CD Review

Various
Women of Rembetica
(Rounder, 1999)

Rembetico music has been described as Greek Blues. In the hashish dens of the Aegean, this music thrived from the time of the Armenian persecution at the turn of the century until WWII. The music has the repetitive musical form and improvisational possibilities of blues, as well as the subject matter - passion, drugs, comraderie and personal vendettas. As with early blues, which was brought to popular (white) American public by women like Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Memphis Minnie, the great champions of Rembetico as a world music are also its female singers. This album documents some of the most famous, like Rita Abadzi and Róza Eskenázi, as well as others. Rembetico, with its Eastern elements, remains somewhat alien to most Western ears, but this collection helps the listener cross the gulf and participate imaginatively. The liner notes include both transliterations and translations of the Greek texts as well as short biographies of the singers.

There is an excellent webpage on Rembetica by Matt Barrett, giving historical background and bios of major performers. There's also a page about the 1983 film, Rembetiko, directed by Costas Ferris.