George Dalaras

The Greek folk soul
With a discography of over 50 records, George Dalaras has shaped modern Greek music since the 1960s. Now he takes to the stage with his 10-piece band to pay tribute to rembetiko, the "blues" of Greece, which reflects the melancholy and joys of the Greek folk soul like nowhere else.

More than 100 years ago, the port of Piraeus was seething.
The 1.5 million Greeks expelled from Asia Minor brought their oriental-influenced songs with them, and in the dives, hash dens and prisons, among sailors, drug dealers and crooks, they matured into laments accompanied by bouzouki. It was the birth of Rembetiko, although it was banned by the dictatorship in 1936. Today, the former subculture is an integral part of the Greek music spectrum and
has been modernized by the most renowned performers in recent decades.

Rembetiko has also shaped George Dalaras' career from the very beginning.

Although he has explored all varieties of Greek music, from world music to electro, and in addition to his many domestic teamwork projects (including Mikis Theodorakis(including Mikis Theodorakis), he has also ventured onto the international stage (from Paco de Lucia and Sting to Bruce Springsteen).

But his sonic mentor was the rembetiko pioneer Markos Vamvakaris, which is why he keeps returning to the genre, this time in a particularly richly orchestrated version.

George Dalaras - Rembetiko - The Blues of the Greeks

Source: www.greece-on-tour.eu