Evening of Greek Music in Baku

On Sunday there was a Rembetika Greek music evening in Baku. This style of urban art song, popular in Greece in 1920-1930-ies is the result of the merger of Rembet folklore (Greek "thieves' songs) with the music of immigrants from Asia Minor.

Rembetika was presented in Baku by Makis Stamoulis (bouzouki), Konstantinos Spiliopoulos (guitar) and Maria Spirogloy (baglama).

 Talking about Rembetika, Makis Stamoulis noted that it can be considered as music of all the nations, representatives of which have experienced the fate of refugees and internally displaced persons.

Despite the persecution of the performers of this style of music in Greece at the time, the people kept it and now the Rembetika songs are again very popular and loved among both the older generation and the young. They sound at every family party and are performed in the best restaurants and taverns.

As many years ago, the traditional songs are accompanied by dancing, the most expressive of which is Zeybekikos - dance of improvisation, conveying a sense of revealing the dancer's soul. Zeybekikos is performed on a small area, sometimes no more than a square meter.

Note that before the concert in Baku there was an incident. Stamoulis told the audience that during his trip his bouzouki broke. The concert was in jeopardy, but luckily for a short time a bouzouki for him was found for him in Baku, and Stamoulis played the instrument. For the audience, among whom were the Ambassadors of the USA, Greece, Argentina and Spain, the Greek musicians played about 40 songs, each of which was met with a storm of applause by the audience. -71C--