Lovers of Rebetika

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.

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 Rørbye has survived. It is a view of the studio of the Athenian luthier Leonidas Gailas (Λεωνίδας Γάϊλας), 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

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 (née Bekou) who was a Corsican Greek and an Italian citizen. Peristeris learned 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 also completed his music studies and was already an acclaimed musician at the age of 18. Agapios Tomboulis (Hagop Stambulyan) (Greek: Αγάπιος Τομπούλης; 1891–1965) 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 known for being a well-known associate of Roza Eskenazi.

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.

The bouzouki arrived in Greece following the 1919–1922 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 1960 Odeon: 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.

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 “Evangelistria” 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 wouldn’t survive, but as she miraculously did, the captain of the “Evangelistria” ship baptized her Evangelia (meaning Gospel in Greek). Support this podcast by becoming a patron ⁠www.patreon.com/ConKalamaras

Panagiotis Toundas (1886–23 May 1942) was a Greek composer of the early 20th century. He is probably the most famous representative of the "Smyrna School" and made a notable contribution to the creation of the rebetico style music in Greece. He was born in 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 was responsible 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 ⁠www.patreon.com/ConKalamaras

This week we delve into some of the history and works behind Tassia Vyroni, Daizy Stavropoulou, Ioanna Georgakopoulo & Stella Haskil.

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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 parents’ 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: Ανέστης Δελιάς 1912 – 31 July 1944) was a Greek bouzouki player, composer and singer of rebetiko, also known with the nicknames Anestaki (Ανεστάκι) or Artemis (Αρτέμης).

Delias real surname was Delios (Δέλιoς). 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 1919–1922, 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: Η τετράς η ξακουστή του Πειραιώς, 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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With the Asia Minor Catastrophe in 1923, a great number of refugees resettled in harbor cities like Piraeus, Volos, and Thessaloniki. This intermingling of cultures had a profound impact on the urban musical landscape, with musicians constantly exchanging new ideas and inspiring each other.

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This week we explore the historical perception of this music when it first came to fruition in Greece and how it was eventually accepted in the mainstream music appetite of Greeks. 

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In this week's podcast, we delve into the recordings of the exceptional violinist Alexis Zoumbas, Marika Papagika and also hear a track from the Cavadhias Popular Orchestra that was recorded in Camden NJ in 1926!.

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Support this podcast by becoming a patron ⁠www.patreon.com/ConKalamaras In this podcast, we introduce you to common words that come up again and again in Rebetika, also we start to delve into the rare recordings from Asia Minor and some rare recordings from Chicago!. 

This week we delve into some of the works of Yiannis Dhragatsis, Dimitris Kalinikos and Kostas Karipis!.

This is the last episode for 2022, back again early 2023!

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In this episode, we explore some common words that come up in Rebetika and the meaning behind them. As always we keep the podcast informal, short and conversational. 

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This week we once again visit the recordings done by Rita Abadzi, Sophia Karivali, Aggelitsa Papazoglou and Georgia Mittaki. 

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This week we continue to dip our toes into recordings from Athens, Constantinople !

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This week we delve into the recordings of Marika Politissa , born in Constantinople 1900, we also listen to the beautiful voice of Rita Abadzi and Rosa Eskenazi .

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Support this podcast by becoming a patron ⁠www.patreon.com/ConKalamaras This week we will focus on some recordings by Marika Papagika in New York and also Kyriaki Kapsali, both had emigrated to New York in the early 1900's .  Kyriaki Kapsali was born in Constantinople in 1878 and emigrated to New York with her husband in 1914, they also set up their own company Panhellinion Records.

Support this podcast by becoming a patron ⁠www.patreon.com/ConKalamaras This episode we delve into some songs from Ioanna Yeorgakopoulou , Stella Haskil & Sofia Karivali.  Rebetiko ( ρεμπέτικο), plural rebetika (ρεμπέτικα , occasionally transliterated as rembetiko or rebetico, is a term used today to designate originally disparate kinds of urban Greek music which have come to be grouped together since the so-called rebetika revival, which started in the 1960s and developed further from the early 1970s onwards.Rebetiko briefly can be described as the urban popular song of the Greeks, especially the poorest, from the late 19th century to the 1950s.

