Lovers of Rebetika – Details, episodes & analysis

Multi-talented musician and one of the best rebetiko singers. Of Italian 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 Stellakis Perpiniadis, 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.

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

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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