Music
Press
Press reviews compilation in Issuu - Various
“Markos is the source…”
Athinorama Magazine
“Markos (Vamvakaris)I s the clearest metal of Greek music scene. His value, like a coin, had never been fake. Its value is still the same, as it used to be in the older days. This is the reason I am saying that we, Greeks, will always have our own currency, Markos*”, says Lina Nikolakopoulou.
* linguistic playing with the German currency that in Greek is pronounced “marko”
Antigoni Karali, Ethnos Newspaper
“Indeed, the music performance we watched, had us caught from the beginning. Having the appropriate simplicity for the occasion. So simple as writing a text. The casting concerning the singers was perfect. The sound was full, without any exaggerations.
The feeling of an era and a specific person that in the end (as we observe) we all carry inside. Maybe this is the reason that the hip hop touch fitted very well.”
Ta Nea Newspaper
“Oddly enough, the most touching moment of the evening – according to my opinion – did not sound like bouzouki: two fresh hip hop bands, Nea Taxi Pragmaton from Syros and Stixoima, showed up just before the closure of the evening and gave shared what Markos Vamvakaris means to them with the audience.
The result of this music attempt was coherent and harmonious. Extra credits to be given to Lina Nikolakopoulou, who had the idea and is the artistic director of the show, for the reason that the emphasis was given to the guest of honour and not to the singers, as it usually happens.”
Katerina Teliou, avopolis.gr
“… the repertoire, as chosen by Lina Nikolakopoulou, was very wisely formed and very characteristic of Markos Vamvakaris’, the great composer and bouzouki magician, repertoire.
Despite the fact that such a performance seemed that could not fit a venue as Herodeion, we wish that there were more projects so great and beautiful taking place at this ancient monument.
Besides, Markos Vamvakaris is a monument of Greek civilization!”
Giorgos Smirnis, monopoli.gr
Markos Vamvakaris music, “the heavy metal of rebetiko” touched the hearts of the audience, that sang with enthusiasm, getting courage from the lyrics that are still current, giving voice to our moaning.
Cosmo.gr
- Various
Discography
Taxim Seri
Efoumarame ena vradi
Harmanis
Arap Zeibekiko
Na rxosouna re magka mou
Frangosyriani
Haidari
Stia Alvanias ta vouna
An figoume ston polemo
Mikros arravoniastika
Photos
Bio
Markos Vamvakaris was born in Syra in 1905 and left to seek a better life to Piraeus in 1917. He lived his entire life between those two harbors that destined his fortune. He always carried inside him all his memories from Syra, but his world was enriched by the tradition and the suffering of the immigrants that arrived in Piraeus during this period. In 1933, he records his first album, in 1935, he writes the famous Greek song Fragkosyriani. In 1936 in Greece the dictatorship of Metaxas was prevailing followed by World War II and the Greek Civil War. In other words, he experience some of the most difficult periods of Greek contemporary history. It is very impressive that he expressed himself so poetically through his songs despite the fact that his life was so difficult. Fragkosyriani became the most famous hasapiko (Greek folk dance) in the whole world.
Markos lyrics entered Greeks heart and lips, while himself became the inspiration for all composers that followed. His contribution on Greek music is very important as zeibekiko and hasapiko still speak in peoples hearts. Furthermore, Markos Vamvakaris was the first musician to introduce songs accompanied by bouzouki in Greek discography. His recordings lead to the wider acceptance of this music that the Greeks love that much. He is the Patriarch of Rebetiko. Today, 40 years after his death, his figure and his work are more contemporary than ever. Markos was the one to express originally peoples discomfort inside poverty, social exclusion and their despair seeking the ways to live their life with dignity. His songs give out humanity and truth that seen comforting in this difficult period for the country.
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