having been a staple in the new age and smooth jazz radio formats, the music of Chris Spheeris has surfaced in the olympics, in soap operas, world skating championships, commercials and behind countless documentaries. In his unassuming, yet profound way, Chris Spheeris continues to provide inspiration, joy, and beauty to the hearts of millions.
Being raised in the midwestern USA and spending summers in his ancestral homeland of Greece, the the cross-cultural foundation of his expression was in place long before his first melodies were ever written. His earliest musical influences include the strains of classical piano played by his older sister, the Greek folk music sung by his mother and grandmother, and beautifully melodic and deeply mystical chants of the greek orthodox church. Chris sites his earliest musical training as the endless hours he spent listening and memorizing the melodies, harmonies and lyrics of The Beatles. It wasn't until he was 13, spending a year in Greece, that he actually picked up his first guitar. By 14, he was composing songs and at 19 entered the field of music as a professional.
Under the influences of Joni Mitchell, early Genesis, Cat Stevens, The Talking Heads, his beloved cousin Jimmie Spheeris and other visionaries of the era, Spheeris along with his best friend at the time, Paul Voudouris, entertained and inspired restaurant, coffee house, symphony, and college audiences with a blend of all original music and lyrics that was highly progressive and original. After six years, hundreds of performances, and four recordings, Chris and Paul went their separate ways.
Never one to sit idle for long, immediately following the split, at the age of 25, Spheeris immediately set up a studio, bought his first keyboards, and embarked on his own blend of instrumental music that would help found a new musical genre of new age. Within three years of the inception of his solo career, Chris caught the attention of a sales representative working for columbia records who was swift to send the tape to the head of a&r in new york. Within weeks, Chris Spheeris became one of the first new age instrumentalists to be signed to a major label and his first recording, Desires of the Heart, was welcomed by his new audience of great numbers.
Over the next 15 years, through his recordings Pathways to Surrender (1988), Enchantment (1991), Culture (1993), Desires (1994), Europa (1995), Mystic Traveller (1996), Eros (1997), Dancing with the Muse (1999), and The Best of Chris Spheeris (2000), Spheeris developed a signature style of cross-cultural, romantic instrumental music. His geographic and spiritual odysseys have imbued his music with a quality that is at once, intimate, exotic, passionate and universal. His 17 recordings have found more than one million homes and the 50 documentary films that he has scored have been broadcast globally. Enchantment, his 1991 collaboration with long-time creative partner Paul Voudouris, moved the spanish public in platinum numbers and is considered a new age classic. In 1995, Chris received a gold record in Greece when cypriot singer Constantina recorded one of his compositions. Regarding this achievement, Chris states, "it was an honor to be in a place to give something back to the rich greek culture that has given so much inspiration to my life and my music." In 1997, with co-producer Robert Cory, Spheeris scored the 13-part award winning series Mystic Lands, directed by Chip Duncan and narrated by acclaimed actor Edward James Olmos. In 2000, Chris entered the world of rap when legendary rapper Raekwon used 3 Spheeris compositions on his Immobilarity record. Also in 2000, Spheeris provided the music for a series of short-form victories by world-class russian skater Irina Slutskaya. In 2001, Chris produced two new recordings, Brio a guitar-oriented collaboration with stellar guitarist Anthony Mazzella, and Adagio, a solo-piano recording with Greek-American George Skaroulis interpreting Spheeris compositions. In November of 2001, Spheeris was awarded "Musician of the Year" by the Elios Society, for his artistic and cultural contributions.
In his own quiet and dedicated fashion, Chris Spheeris continues to mature as an innovative and prolific composer and instrumentalist, touching the lives of millions in ways that are not always recognized by the media. Living currently in the high desert of Arizona, Chris Spheeris remains a consummate traveler, both creatively and geographically, and a student of world cultures. Spiritual by nature, he sums his perspective up in the following way: "I experience divinity in everything and particularly in the process of creating . My medium is invisible. Working in this medium has taught me faith in the intangibles. Every day I do my work, I have an intimate exchange with God."
"I feel that the intention to love, to connect and to inspire creates the underlying theme in all of my work. My tendency toward harmony and beauty is implied in this."
"Although my music is abstract in nature, and not intended to convey a particular message, I am very aware of the magical and powerful influence that music can have on the listener. For this reason, I carry with me the responsibility of what I communicate to my audience."
"Music is a universal language that transcends cultural and individual boundaries and speaks directly to and from the human spirit."
"I am an explorer, a pioneer commissioned by the human collective to bring back information from the unknown."
"An artist should not be afraid to risk. Risk is the key to great art. When an artist stops taking risks, it's all over."
