The legendary Greek singer Babis Tsertos and his band revived the Great Rembetika of Greece (Greek blues) before a full house of guests on Friday, November 4 at the Kaye Playhouse theater in Manhattan, a press release says, describing the successful event.
The performance was part of the captivating concert series Greek Music Journey which is co-presented by the non-profit cultural organizations, AKTINA Productions, Inc and CYPRECO Of America, Inc.
The concert lasted for two-and-a-half hours and covered all three major eras of rembetiko starting from 1922-1932, a period dominated by elements of the music of Smyrna. This was followed by the era from 1932-1942, referred to as the classic period and from 1942-1952, which is known as the period when rembetiko was more widespread and accepted.
The repertoire included songs by all major legendary composers/singers of rembetiko including Panagiotis Tountas, Marcos Vamvakaris, Vasilis Tsitsanis, Manolis Hiotis. Rare songs were performed which originated and were first recorded in the United States as well as Archonto-rembetika songs of Michalis Souyioul.
This first collaboration with AKTINA and CYPRECO also marked Babis Tsertos’ debut performance in New York.
In recognition of the many contributions of Babis Tsertos to Greek music and for participating in support of Greek Music Journey 2016, the artist was honored with AKTINA’s Distinguished Artist Award.
For more information about the upcoming concerts from the series Greek Music Journey please visit, www.aktinafm.com.
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