Like most stories of today, this takes place during Covid. While I was inside, I read a lot and shopped online. I won a Turkish drum about 5 months ago on an online auction. I brought it home and after a few weeks I realized I didn’t play it yet. So, I put in a bunch of Cd’s and took it for a test run. In a very short time, I discovered this drum was teaching me, and I was loving it! My interpretive skills were at a new level and I decided to ramp it up and see where else I could take it. I put on Yiannis Kapoulas’ first recording. The opening piece is called Sun in your eyes and it starts with a lovely but slightly intense guitar opening and then the drums kick in with a Mediterranean feel. I began to jump in and was instantly transported to a different place with visions and tastes and dance running through me. I was deeply inside and involved in the music and was loving every note.
As each piece unfolded, I kept find myself inside new surroundings. It was like being on vacation through remote viewing. Each instrumental brought on different levels of emotion. As time moved on, like everyone, I ran into some dark days that questioned my next steps in life. I found through these tough times that drumming really took away stress.
In the case of Yiannis, not only did I find my stress levels diminishing, but his music was filling me up with spiritual strength. It felt like climbing a mountain and feeling exhausted and exhilarated at the same time. I was finding my answers to the difficult tasks I was facing and it pulled me out of any funk, I was slowly sinking into.
I have now been playing with all his Cd’s and I am finding myself happy and strong. When I saw Yiannis at the Beaches Jazz festival this year, I told him my story and he and his wife Elena were elated, because that is what they are trying to accomplish for the listener. He even shared a story about a woman who didn’t leave her apartment for years, but heard Yiannis playing in the streets and came out to get a stronger vibe off his music. She has moved on with her journey about going out into the world and left her isolating apartment to explore her new world. I am sharing this because there are very special artists in this city that clearly has the power to heal through their music. In this case mine is Yiannis Kapoulas.
Keep his name close to you and seek out where is playing next, his mystic Journey may find you having a very special Awakening!
Here are a few images of Yiannis Kapoulas: