Today, we are remembering a pioneering singer-songwriter who was born on this day, December 2, 1944, and who sadly passed away in October. His critics claim that his work gradually dropped in terms of originality and sophistication, especially from the early 1980s onwards. We are here to prove the opposite!...
Today, December 1, we are celebrating the arrival of December with songs that contain references to this month. “I am writing to you on the 1st of December” and “will we see the December snow fall ever again?” and “the laughing children who can tell us about the glory of December”. Welcome aboard Gree...
What does it mean to be young, Greek, and raised thousands of kilometers from the Aegean?What does Greekness sound like when spoken in an encouraging family environment in Washington … or a Cape Town rhythm… an Imvros breeze… or a Romanian heartbeat?
On this episode of “Infinitely Curious”, host ...
Today, we are celebrating the birthday of one of Greece’s greatest female voices. Maria Farantouri was born in Athens on the 28th of November 1947. Her international repertoire, which we are focusing on aboard today’s GME, is truly impressive and includes recordings of protest songs and songs by Bre...
Begleri: small skill toy consisting of one or more beads at either end of a short string. Originally derived from the komboloi, which serves the function of worry beads, flipped around to pass the time. Spyros Zagoraios, Rita Sakellariou, Dimitris Efstathiou, Doukissa, Eleni Vitali, Prodromos Tsaousakis...
Today, we are celebrating the legacy of an important folk song artist – a familiar voice that analysts place among the top male ones of Greek discography together with Kazantzidis, Bithikotsis and a few others. Panos Gavalas was born on this day, November 26, 1926. An emblematic figure, a quiet innovator, h...
The United Nations General Assembly has designated November 25 as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The premise of the day is to raise awareness around the world that women are subjected to rape, domestic violence and other forms of violence; furthermore, one of the...
Today, we are shedding light on the concept of improvisation, by highlighting some interesting instances of improv vibes with various musical instruments. From the great bouzouki masters to the clarinet of Vassilis Saleas and from the innovators of tradition such as Ross Daly to the jazz endeavours...
“Infinitely Curious” with Katerina Batzaki, opens a chapter of Greece’s hidden history. A story of mothers, children… and the silent heartbreak of forced adoption. Our guest is James P. Axiotis, Greek-American producer and humanitarian, adopted from Athens in 1963 and separated from his mother — ...
From Sotiria Bellou to Mario and from Tzeni Vanou to Giannis Kalantzis, countless folk vocalists have sang about komboloi, this tool of relaxation that has acquired multiple symbolisms in the context of Greek song. Komboloi is a symbol of friendship but also of abandonment when its holder plays with...
Today, we begin a 2-day mini tribute to a typically Greek object that has inspired numerous Greek songs. Worry beads (or “komboloi”) are a string of beads manipulated with one or two hands and, apart from entertaining and relaxing multiple generations of Greeks, they have inspired numerous folk son...
The cities of Greek song – foreign and desolate, lonely or for two, with love or with darkness. The cities of Polyxeni Karakoglou and Katerina Kyrmizi, of Victoria Tagouli and Rita Antonopoulou and Elli Paspala, of Kostas Thomaidis and Kostas Mantzios. “In this city, you left me alone / and I am a t...
Today, we will be stopping at the crossroads of two arts, music and cinema, through selections from Hadjidakis' soundtracks for films such as Blue, Topkapi, America America, Sweet movie and Faccia di spia. This GME broadcast was supposed to be part of our week-long tribute to the 100th anniversary of...
Today, we are celebrating “Polytechneio”, i.e. the uprising of the Athens Polytechnic School on November 14-17, 1973, which marked the struggle against the Greek dictatorship of 1967-74. Our track list includes songs with direct references to the events, as well as others that focus on the themes of ...
Τhis episode of “Infinitely Curious¨ turns its gaze to one of life’s most delicate questions: What does it truly mean to age with grace?
From the vibrant Greek community halls of Toronto to the warm gatherings of the Greek Cypriot Community of Waterloo, host Katerina Batzaki travels through...
Today, here at GME, we are celebrating lyricist Lefteris Papadopoulos’ 90 years of life, creativity and endless contribution to Greek song. And we are doing that by highlighting his more erotic side, a side replete with powerful images of love, loss and devotion. A moon kissing with the stars, an e...
There are many things that one can say about lyricist, writer and film director Alekos Sakellarios, and we will indeed be saying many things about him and his contribution aboard today’s GME. But for me, Sakellarios is, above all, the one who wrote the lyrics of my favourite song: “In life there are...
This week, we have been celebrating five important poets and lyricists who have left a notable mark on Greek song and today we turn to my number one, the poet whom I consider the greatest not only in Greece but globally, a true master situated at the crossroads of political vision and existential despair....
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