Ηρακλής Οικονόμου

Thanos Mikroutsikos has been appearing regularly here at GME thanks to his multi-faceted musical personality and his active engagement with different styles and genres. Today, we shall be exploring his jazz side; indeed, his relationship with jazz may not be clear in the minds of many of us, but it...

Pianist, composer and writer Sakis Papadimitriou is one of the key figures in Greek jazz. He started studying piano at a very early age and later he continued with classical guitar. He holds a degree from the Philosophy Department of the University of Ioannina and the Department of Education of Patras...

Trumpet player and composer Andreas Polyzogopoulos studied jazz trumpet at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and the Royal Conservatory of Brussels where he won the Toots Thielemans award. He has recorded five personal albums and appears in more than seventy as a sideman. His later records include a tribute...

The liner notes of the historic Greece Goes Modern album read as follows: “Mimis Plessas is one of our foremost composers, he has repeatedly been awarded with international European and Greek awards for his music songs and film scores. In this album with the help of The Orbiters, a modern group with s...

Seferis died on September 20, 1971, i.e. today it is the 53rd anniversary of his departure. Here at GME, we have been honouring his massive legacy with a week-long tribute to his poetry set to music by Greece’s leading composers and today we will explore the ways in which younger and alternative music a...

53 years after his death (on September 20, 1971), Seferis’ footprint on Greek music remains significant, as GME has tried to show throughout this week. Tonight, it is time to unveil the connection between Seferis and two colossal figures of Greek music, Giannis Markopoulos and Dimos Moutsis. The former u...

This week, here at GME, we have been focusing on the poetry of Nobel laureate George Seferis set to music. Today, we will be witnessing a highly sophisticated aspect of the story, as reflected by the work of Argyris Kounadis and a 1988 album of his (Songs for voice and piano) where he set six Seferis...

Today, we will be listening to excerpts from two albums by composer Elias Andriopoulos: The 1976 Seferis Cycle and the 1998 Argonauts – both based on poems by Seferis. The crème-de-la-crème of Greek vocalists will be keeping us company: Alkistis Protopsalti, Nikos Xylouris, Nena Venetsanou, Manolis Mit...

This week, GME will be focusing on the poetry of George Seferis set to music. The occasion? He died on September 20, 1971, i.e. this Friday it is going to be the 53rd anniversary of his death. Seferis was not only one of most important Greek poets of the 20th century and a Nobel laureate, but also a...

We spent the entire week singing songs about Piraeus, its neighborhoods, its streets, its people, the beautiful district of Kokkinia, its rebetiko anthems, and so much more. Today, we will be concluding our tribute with songs containing to the suburbs of Piraeus – places such as Tambouria, Amfiali, K...

Piraeotis is the guy from Piraeus and Piraeotissa is the lady from Piraeus. These are its residents, its people, the heroes of life and of song, brave and bold, disciplined and hard-working but also playful and autonomous. Stamatis Kokotas, Doukissa, Babis Goles and Mario will be narrating for us the...

Rebetiko song is the name of the Greek urban folk song that appeared at the end of the 19th century and acquired its familiar form, approximately by the third decade of the 20th century. It developed in the port cities where the working class lived, such as Piraeus and Thessaloniki, and then moved to...

Rebetiko song is the name of the Greek urban folk song that appeared at the end of the 19th century and acquired its familiar form, approximately by the third decade of the 20th century. It developed in the port cities where the working class lived, such as Piraeus and Thessaloniki, and then moved to...

Piraeus has been sung by the greatest singers, from Flery Ntantonaki to Nana Mouskouri and from Lakis Halkias to Giannis Kalantzis. It has been hailed by the greatest composers, from Manos Hadjidakis to Giannis Markopoulos and Christos Nikolopoulos. Today’s track list is full of Piraeus-related classics, e...

Haris Alexiou, Eleftheria Arvanitaki, Dimitra Galani – three legends of Greek music that marked its evolution with their expressive voices. Their massive careers also include songs or even entire albums with covers of rebetiko songs and, today, we will be listening to a sample of their contribution t...

This week here at GME is dedicated to some notable attempts to rejuvenate the massive heritage of rebetiko song and today we will celebrating the contribution of three great music artists. Popular songwriter Giorgos Mouflouzelis, was born in 1912 in Mytilini, in a poor family. His father forced him...

Voula Savvidi, a living legend of Greek song and a precious friend of mine, appeared in the discography in 1971 alongside composer Christos Leontis, performing two songs on the album "5 to 12". In 1974, her voice met Manos Hadjidaki's look at rebetiko with the album "Ta Perix". Hadjidakis himself based...

Notis Mavroudis and Panagiotis Margaris wrote a major chapter of the history of classical guitar recordings in Greece with the Café del’ Art album series. In 2005, they released Café del’ Art 5, dedicated to the melodies of rebetiko masters Vasilis Tsitsanis and Markos Vamvakaris. The album features guest...