Greek Music Express

Prior to his work for Alexander film, Vangelis was already famous for his scores to Chariots of Fire, Blade Runner and Conquest of Paradise. He was directly approached by Oliver Stone. "I tried to remember how it was to live at the time, to be there. At the same time, I must speak the music language...

Today, here at GME, we will be celebrating the Greek Independence Day with songs about the heroes of the Revolution of 1821. The backbone of our track list will be the album “Fighters of Freedom”, with poetry of Dimitris Iatropoulos, Pantelis Prevelakis and George Seferis set to music by composer Nik...

Iasis group, cofounded by Costas Baltazanis and Petros Kourtis, appeared for the first time on the Athens music scene in 1995, playing their own compositions for guitar, percussion and bass. What characterizes the group is the continuous search for traditional, Balkan and international influences....

Floros Floridis, one of the country’s more accomplished musicians, knows all too well how to solve the dilemma of pioneering artistry versus popularity. Ever since releasing his debut album, the 1979 “Improvising at Barakos” with pianist Sakis Papadimitriou, Floridis, a daringly fluent winds player, has c...

On Thursday, March 21st, here at GME we will be celebrating World Poetry Day by listening to Manolis Anagnostakis' poetry set to music. The charged words and meanings of the poet meet the musical genius of Mikis Theodorakis, Michalis Grigoriou, Thanos Mikroutsikos and Dimitris Papadimitriou. Film director...

George Maglaras is the musician everyone wants in their band. He is the best violinist in Greece. Music runs in his blood. He approaches it with interiority and humility. A versatile and evolving musician, he filters through his violin traditional, rock and jazz, Greek and international music in all...

Makis Ablianitis is an inspired composer and one of the most important guitar players in the world-jazz scene. His relationship with music began at the age of 14 when he got his first guitar. He studied theory, harmony and counterpoint classes with Kostas Klavvas and composition, by attending seminary...

Clean Monday is considered one of the most important annual feasts in Greece, constituting an end to the Carnival celebrations and all the masquerading, drinking and dancing that accompany them. For devoted Orthodox Christians, Clean Monday -the start of Lent- is an opportunity for them to symbolically...

Today, we will be concluding our week-long tribute to Eleftheriou with an emphasis on a younger generation of composers and songwriters who have been inspired by his lyrics. Specifically, we shall be listening to songs by, among others, Leonidas Maridakis, Zaharias Karounis, Nikos Zournis, Periklis...

Manos Eleftheriou recalls: “I can tell you a little story. I was actually returning from Patras, by train, and started chatting with a couple, my age. I was coming back from a wedding. They were probably in love. They were talking, we caught up, what's your name, where do you live, what do you do, e...

Manos Eleftheriou was a story-teller and several of his songs contain portraits of individuals who stand out for their own personal stories. Eleftheriou’s heroes share common feature: their constant struggle with the ghosts originating from existence and from society. From Rosa Luxembourg and Nikos P...

March 12 – the birthday of Manos Eleftheriou, which we are celebrating by listening to some of his most melancholic songs. Celebration together with melancholy, because this is the bitter-sweet feeling with which we have associated the absence of Eleftheriou. Happy and grateful for all the things t...

This week, we are remembering Manos Eleftheriou, who was born on March 12, 1938 and died on July 22, 2018. Probably the single most important lyricist of Greek song, Eleftheriou was a multifaceted artistic personality who also wrote poetry, novels, short stories and studies about the theatre,...

March 8, International Women’s Day, and our choice for today is Despoina Rafail, whom we regard as the most impressive folk, laiko voice of her generation. Her first personal album, "Little Summers" contains ten contemporary art and folk songs composed by Vaggelis Machairas. What is particularly fascinating i...

A statement from the Ministry of Culture: “Dimos Moutsis was one of the most important composers of the post-war era, with an irreplaceable and acknowledged contribution to the renewal of Greek song. With a solid music education, he leaves behind a work characterized by the continuous elaboration o...

Korina Legaki is a profoundly cosmopolitan figure of Greek singing, with origins from Crete and from Sweden, and with a repertoire that includes not only Greek songs but also covers of foreign ones. Today, we are listening to songs from Legaki’s last three albums - Mosaic, New World, and Sequence –...

This week here at GME is dedicated to International Women’s Day and today we will be listening to the songs of a very promising singer-songwriter of a younger generation: Eleni Lagou. Undoubtedly, something special is to be found in Lagou’s debut album, titled “Something to Give”. What she gives us is a...

This week on Greek Music Express we will be drawing inspiration from International Women's Day, listening to some special female voices that have already left a remarkable footprint on Greek singing. First stop? Our beloved performer Chrysoula Kechagioglou, who stands out not only for her unique timbre...