Rembetika is the Urban blues music of greece. Born in the hash dens, kafeneos, and tavernas of the Piraeus in the early 1920's. The repatriation of almost 2,000,000 greek refugees, expelled from anatolia and constantinople after the end of greek administration of turkey from the end of world war one, swelled the population of an already war-battered nation by almost a third...
The newly repatriated arrivals found themselves unwelcome in a country ill prepard to receive them
The music refers to the lifestyle of a dipossesed underclass, with frequent themes of lost loves, drug abuse, and poverty. Rosa Eskenazi, Vasilis Tsistsanis, and many others contributed to a musical style that became a combination of eastern and western influences.
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the Baglama became the signature instrument of the musical style, a short-necked bouzouki similar to a mandolin, that could easily be hidden and taken along to prison when arrested in one of the many raids initiated by the authoritys on the tekes. Many classic examples of period baglamas will have a hash pipe actually carved into the instrument...
The rest of the ensemble would usually feature one or two bouzoukis, and a guitar as a rythym instrument. The joura was a mid-point between bouzouki and baglama and would frequently appear as a sort of alto-accompaniment. Occasionally, ensembles would include either a classical styled violin or spiked fiddle.
On the "Souza Politiki" song, the repetition of the phrases "amman" is clearly audible at the begining of the verses. This is a phrase borrowed from turkish that translates as "mercy" and serves as a sort of "invocation" at the start of most rembetika vocal pieces...(much as "hear me oh muse" serves as an invocation at the begining of any epic classical poetry).
Opa! Pali Makia!
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