Greek Music / The Music of Greece at cdRoots

More music from Greece

the Kapaiae Ta Bhmata - Melina Kana - 19.99
The great Greek singer in a semi-traditional song set featuring Hristos Nikolópoulos, Manos Eleftheríou, Maros Bizanis, Fotinís Labridis and Fílippos Grapsas.

I vrochi apo kato (The rain from below) - Thanasis Papakonstantinou - 19.99
More musical wonder and strangeness in 2006 from the Greek laikadelica master.

III - Mode Plagal - 19.99
The third recording by the phenomenal Greek roots-jazz band features some of Greece's best singers as guests, including Yiota Vei, Theodossia Tsatsou, Eleni Tsaligopoulou, Evgenios Spatharis and Savina Yannatou

Taxidoscopio - Kristi Stassinopoulou and Stathis Kalyviotis - 19.99
These Greek artists are producing global pop without peer, mixing local roots with international sounds and modern technology to create, over the course of the last few years, a completely unique aural pallette that relates to almost no one else. fRoots says: '…a completely unique, utterly recognisable and forward-looking style of their own. And in that distillation, it seems to have become more distinctly Greek - a strange, other-worldly Greekness, for sure, but a 21st century Greekness that's modern within its own culture, out there, ahead and rooted rather than just banging off some local language version of what the globised industry dictates. No predictable Greek rock, Europop or hip-hop here then.'

Rosa Das Rosa - Savina Yannatou - 19.99

Ulyses' Gaze - Eleni Karaindrou and Kim Kashkasian - 13.99
Music for the film by Theo Angelopolous

Pandora's Box - Lakis and Achwach - 16.99
Lakis Jordanopoulos, a Greek living in Vienna for 16 years, founder of the group, follows the classical leaders of the Rembetiko very closely on his first record 'Evros'. On this second record he develops more individuality and creates a sort of Neo-Rembetiko. With musicians from four nations he shows that there are no social or musical prejudice or barriers in music.

Xenos - Lakis and Achwach - 11.99
Austria-based Greek musician Lakis Jordanopoulos´ songs are about uprooting and exile, like the songs of the Greek Rembetes, who learned to laugh and cry at the same time. The music he creates with the ensemble Achwach is the neo-Rembetiko of a Vienna-based international band, a music about happiness and sadness, love, loneliness and despair.

Taxidi/Die Reise - Lakis and Achwach - 16.99
Greek-Austrian musican Lakis and his ensemble Achwach prove the variety of their musical work. 'Die Reise' (the journey) is not only the CD's title, it is emblematic of their approach to music.

En Concert (CD and DVD) - Miquel Gil with Savinna Yannatou - 20.99
An epic event: the meeting of two great European singers, and backed by an incredible ensemble made of Primavera en Salonico and Orqestra Arabe de Barcelona. CD and DVD (PAL format, playable on computers and most DVD players). Highly recommended.

Secret Love - Georgia Dagaki - 20.99
Georgia Dagaki was born near Rethymnon on the northern coast of Crete, but at an early age she moved to Athens where she studied music, focusing on singing, the fiddle-lyre and the piano. Dagaki first performed on the lyre when she was 16. She has played at many festivals and has opened for stars such as Eric Burdon. On Secret Love, Dagaki's unique and entrancing voice is accompanied by her own remarkable instrumental work on the Greek fiddle-lyre.

The Diaspora of Rembetiko - various - 36.99
Unfortunately, often referred to as the Greek blues (yeah yeah yeah), rembetiko (rebetika, rebetiko) is nonetheless a rootsy and raw form of urban music that devloped uniquely in Greece, via both its local underground and its imigrants, and as with all folk music, moved outward into the world. This double CD set has 33 tracks, 9 of which are released for the first time on this anthology or taken from out of print publications.

Dubient - Various artists - 17.99
Studio dubs and fusions by 'man data sound' and members of Mode Plagal pull together all kinds of influences in a mix of electronic and rootsy acoustic sounds.

Laspi (Mud) - Maria Aristopulou and Ilias Tsagaris - 17.99
An atmospheric work for female voice and a jazz-rock influnced ensemble of guitars, bass, percussion, horns, mandolin, baglama and drums. An essential Greek core is subdued by a languishing, bluesy feel.

O Hamenos Ta Pairnei Ola - Yannis Aggelakas - 12.99
Soundtrack from the Greek film 'Loser Takes All' by Nikos Nikolaides, made by one of the countries leading rock-pop writers and an artist who has crossed all genre-boundaries in the last few years, both solo and with his band Trypes.

folk music of Greece (Topic 907) - Topic World Series - 19.99
Recorded in 1966, '67 and '69 by Wolf Dietrich, presenting a stunning collection of both instrumental and ceremonial music, and lyrical songs and ballads.

Instrumental Music From Greece - Topic World Series - special order
The benchmark compilation of Greek folk music.

Blowers From The Balkans: Classic Historic Recordings - various - special order
Classic Historic Recordings featuring clarinet, tárogató, nai, bagpipes, kaval - A remarkable collection of recordings from players of wind instruments from the countries that make up the Balkans: Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania and the former Yugoslavia. The recordings were made from 1906 through the mid 1940s. All have been nicely re-mastered. The featured instruments include clarinets (and related reed instruments), panpipes, bagpipe and flutes with a variety of backings. Includes detailed notes from the compiler Risto Pekka Pennanen as well as historic photographs.

