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 to abandon primary school in order to work in construction. In his own words, “back in those days, construction was tough. We often carried stones from a hundred meters away”. The environment of his homeland was rich in music. Folk rhythms, karsilamas, kalamatianos and zeibekikos were the sounds that accompanied his childhood. Everything he later composed and sang was a variation of this musical heritage. As for Giorgos Tzortzis and Nikolas Syros, their joint album “Our old home” is a unique study of rebetiko that they perform with modesty and knowledge. The orchestra, directed and arranged by Notis Mavroudis, is reminiscent of the style of the corresponding orchestras of the rebetiko era and plays in such a way as not to offend the ethos of the songs.
Produced and presented by Hercules Economou