Episodes
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Multi-talented musician and one of the best rebetiko singers. OfItalian nationality, he came from a musical family which came to Piraeus in 1918. In 1922 he settled in Drapetsona, where his father, who played the violin, opened a musical instrument manufacturing workshop.
With the insistence of Vangelis Papazoglou and StellakisPerpiniadis, he appeared on stage as a singer in 1934 and in 1935 recorded his first album with "Seretis " by Iakovos Montanaris. Kostas Skarvelis chose him as his main singer and entrusted him with 48 of the approximately 70 songs that Giorgos Kavouras recorded in his discography Giorgos Kavouras died on February 20, 1943, after suffering a stroke while playing in the shop of his friend Stellakis Perpiniadis in Chaidari.
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Alexis Zoumbas was a Greek folk violinist who gained recognition for his recordings in the early 20th century. He is particularly known for his contributions to the Greek and Balkan music traditions, as well as his influence on American folk music.
Zoumbas was born in the early 1880s in the region of Epirus, which is now part of Greece. He emigrated to the United States in the early 1900s, like many Greeks seeking better economic opportunities. In the United States, he continued to play and record his music, which featured a unique blend of Greek, Balkan, and American folk elements. His recordings often showcased his virtuosic violin playing.
While not widely recognized during his lifetime, Alexis Zoumbas' recordings have gained attention and appreciation among folk music enthusiasts and collectors over the years. His music has been influential in the revival of traditional Greek and Balkan music and has also left a mark on American folk music.
Zoumbas' recordings are considered valuable cultural artifacts, preserving a snapshot of the musical traditions of his time and the cross-cultural influences that shaped his music.
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Missing episodes?
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This week we once again focus on instrumental rare Rebetiko Gems. Delving into some works from Lukianos Cavadias, Alexis Zoumbas & Manolis Hiotis.
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The bouzouki was apparently not particularly well-known among the refugees from Asia Minor, but had been known by that name in Greece since at least 1835, from which year a drawing by the Danish artist Martinus RĆørbye has survived. It is a view of the studio of the Athenian luthier Leonidas Gailas (ĪĪµĻĪ½ĪÆĪ“Ī±Ļ ĪĪ¬ĻĪ»Ī±Ļ), whom the artist describes as Fabricatore di Bossuchi. The drawing clearly shows a number of bouzouki-like instruments. Despite this evidence, we still know nothing of the early history of the instrument's association with what came to be called rebetiko Recent research has however uncovered a number of hitherto unknown references to the instrument during the 19th and early 20th centuries, including evidence of its established presence in the Peloponnese.Become a patron of this podcast www.patreon.com/ConKalamaras
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Delving into the world of rare recordings from the 1920's, and one of the oldest recordings of the bouzouki!
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Spiros Peristeris was born in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire. His parents were Aristides, a famous musician who originated from Athens, and Despina(nĆ©e Bekou) who was a Corsican Greek and an Italian citizen. Peristerislearned to play the mandolin from a young age. Around 1914, his family moved to Constantinople where Peristeris graduated from the Italian school, managing to learn Italian and German. He alsocompleted his music studies and was already an acclaimed musician at the age of 18. Agapios Tomboulis (Hagop Stambulyan) (Greek: ĪĪ³Ī¬ĻĪ¹ĪæĻ Ī¤ĪæĪ¼ĻĪæĻĪ»Ī·Ļ; 1891ā1965) was a famous Armenian and Greek oud player of rebetiko and Greek folk music, Armenian folk music, Turkish folk music, Jewish folk music born in Constantinople, he is knownfor being a well-known associate of Roza Eskenazi.
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Vassilis Tsitsanis (1915-1984) was a Greek singer, songwriter, and bouzouki player, considered one of the most influential figures in Greek music. He is often referred to as the "architect" of modern Greek popular music.
Tsitsanis was born on January 18, 1915, in Trikala, Greece. He began playing the bouzouki at a young age and eventually moved to Athens in the late 1930s to pursue a career in music. His innovative style and compositions played a significant role in the evolution of rebetiko, a genre of Greek music associated with urban working-class culture.