Bagpipes of Greece - various - 19.99
An collection of authentic Greek bagpipes recorded across the entire country over the last thirty years. Many of the musicians are shepherds and peasants and have been recorded in their homes or local environments. Currently, Greece appears to have no bagpipe revival (perhaps due to the lack of bagpipe makers) so these recordings chronicle a rare traditional culture. Recorded and annotated by Wolf Dietrich.

Taxidoscopio - Kristi Stassinopoulou and Stathis Kalyviotis - 18.99
These Greek artists are producing global pop without peer, mixing local roots with international sounds and modern technology to create, over the course of the last few years, a completely unique aural pallette that relates to almost no one else. fRoots says: '…a completely unique, utterly recognisable and forward-looking style of their own. And in that distillation, it seems to have become more distinctly Greek - a strange, other-worldly Greekness, for sure, but a 21st century Greekness that's modern within its own culture, out there, ahead and rooted rather than just banging off some local language version of what the globised industry dictates. No predictable Greek rock, Europop or hip-hop here then.'

Strange Stories - Giorgis Christianakis - 25.99
This 2003 release is a strange blend of electronics and real music by one of Greece's leading electronic music experimenters. Orchestral music, acoustic and electric instruments and voices (sung and sampled) all merged together by the artist/composer's computers and gadgets. And some killer horn riffs by Floros Florides just ice the cake! Not for the roots-only crowd, or the musically faint of heart.

Le vespe - Stefano Saletti and Renato Giordano - 16.99
The idea behind Le vespe was not to recover 'the lost music of the Greeks,' but to search for a 'Spirito Sonoro' that was compatible with the ancient ideals. Le Vespe is a search for commonality and digression in the music of the Balkan peninsula, from modern and ancient Greece, Bulgaria, the Roma and beyond, fused with the art music of Europe, both old and contemporary. It is both and neither ancient and modern, and the tension and beauty this divergence creates is palpable.

L' Oreille du Voyageur - Aksak - 16.99
A Balkan musical tribute to the traveler/poet/photographer Nicolas Bouvier, interpreted with a modern ear, but true to traditional styles and instrumentation.

Iasis - Iasis - 17.99
Roots meets jazz in this unique Greek ensemble's 1996 work

Hayata Dair - Sobre La Vida - Livaneli - 17.99
As a writer, composer, film director, philosopher, activist and humanitarian, Turkish artist Omer Zülfü Livaneli is a true Renaisance man. This album of peoms set to music is his life's story told through a fiction called music. Recorded in Athens and Istambul with musicians of both countries. A bonus disc includes a video documentary with interviews and fragments of performances, with guests like Al DiMeola, María Farandouri, Maria del Mar Bonet, Joan Baez, Yorgos Dalaras y la Orquesta Sinfónica de Londres.

Florina - Aksak - 15.99
Balkan/Gypsy fusion band merges the acoustic sounds of kaval, flutes, accordion, clarinet, viola, violin, sax, double bass, guitar, oud, percussion and vocals into a new and powerful folk hybrid.

First Songs - Mikia Theodorakis - 17.99
These songs, some previously unreleased, are some of Theodorakis' earliest compositions, sung by the master himself. Theodorakis is known worldwide as one of the greatest Greek composers, creator of the scores for Zorba the Greek, Z , and Serpico. This excellent recording was made by Berlin Radio.

Echotropia - Kristi Stassinopoulou - 16.99

Echotropia - Kristi Stassinopoulou - 19.99
Original Greek edition of this Mediterannean folk-pop classic

Dimotika / Cinq Souvenirs Involuntaires - Alexandros Markeas - 16.99
Taximi Calvo, bouzouki; Tresallet, viola; Veyrier, cello; Soccoja, mezzo and the Ensemble Ars Nova

Contagio - Bandadriatica - 17.99
BandAdriatica focuses on the Adriatic Sea bands and Balkan fanfares, music for processions, carnivals and other events. This recording offers a hypothetical voyage around Adriatic sea port from Salento to Dalmatia, from Venice to Durazzo and out to the Greek islands. Marches and tarantellas, slavic dances and Greek night songs are given personal interpretations by this ensemble of brass, accordion, reeds, strings and percussion. Special guests: King Naat Veliov and the Kocani Orkestar

Chants, Hymns and Dances - Tsabropoulos and Lechner - 16.99
Compositions by Gurdjieff and Vassilis Tsabropoulos, performed by pianist Tsabropoulos and Anja Lechner on violincello. the pieces are boundary crossing experiments in multi-cultural classicism and contemporary minimalism, often mournful, occasionally spritely.

Bouzouki Pioneer, 1932-1940 - Markos Vamvarkis - 15.99

Akri Tou Dounia (On the Edge of the World) - Stelios Petrakis - 16.99
Stelios Petrakis, lyra, laouto / Xylouris / Stavrakakis / Daly / Chemiran

Mortika - various - temp out of stock
From the pages of fRoots: 'A shade over 74 minutes' worth of superbly remastered – and therefore sonically stunning – recordings from the 1920s to the 1950s, recorded in Athens, the US, and, in one case, Weimar Republic Berlin, offer just about the single most cohesive portrait of this extraordinarily tough and beautiful music... Of the music, I can tell you that the 21 well-chosen performances present the listener with a superbly balanced variety of the sub-styles within rebetika... Utterly wonderful...' - Paul Vernon

I also have a catalog of great music from Italy, Spain

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