Chris Spheeris Discography
Chris Spheeris
- (1986) Desires of the Heart
- (1988) Pathways To Surrender
- (1993) Culture
- (1994) Desires
- (1997) Eros
- (1999) Dancing with the Muse
- (2001) Best of Chris Spheeris: 1990-2000 [Higher Octave]
- (2005) Best of Chris Spheeris: 1990-2000 [Essence]
Chris Spheeris and Paul Voudouris
- (1991) Enchantment
- (1994) Passage
- (1995) Europa
Chris Spheeris and Robert Cory
- (1996) Mystic Traveller
Chris Spheeris & Anthony Mazzella
- (2002) Brio
Chris Spheeris & George Skaroulis
- (2002) Adagio
Medwyn is a legend in the world of music with over two million album sales to his credit. He has gained an international reputation for composing and recording quite stunning music. He is regarded as being amongst the finest multi-instrumentalist in the music industry. Amongst his credits are "Earth Healer" which was voted leading instrumental album of 1992 and the acclaimed "Druid" trilogy. His reputation was further recognised with three phenomenally successful music albums, "Way of the Dolphin" and "Great Spirit" for which he was awarded Gold Disc status with each album selling in excess of 100,000; and "Medicine Woman" which was awarded Gold, Platinum and a coveted 'Best Album Ever' award in 2002 for selling in excess of 300,000.
Oslo, Norway in 1957, beginning piano lessons at age five. As a teen he played bass in a rock band but returned to his classical roots in time to study piano, flute and composition at a private Music Conservatory in Oslo; by the 1980s, however, Sevåg had become fascinated by the possibilities offered by the development of the synthesizer, and he plunged into electronic music with his self-released 1989 debut LP Close Your Eyes and See.
Each Adiemus album is a collection of song-length pieces featuring harmonised vocal melody against an orchestral background. There are no lyrics as such, instead the vocalists sing syllables and 'words' invented by Jenkins. However, rather than creating musical interest from patterns of phonemes as in scat singing, the language of Adiemus is carefully stylised so as not to distract the listener's attention from the pitch and timbre of the voice—for example, as in African languages, syllables ending in consonants are rare. The core concept of Adiemus is that the voice should be allowed to function as nothing more than an instrument, a post-modern approach that has become something of a trend in recent choral writing, for example Vangelis's score for the film 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992). The word Adiemus itself resembles a Latin word meaning 'We will draw near', though incorrectly formed; Jenkins claims to have been unaware of this.
The session singer Miriam Stockley performed the vocal parts on the first four albums. Additional vocals were provided by Mary Carewe on all but Dances of Time, which saw the introduction of the Finnish Adiemus Singers (who would later reappear on Vocalise). Extra vocals and the chorus effects were created by overdubbing multitracked recordings of the singers (in some cases up to forty times) and varying the speed of the tape. Stockley was described by Jenkins as central to the Adiemus project due to her range and intonation, however for reasons that remain unclear she was not re-engaged for Vocalise.
Though there has been considerable evolution over the course of the project, the musical language of Adiemus draws heavily on classical and world music. Jenkins follows conventions of tonality up to a point—his harmony is derived from gospel and African music, decorated with functional dissonances such as suspensions and with greater freedom of movement between loosely related key areas. The percussion section, when used prominently, typically gives the pieces an upbeat, tribal-like rhythm.
Songs of Sanctuary was a huge commercial success, topping classical album charts. It is considered by critics to be the quintessential album, on which Jenkins' vision succeeds to the greatest extent with the fewest resources. Though none of its successors has achieved the same critical acclaim, Adiemus acquired a cult following and maintained a place in mainstream consciousness through its use in TV commercials, in particular the track Adiemus in a Delta Air Lines commercial (for which the project began), and Cantilena from Cantata Mundi in a recent Cheltenham & Gloucester commercial. The Adiemus track was used at the beginning and end of James Brandon's magic show "Imagine" which played at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas in the late 1990s, and is currently used as the soundtrack behind the Kubla Khan pillar show at the end of the big room cave tour in Kartchner Caverns State Park in Arizona. Additionally, Adiemus was used in the trailer to Invisible Children's documentary movie. It is also used in the New South Wales Tourism TV commercials (Australia). The Adiemus track was also used as an unofficial soundtrack to the Italian tv program Stargate, a weekly La7 and former TMC documentary on archaeology and mystical topics. In South Korea, Adiemus was used to showcase the world phone service of SK Telecom in 2004.
Every so often, a musician emerges who is quite unlike any that have come before; a musician that reflects not an imitation of styles and tones, but who embodies the entire spectrum of styles in such a unique way that "categorizing" is impossible. Guitarist Govi (go' vee) is one of those artists.