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The bouzouki arrived in Greece following the 1919ā1922 war in Asia Minor and the subsequent population exchange between Greece and Turkey. The early bouzoukia mostly had three courses (six strings in three pairs, known as trichordo) and were tuned in different ways, according to the scale one wanted to play. At the end of the 1950s, four-course (tetrachordo) bouzouki started to gain popularity. The four-course bouzouki was made popular by Manolis Chiotis, who also used a tuning akin to standard guitar tuning, which made it easier for guitarists to play bouzouki; this angered purists, but allowed for greater virtuosity and helped elevate the bouzouki into a truly popular instrument capable of a wide range of musical expression. Recently the three-course bouzouki has gained in popularity. The first recording with the four-course instrument was made in 1956.
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Lovers of Rebetika - A brief history of Recording companies in Greece During the period from 1920 to 1960, the Greek music industry underwent significant developments and transformations. Several recording companies played a crucial role in shaping the landscape of Greek music during that time. Here are some notable recording companies in Greece from 1920 to 1960Odeon: Odeon was a major recording company in Greece during this period. It was originally a German company but established a branch in Greece in the early 20th century. Odeon recorded and distributed a wide range of music, including traditional Greek music, popular songs, and classical music. They worked with many prominent Greek artists and contributed to the popularization of Greek music.
Columbia: Columbia Records, an American record label, also had a presence in Greece during this period. They released Greek music recordings and worked with Greek artists. Columbia played a significant role in introducing Western popular music genres, such as jazz and swing, to Greek audiences.
His Master's Voice (HMV): HMV was another prominent record label that operated in Greece during this time. They recorded and distributed a variety of music genres, including Greek traditional music, popular songs, and classical music. HMV worked with both Greek and international artists and contributed to the dissemination of music throughout the country.
Athens Record Company (ATHCO): ATHCO was a Greek recording company established in 1932. They recorded and released a wide range of Greek music, including popular songs, folk music, and rebetiko. ATHCO played a significant role in promoting rebetiko, a popular urban folk music genre, during the 1930s and 1940s.
Pan-Vox: Pan-Vox was a Greek record label founded in the early 1950s. They recorded and distributed Greek popular music, traditional songs, and rebetiko. Pan-Vox played a crucial role in shaping the Greek music industry during the 1950s and 1960s, working with well-known Greek artists of the time.
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This week we once again delve into the music of Rebetiko and it's historical context on how it shaped the musical landscape of Greece for ever. Rebetiko is basically an umbrella term, comprising several forms of music that evolved in Greece and Greek speaking parts of the Ottoman Empire during the mid and late 19th century, until they unified in the early 20th century to form the distinctive sound that is associated with the rebetiko today.
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This week we touch on some of the earlier recordings from Athens between 1939 and 1943.
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Marika Ninou, born Evangelia Atamian, was an iconic and leading Greek-Armenian vocalist in the early 1950s, specialized in the rebetiko genre. There is mystery surrounding her birth, but one hypothesis is that she was born in 1922 on the ship āEvangelistriaā which brought her mother, her two sisters and her eight-year-old brother, from Smyrna to Piraeus, to flee the Catastrophe of Smyrna, a great fire that destroyed the Greek and Armenian quarters of the city, causing the death of at least 10,000 Greeks and Armenians (100,000 according to other sources), and a flow of at least 50,000 Greek and Armenian refugees (400,000 according to other sources). It is said that at the moment of her birth, it was believed that she wouldnāt survive, but as she miraculously did, the captain of the āEvangelistriaā ship baptized her Evangelia (meaning Gospel in Greek).Support this podcast by becoming a patron ā www.patreon.com/ConKalamaras
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Panagiotis Toundas (1886ā23 May 1942) was a Greek composer of the early 20th century. He is probably themost famous representative of the "Smyrna School" and made a notable contribution to the creation of the rebetico style music in Greece. He was bornin Smyrna and from a young age he learned to play the mandolin. In the early 20th century became a member of the Smyrneiki Estudiantina. In 1924, he became director of the local annex of Odeon Records. He worked with all the major record labels in Greece and wasresponsible for most recordings of the era. In 1931 he assumed the position of art director for Columbia Records and His Master's Voice until 1940. He worked with many musicians and many of his rebetiko songs were sung by well-known singers.