Support this podcast by becoming a patron ⁠www.patreon.com/ConKalamaras This week we explore the music of Roza Eskenazi, Tassia Vryoni , Rita Abadzi to name a few. Part of the next series of Lovers of Rebetika, we will explore female artists between the period of 1936-1947.

Support this podcast by becoming a patron ⁠www.patreon.com/ConKalamaras This week we delve into some rare recordings from Manolis Hiotis, listen to the heartbreaking violin playing of Alexis Zoumbas and also the beautiful singing of Demitris Arapakis. Once again we visit rare Rebetiko recordings made in New York in the early 1920s. 

Support this podcast by becoming a patron ⁠www.patreon.com/ConKalamaras In this episode of Lovers of Rebetika, we delve into some rare gems that we're recorded in New York including a rare piece from Ioannis Papaioannou from the early 1950's , we listen to a rare track from renowned Lyra player Lambros Leondaridis recorded in 1931 to name a few. The Lovers of Rebetika podcast series aims to be light and informal . 

Support this podcast by becoming a patron ⁠www.patreon.com/ConKalamaras Peristeris was born in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire. His parents were Aristides, a famous musician who originated from Athens, and Despina (née Bekou) who was a Corsican Greek and an Italian citizen. Peristeris learned 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 also completed his music studies and was already an acclaimed musician at the age of 18. After the death of his father in 1918, he moved back to Smyrna and substituted him in the direction of the famous Smyrna Estudiantina (also known as ta Politakia). After the destruction of Smyrna in 1922, Peristeris moved to Athens, where he soon learned to play the bouzouki and became known as a composer and lyricist. Peristeris could play all fingerboard string instruments as well as the piano, accordion, cello and double bass. From the early 1930s, he worked as local repertory manager and orchestra leader for several recording companies (namely Grammophone, Columbia, His Master's Voice, Odeon, Parlophone) in Greece. From these posts, he strongly influenced the direction of rebetiko music. For instance, he was pivotal in persuading Markos Vamvakaris to record his songs sung with his own voice. Parallel to his managerial activities, Peristeris continued to compose and record songs of his own.

Support this podcast by becoming a patron ⁠www.patreon.com/ConKalamaras This week we once again delve into instrumental pieces from 1905 -1935, many of which are the original recordings of that have since been re-recorded and have become a staple in modern Greek music. 

Support this podcast by becoming a patron ⁠www.patreon.com/ConKalamaras In this episode, we dip our toes into some rare instrumental pieces from Greece - covering the period of 1905-1935.

Support this podcast by becoming a patron ⁠www.patreon.com/ConKalamaras Márkos Vamvakáris, was a rebetiko musician. He is universally referred to by rebetiko writers and fans simply by his first name, Márkos. The great significance of Vamvakaris for the rebetiko is also reflected by his nickname: the "patriarch of the rebetiko". This episode gives you a brief introduction to Markos Vamvakaris, 

Support this podcast by becoming a patron ⁠www.patreon.com/ConKalamaras In full flight, Vassilis Tsitsanis released hit after hit from 1946 onwards and his music lifted the spirits of a country reeling from the devastation of World War 2. Tsitsanis wrote more than 500 songs and is still remembered as an extraordinary composer and bouzouki player. This podcast episode delves into the pre-war period of his songwriting between 1936-1940.

Support this podcast by becoming a patron ⁠www.patreon.com/ConKalamaras Vassilis Tsitsanis 18 January 1915 – 18 January 1984. He became one of the leading Greek composers of his time and is widely regarded as one of the founders of modern Rebetiko and Laiko music. Tsitsanis wrote more than 500 songs and is still remembered as an extraordinary composer and bouzouki player. This podcast episode delves into the pre-war period of his songwriting between 1936-1940.

