Rebetiko
The [note 1] rebetiko [note 2] (Greek ρεμπέτικο, plural rebetika ) is a Greek style of music that emerged from the folk music traditions of Greece and those at the beginning of the 20th century, forming in the cities of Athens, Piraeus and Thessaloniki subcultures.
Description
The rebetiko is often referred to as the " Greek blues ", because the lyrics are similar to the Blues from everyday worries and experiences of ordinary people.
In the early days of its formation Rembetika were played only by living in Piraeus Rembetes, mostly refugees who had been expelled in 1922, the year of the so-called Asia Minor catastrophe of Smyrna and other places in Asia Minor in the European Greek heartland. Later it developed into one of the most popular forms of music in Greece. The rebetiko experienced in the 1930s to the 1950s, its heyday.
Main instruments bouzouki, guitar, Baglamas, accordion and violin. Among the most famous composers of rebetiko include Markos Vamvakaris, Manolis Hiotis and Vassilis Tsitsanis.
The essential rhythms and dances of rebetiko are Chasapiko, Chasaposervikos, Zeibekikos, Karsilamas, Aptalikos, Tsifteteli, Anatolitikos or Bayo and Sirtos.
Well-known performers and composers
- Giorgos Batis
- Sotiria Bellou
- Roza Eskenazy
- Michalis Jenitsaris
- Marika Ninou
- Vassilis Tsitsanis
- Markos Vamvakaris
Discography
- Five Greeks In Hell - Rembetika songs, 2 LP, Third World - Our Voice US -0071 -72, Munich 1982
- Rembetika - Songs of the Greek Underground 1925-1947, 2 CD, Trikont Indigo Q293, 2001