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Pagioumtzis was born in 1904 in Asia Minor and he migrated to Greece before 1919.
Together with Giorgos Batis, Anestis Delias, and Markos Vamvakaris, they formed the now legendary rebetiko quartet I Tetras.
Pagioumtzis had a beautiful voice which earned him wide recognition. He is considered as one of the greatest singers of the classical rebetiko era. Pagioumtzis recorded over 400 songs with his voice and worked with many well-known composers, he died of a stroke on 16 November 1971 in New York, after completing a concert in a Greek nightclub. Support this podcast by becoming a patron ā www.patreon.com/ConKalamaras
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This week we delve into the works of Anna Pagana, Marika Kanaropoulo , Aggelitsa Papazoglou and more Roza Eskenazi!.
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Roza Eskenazi was a renowned, multilingual Greek singer who had a long and influential career. At seven, Eskenazi moved to Greece with her family and became enamored with the local theater scene over her parentsā objections. She began dancing in taverns and theaters and quickly began singing as well. In the late 1920s, a recording mogul noticed Eskenazi, who launched her career, started touring extensively, and recorded more than five hundred songs in the next ten years. She spent the German occupation running a restaurant in Athens, often risking her life to save others from the Nazis. After a brief resurgence as a recording artist in the 1950s, she retired, only to return to the spotlight in the 1970s, performing on television until her death.
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This week we focus on the amazing Eskenazi , Abadzi and Voyiadzi and the amazing work they produced in the early 1930's.
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Anestis Delias or Anestos Delias (Greek: ĪĪ½ĪĻĻĪ·Ļ ĪĪµĪ»Ī¹Ī¬Ļ 1912 ā 31 July 1944) was a Greek bouzouki player, composer and singer of rebetiko, also known with the nicknames Anestaki (ĪĪ½ĪµĻĻĪ¬ĪŗĪ¹) or Artemis (ĪĻĻĪĪ¼Ī·Ļ).
Delias real surname was Delios (ĪĪĪ»Ī¹oĻ). He was born in Smyrna and had two younger sisters. His father Panagiotis, who was a shoemaker and a noted santuri player, taught him to play the guitar. After the end of the Greco-Turkish war of 1919ā1922, Delias and his family moved to Greece and settled at Drapetsona. Having lost his father in the destruction of Smyrna, Delias worked in many different jobs to support his family.
Delias was a very talented musician who by the early 1930s had moved on to play the bouzouki and baglamas. In 1934, together with Yiorgos Batis, Stratos Pagioumtzis and Markos Vamvakaris, he founded the rebetiko quartet, I Tetras i Xakousti tou Peiraios (Greek: Ī ĻĪµĻĻĪ¬Ļ Ī· Ī¾Ī±ĪŗĪæĻ ĻĻĪ® ĻĪæĻ Ī ĪµĪ¹ĻĪ±Ī¹ĻĻ, literally Piraeus' famous quartet). This quartet influenced subsequent generations of musicians and composers.
Delias did not produce any recordings during the Metaxas dictator regime that had been established in 1936 since, like many artists of the time, he refused to accept any censoring of his songs.
In 1937, he was introduced to heroin by a prostitute and became addicted. He was later convicted of drug use and was expelled to the island of Ios,where in 1938 he met Michalis Genitsaris.
When Delias returned to Athens, his friends Pagioumtzis and Bayianteras tried to help him abstain from drugs but without success. Eventually, he increased his daily heroin dose and was unable to perform or work as a result. He was found dead from a heroin overdose on the morning of July 31, 1944. According to other sources, Delias died in 1941. He was the only rebetiko artist to die from drug use.Vamvakaris once said that Delias was "an angel thrown in trash".
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In this podcast we discuss the identity of Smyrneika , briefly discussing the instrumentation and how it impacted the musical landscape.
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