Sakis Dovolis Trio: Cross The Line

Having already forged strong links with Greece’s Stavros Papadopoulos, Grooveyard Records delve deeper into the Greek guitar scene to unearth the Sakis Dovolis Trio. Cross The Line is the threesome’s debut release, with fretman and singer Sakis joined by Fotis Dovolis on bass and Nick Kalivas on drums. With Papadopoulos co-producing with Sakis himself, even before the disc has hit the player, you already know that we are going to be headed in a guitar-centric power-trio blues direction.

And so it proves, Dovolis a skilled yet smooth craftsman who has the feel and tone of Robin Trower or Stevie Ray Vaughn, while adding a more contemporary touch that reminds of Joe Satriani in places. To be fair, the blues are too prominent in the mix here to ever confuse Cross The Line for a Satch album, and yet when you give “Devil’s Road� a blast, the dirty fuzzed up groove could certainly have come from Joe’s The Extremist album. However, the easy, but contemporary drawl from Dovolis takes things in another direction as the thundering bass and drum combo power along in a way all the best blues rock does.

Unexpectedly, there are occasions where vocally Dovolis reminds of Chris Barron from The Spin Doctors and with his propensity to unleash short burst of fret flurries amid technically intriguing drum patterns, the likes of “All Over You� and “I’m No Angel� can also hint in that direction. A hint, however, is all it is, for the overall feel is much more draped in the vibe of days gone by - but with a more current twist - and through “Burn It Down� or the beautifully poised smoothness of “Show Me Your Love� it’s the underrated Aynsley Lister that can be brought to mind. As you’d expect, the fret work is exemplary throughout, with the fluidity that Dovolis has, quite literally, at his fingertips, being quite breathtaking at times.

Gently eclectic, you can soak in the howling but emotional guitar display off “Shades Of Blue�, while “Burn It Down� is buoyant and bullish in its excitement to get its message across. But no matter whether it’s the cracking cover of ZZ Top’s “Nasty Dogs And Funky Kings� or the swaggering, confident “Come On�, the heart of this album resides in the blues and takes no time in convincing you that yours should too.

How they find them, goodness only knows, but if it’s guitar based, blues rock that you’re after, then the Grooveyard should be you destination. The Sakis Dovolis Trio feel right at home in their company.

Track Listing
1. ALL OVER YOU

2. COME ON

3. EVERYTHING

4. I'M NO ANGEL

5. CROSS THE LINE

6. BURN IT DOWN

7. SHADES OF BLUE

8. SHOW ME YOUR LOVE

9. DEVIL'S ROAD

10. NASTY DOGS AND FUNKY KINGS

11. LEGACY (DEDICATED TO STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN)

Added: January 19th 2019
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Cross The Line @ The Grooveyard
Hits: 1809
Language: english

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