Stella in Melissia

What an unexpectedly nice day I had with Pop-Star-George at his home, in Melissia (a suburb of Athens). Right when I walked in, I noticed a beautiful baby grand piano sitting in his living room, and an old upright against the opposite wall. Okay!

We sat and chatted in his living room about all sorts of things (we seemed to get along instantly) while his mother brought out various Greek refreshments. She kept coming back into the living room and interrupting us to talk about the food. She was quite adorable. She showed me ingredients and explained how some of the things were made. I was served spoon sweets, a tradition of Greek hospitality, and a kind of cold cherry drink on ice (made by boiling down cherries and sugar until it is a syrup, and then mixing that with water--very yummy). later she brought out some cookies that were made with wine, sugar, and cinnamon.

George took me into his studio and played me a bit of his new album, and we talked more about music and production and all sorts of other things. He is very talented and the songs, a mixture of Greek folk music and various pop/rock influences, were very well done. He records everything himself and brings friends to his house to record them (including a 200 kilo guy with an amazing voice).

Finally, he told me that I was welcome to play his piano as long as I wanted, and we went back out to the living room, but to my surprise, the very big grand piano in the living room was actually fake! It was an electronic keyboard built to look like a baby grand! I tried to hide my disappointment, and I asked him about the upright. "That one is out of tune, you don't want to play it." This is where George and I are very different. I was all over that beat up honky mother faster than you can say "robotic musical nightmare."

I put my little digital recorder on the piano, and played away for a while. Just what I wanted. Yes, the piano was a bit out of tune, but that's how life is. Pianos are like people, I think, and even the ones that are really out of shape have some exceptionally beautiful qualities.

Below is an excerpt of that session. I played "Stella by Starlight," in a way that I had never played it before. It sounds to me like the beauty of longing and the satisfaction of exploration. You can hear George in the beginning, trying to make sure I'm comfortable and offering the "nicer" fake piano again.

Stella in Melissia (mp3)

He offered to have me for dinner, but I had to go and perform my last non-sleep-a-thon with my little brother. He very graciously gave me a ride to the subway station, and told me that I was welcome any time and that he would love to show me the good places to eat and hear music. I'll definitely have to come back to Greece someday and take him up on that.