Niki Nana

Niki Nana is the fifth studio album by Greek keyboardist and composer Yanni, released in August 1989 by Private Music.

Niki Nana
Studio album by
Yanni
ReleasedAugust 24, 1989
GenreInstrumental
Length39:28
LabelPrivate Music
ProducerPeter Baumann
Yanni
Yanni chronology
Chameleon Days
(1988)		 Niki Nana
(1989)		 Reflections of Passion
(1990)

Background

By 1989, Yanni had released four studio albums, the most of recent of which was Chameleon Days (1988). When he started work on a follow-up record, he took a musical departure as he had explored music of an orchestral nature on his first three albums, in particular using synthesised strings. For Niki Nana, Yanni incorporated more rock-oriented arrangements with rhythm dominating the music, for which he used his time playing in rock bands in his early career as inspiration.[1]

"Niki Nana (We're One)" started as an instrumental track and Yanni felt it had a celebratory feel, hearing "people singing and dancing" of a South American or African flavour. He then decided to incorporate words from the Greek, Zulu, English, and Spanish language as an attempt to present the theme of unity.[1]

Yanni dedicated the album to his parents, Sotiri and Felitsa, in the liner notes.[2]

Release
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]

The album peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard New Age albums chart.[4]

In 1992, lyrics in Greek were written for the track "Nightbird" by Greek lyricist Tasoula Thomaïdou. The song was called "Mia Ellada Fos" (A whole Greece of Light) and was performed by the Greek-Cypriot singer Konstantina in her personal album of the same name in 1992.

Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Niki Nana (We're One)" (Sterling, Yanni)5:19
2."Dance with a Stranger"4:59
3."Running Time"5:57
4."Someday"4:34
5."Human Condition"5:09
6."First Touch"2:58
7."Nightbird"6:00
8."Quiet Man"4:32

Personnel
"Niki Nana":
  • Lyrics: Tom Sterling and Yanni
  • Vocal Arrangement: Morgan Ames
  • Choir recorded by Hank Cicalo at Alpha Studios, Los Angeles
  • Lead Vocal - Carmen Twillie
  • 2nd Lead Vocal - Venette Gloud
  • Guitars - Joaquin Lievano
  • Morgan Ames Choir - Venette Gloud, Clydene Jackson-Edwards, Angel Rogers, Carmen Twillie, Randy Crenshaw, Arnold McCuller, Josef Powell, Tim Stone, Terry Young.
  • Special thanks to Bo Russell and Bonnie Fury for their help on this song.
"Dance with a Stranger":
"Running Time":
"Human Condition":
"Nightbird":

Production

References
  1. Campbell, Mary (21 October 1989). "Rhythm is more dominant on Yanni's fourth album". The Herald. p. 20. Retrieved 3 November 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. Niki Nana (CD liner). Yanni. Private Music. 1989. 01005-82056-2-3.CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. AllMusic
  4. "Chart history for Niki Nana". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-05-05.
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