Greek and Turkish music thread

by **Ian A.** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 10:57 pm

Finally caught up with the CD by Apsilies that I see Chris P was enthusing about at least a year ago. What a great band and wonderful singer!

by **Ian A.** » Sun Oct 23, 2011 10:20 pm

Utterly gorgeous film, not just for lovers of Greek traditional music. Worth 34 minutes of your life!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbAhb91ImlE

11 Voices is a musical portrait of eleven musicians seen and heard through the eyes and ears of another musician. Hayden Chisholm shot the film in the Music Village 2009, simply asking the musicians to play and sing, and filming the results. What results is a work of austere beauty and a touching portrait of the village of Agios Lavrentios during the Summer when it is awash with sound. It is like a song without words, a calm listener who shares his experience with the viewer. In the words of Hayden Chisholm "this was a new experience for me as I usually listen to music with my eyes shut but I thought for once I would try to open them and film the results...."

Kyriakos Gouvendas (violin)
Haig Yazdjian (ud)
Pantelis Pavlidis (lyra)
Manos Achalinotopoulos (clarino)
Theodora Athanasiou (voice)
Kostas Anastasiadis (drums, tablas)
Eugenios Voulgaris (yayli tanbur)
Nikos Saragoudas & Giasemi Kantartzoglou (ud & voice)
Petar Ralchev & Nedyalko Nedyalkov (accordion & kaval)

by **Philellinas** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 10:12 am

If I could choose any festival to attend I think it would be Music Village. Unfortunately, it clashes with worldly commitments in this neck of the woods. The festival even has an obscure connection with Mount Athos as the original Lavrentios came to the village from one of the monasteries on Athos. Not a lot of people need to know that. By the way, Theodora Athanasiou and Evgenios Voulgaris are half of Apsilies. Thanks for posting the link, Ian.

by **kastamonu** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 5:49 pm

[quote="Ian A."]Utterly gorgeous film, not just for lovers of Greek traditional music. Worth 34 minutes of your life!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbAhb91ImlE

Utterly gorgeous - thank you!

by **Chris P** » Wed Oct 26, 2011 8:05 pm

These 2 pieces by tambur supremo Murat Aydemir's trio, are sublime. After the instrumental taksimi at about 3 mins in Naz Bari starts: an extraordinary piece with sensational vocals by Iranian Mahyar Shaodorvan. Seldom is singing suchlike

http://youtu.be/Ys2I36hOtWg

make a cup of fragrant tea, or pour a glass of something, & settle in

by **Philellinas** » Tue Nov 08, 2011 12:47 pm

Here's an all-female, Levantine string quartet (the inclusion of guitar and cello perhaps stretches the idea somewhat): the Smyrna orchestra. I particularly like the vocals on this track:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... nJwu2xfBAE
I also enjoy the way the Greek title "Συχνά με βλέπει ένα πουλί" is helpfully transliterated as "Syxna me vlepei ena pouli" when only somebody who speaks Greek will be able to work out the meaning anyway. "Often a bird sees me" might be a reasonable translation.

by **kastamonu** » Tue Nov 08, 2011 12:57 pm

[quote="Philellinas"]Here's an all-female, Levantine string quartet (the inclusion of guitar and cello perhaps stretches the idea somewhat): the Smyrna orchestra. I particularly like the vocals on this track:-

Thanks Phil - lovely!

by **Philellinas** » Tue Nov 08, 2011 3:22 pm

Here's an earlier, scratchier version of the same song by Rita Abadzi (or however you choose to spell her surname), who hailed from Smyrna/Izmir (however you choose...):-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-BzB5av ... re=related
Compare and contrast, enjoy or endure.

by **kastamonu** » Tue Nov 08, 2011 7:42 pm

Philellinas wrote:Here's an earlier, scratchier version of the same song by Rita Abadzi (or however you choose to spell her surname), who hailed from Smyrna/Izmir (however you choose...):-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-BzB5av ... re=related
Compare and contrast, enjoy or endure.

Enjoyed! When I first arrived here (just down the road from Izmir) around 6 years ago, I kept asking what/where is/was Smyrna?? There are just a couple of tiny signs off the main Izmir road to (what was) Smyrna. Friends here have helped me a lot (about Rembetika music) - but thanks also to you and Chris for a fascinating insight & journey through wonderful music. I have also made a good friend of a lady called Bianca - she is a Levantine Turk and speaks fluent Greek. We share a love of Rembetika - very difficult to find but spotted in a little music shop in the Kızlağarası Hanı in Izmir - a veritable treasure trove in (what can be) a cultural desert! If ever you get to Izmir do go there - drink Turkish tea on low stools in the shady, cool centre of the Han - the music shop is just on the corner there......

by **Philellinas** » Wed Nov 09, 2011 9:39 am

That sounds very tempting, Pauline. I shall seek out the Kızlağarası Hanı next time I am in Izmir. If you find yourself in Athens you can visit the suburb of Nέα Σμύρνη (New Smyrna) where presumably many of the refugees from Smyrna ended up in 1922 under the terms of the Treaty of Lausanne. One of the minor Athens football teams, Panionios, call their ground Nέα Σμύρνη. From a Greek point of view Izmir is still Smyrna and Istanbul is still Constantinople. Irredentism takes a long time to get over. However, Thessaloniki is not Solun and Macedonia is the Greek province of which Thessaloniki is the capital. Names matter in the Levant.

by **Philellinas** » Fri Nov 11, 2011 3:18 pm

Here's a classic from Haris Alexiou: "Άνθρωποι μονάχοι" ("Lonely people"). It helps if you understand the pay-off in the last line but it is not essential:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJr-D-sQ ... re=related
Haroula's family came from Smyrna (rené Izmir).

by **kastamonu** » Fri Nov 11, 2011 3:46 pm

Philellinas wrote:Here's a classic from Haris Alexiou: "Άνθρωποι μονάχοι" ("Lonely people"). It helps if you understand the pay-off in the last line but it is not essential:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJr-D-sQ ... re=related
Haroula's family came from Smyrna (rené Izmir).

My reply to your last post seems to have disappeared Phil! Never mind - maybe the system didn't like it? All good stuff anyway - I won't repeat it. This is really lovely - thank you, I'm a real fan of her's now.
As I said in the phantom post - the music (& people!) are the most important thing!

Bests!

by **kastamonu** » Fri Nov 11, 2011 4:25 pm

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=244384515619866

Zara (at her best....)

by **kastamonu** » Fri Nov 11, 2011 5:23 pm

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A ... 36gwKkdl1g

Sung in Kurdish

by **kastamonu** » Fri Nov 11, 2011 5:40 pm

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A ... R_Je4eqjtA

Also sung in Kurdish - soothing & lovely - hope (at least some!) agree

I speak (barely) a few words of Kurdish but know what I like & appreciate. Evidently the recurring theme in all his songs is love! (He lives in Sweden but was educated in Germany - very popular amongst Kurdish people and in the Middle East).