Wednesday 7 March 2018

Rebetiko Carnival gets the Blues

As part of the ongoing Rebetiko Carnival concert series (ongoing until 30th June) here in London. On Saturday (3/3/18) we attended a gig of Marios Papadeas, a fantastic Greek santur (hammered dulcimer) player. (overview here), which I can warmly recommend to every lover of Greek / oriental music.


The repertoire were mainly Asia minor songs, but he played also a blues piece on the santur, which  sounded great and reminded me on the collaboration of Stelios Vamvakaris (Στέλιος Βαμβακάρης is indeed the son of the legendary rebetiko musician Marcos Vamvakaris) with the American Blues guitarist Louisiana Red on their album "Το Blues Συναντά Το Ρεμπέτικο" (1994).


Here is another example of Stelios Vamvakaris love for the Blues:


No wonder that Rebetiko music is sometimes referred to as Greek Blues!


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