ABSTRACT
These are the words with which Ross Daly (1986) chose to describe his work to the Greek public. We read this on the back cover of his third LP (Ross Daly), released in 1986. Next to the text – handwritten in Greek with his signature under it – and to the musical and technical information about the recordings we see a photograph of Ross Daly playing the laoúto. That Daly is the only one present – visually and textually – on the LP’s cover is no surprise. He is, after all, the one to have played all the instruments – an impressive collection! – combined through multi-tracking: Greek laoúto, ntaïré, Cretan lýra, Afghan rabab, Indian tabla, sarangi, Ottoman tanbur, bendir, yağlı tanbur, klasik kemençe, ud, kudüm. The record ends with a Cretan mantináda, sung by Vasílis Staurakákis, Daly’s sole musical collaborator in this project. The record seems to have had quite an impact, at least among certain youngsters who soon afterwards took up some of these instruments and an interest in music.