Support this podcast by becoming a patron ⁠www.patreon.com/ConKalamaras Undoubtedly three of the most influential trailblazers in the world of Rebetika, Marika Papagika , Roza Eskenazi and Rita Abadzi. 

Marika Papagika distinguished herself from most of her contemporaries by virtue of her sweet soprano voice with its relatively high tessitura, her vocal timbre, somewhat reminiscent of Western classical singers, and her diction. The style and sound of her recordings is further distinguished by the particular accompaniment which graced most of them. 

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 parents’ 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.

Rita Abatzi (also spelled Abadzi; Greek: Ρίτα Αμπατζή) (1914 – 17 June 1969) was a Greek rebetiko musician who began her career in the first part of the 1930s.

A singer of rebetiko, Smyrneika, and other music, she was a popular performer on gramophone records in the 1930s. During that decade, the only female singer of rebetiko who rivaled her in popularity, and in the number of her recordings, was Roza Eskenazi.[3][4][5]

Abatzi performed with many of the most famous musicians including Kostas Skarvelis, Spyros Peristeris, Dimitrios Semsis, Markos Vamvakaris and Vassilis Tsitsanis. Her career ended after World War II.

Support this podcast by becoming a patron ⁠www.patreon.com/ConKalamaras Rebetiko probably originated in the music of the larger, mainly coastal cities in today's Asia Minor with large Greek communities during the Ottoman era. In these cities, the cradles of rebetiko were likely to be the hashish dens and coffee shops, and even the prison. There is a certain amount of recorded Greek material from the first two decades of the 20th century, recorded in Constantinople/Istanbul, Egypt, and in America, of which isolated examples have some bearing on rebetiko, such as in the very first case of the use of the word itself on a record label. This podcast series delves into the music from the underground that changed the musical landscape of Greece forever. 

Support this podcast by becoming a patron ⁠www.patreon.com/ConKalamaras Apostolos Chatzichristos born in 1904  was a rebetiko singer and composer from Asia Minor who wrote the lyrics and music of many famous rebetiko songs which he also performed. Besides his own songs, he performed rebetika songs of other composers.

He tends to be perceived in the shadows of his prominent prolific colleagues of that time, such as Vassilis Tsitsanis, Yiannis Papaiounou, Markos Vamvakaris, and Manolis Hiotis.

Kostas Skarvelis wrote hundreds of songs, of which over 200 (so far) have been identified in the 78 rpm discography. They were sung by the greatest singers of the interwar period such as Costas Nouros, Marika Franzeskopoulou (Tilitissa), Rita Abatzi (and her sister Sofia Karivali), Roza Eskenazy, Stellakis Permbiadis, Stamakos Vratzos Stratos , Antonis Dalgas, Grigoris Asikis, Costas Roukounas, Giannis Papaioannou, Apostolos Chatzichristos, Evangelos Sofroniou, Zacharias Kasimatis and others. However, he gave the "portion of the lion" to the great singer George Kavouras, who for a long period (1935-41) identified his voice with the excellent melodies and lyrics of Kostas Skarvelis. There are more than fifty songs recorded by G. Kavouras.

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This episode will give the listeners an umbrella introduction to Rebetika.

What is Rebetika?

Often called the Greek blues, like the blues, it grew out of a specific urban subculture and reflected the harsh realities of an oppressed subculture's lifestyle. Although the origins of the music certainly stretch into the 19th century—and earlier— it was especially important and vibrant during the 20s, 30s, 40s, and early 50s. It was the music of the lower ends of the socio-economic spectrum—those who stood outside “mainstream” culture in certain although not all respects.

Support this podcast by becoming a patron ⁠www.patreon.com/ConKalamaras Tracks used 

To Mistery - Ioannis Halikias "Jack gregory New York 1932

I creep along the walls - Yiorgos Katsaros 1930

Oh mother I can't stand it - Y Manetas / Y Livaditis Athens 1931

Dou Dou - Dalgas Athens 1932