Albania

 I had a trip booked for last autumn of a tour of the western Balkans, which included a few days in Albania.  Sadly due to my health issues, I had to cancel and still have not been to Albania and it remains on my bucket list. For a long time the country was shut off from the outside world due to it's particularly strict communist regime that aligned with China and Maoism, rather than the Soviet Union.  Since the fall of the regime in 1989, the country has slowly opened up, but still feels like an undiscovered corner of Europe.  Their language also seems impenetrable to outsiders and isn't closely related to any other languages.

We start in the south with Albanian super-group Saz-iso, whose members hail from the cultural centres of Përmet (the singers) and Korçë (the instrumentalists) respectively.  These two historic cities are home of a musical genre known as Saze, often referred to as Albanian Blues.  Saz-iso is a collective of the finest folk musicians of the region and they are currently fundraising to release their second album.  Here's the opening track to their 2017 debut album At Least Wave Your Handkerchief at Me - The Joys and Sorrows of Southern Albanian Song. The song is called Tana, as performed on Later with Jools Holland:

Next we are heading to the capital Tirana and we start with Balkan brass band Fanfara Tirana, who started life back in 2002 from a group of friends who were previously in the Albanian Army Band.  They are very much in the same vein as Balkan brass bands such as Fanfare Ciocarlia from Romania and have had some international success.  Here is a live version from their 2007 debut album Albanian Wedding called Medeterranea (At First Sight):

The Tirana-Tirona Allstars were founded in 2020 to celebrate Tirana's 100th anniversary as the capital of Albania.  They dedicated themselves to preserving the historic emotional folk-pop and urban modalities of Tirana.  The result was the album Tirana 100 which was released in 2021 and here is a song from the album called Besh çaje Besh (sit down girl):

Cellist and composer Redi Hasa was born in Tirana in 1977. He was born into a musical family and initially studied music in Tirana, before fleeing the civil war in 1997, taking him to Lecce in Southern Italy. There he incorporated his Balkan traditions with those of Puglia as well as classical elements and collaborating with the likes of Ludovico Einaudi amongst many others, including Robert Plant. His debut solo album Stolen Cello was released in 2020 and this is a tune from it called Seasons Going By:

Jazz singer and composer Elina Duni was born in Tirana in 1981, but she moved with her family to Switzerland aged 10. She studied singing and composition at the University of Bern, but from 2004 onwards her main influence became Albanian folk music, when she formed her own quartet. Here is a song from her 2012 album Matanë Malit (Across the Mountain) called Ka Një Mot (loosely translated as 'it's been a year and a half'):

Heading north we arrive at the city of Shkodra (or Shkodër) on the shores of Lake Shkodra. Here we find a distinct style of music known as Aheng, which is traditionally performed at weddings and is reminiscent of the Slav Sevdalinka style, which is prevalent all over the Balkans. In 2021 an ensemble was formed, the Orkestra Shkodra, with the express purpose to preserve this music and make it better known outside the region. Here is an extract from their 2022 debut album Like Nightingales in the Spring. Sadly the leader of the group Agim Molla has since passed away.

Also originally from Shkoder is folktronica duo Shkodra Elektronike. The duo was formed in 2019 by Kolë Laca and Beatriçe Gjergji, who both grew up in Italy, but had a longing for the music of their home city.  However they took some of traditional elements and added their own electronic twist on it.  This song is their 2024 single called Vaj si kenka ba dynjaja in collaboration with Fanfara Tirana:

So much from Albania, next we are heading into Montenegro.  As usual you follow my virtual ramblings on my tripline map.

Greece -The Northwest

Next we are heading west again to the town of Aridaia in Central Macedonia, where half of the woodwind duo Kolida Babo comes from.  Sokrates Votskos and Harris P both play the Armenian duduk as well as numerous other instruments including clarinet, saxophone and electronics.  They combine the traditions of Armenia and Thrace with modern electronica and free jazz to produce a highly improvised style.  Here is a live performance of them, for more check out their 2019 self-titled debut album:

Singer/songwriter Alkyone was born and raised in Edessa in the mountains of Central Macedonia.  She explores indie songwriting with cinematic textures and folk influences, shaped by growing up in nature and her father's love of folk music.  She doesn't appear to have released any full albums yet, but here is a recent single of hers called Desert Song: 

Composer, singer and saxophonist Giorgos Katsaros was born in 1934 on the island of Corfu.  He is mostly known for Rebetika compositions for films, but also collaborated with the likes of Nana Mouskouri and Yannis Theodoridis.  Here is a song featuring on the 2004 Rough Guide Rebetika compilation called Mes' Tou Manthou Ton Teke:

Finally we stop in the village of Delvinaki, close to the Albanian border.  This is where clarinettist Petroloukas Chalkias was born in 1934.  He died just last year.  He was a traditional musician upholding the music from Greece's northwest, but was not afraid to mix it up with international collaborations with musicians from India (Rakesh Chaurasia and Rabindra Goswami) as well as the Cretan lyra of Ross Daly and Malian Kora player Ballaké Sissoko.  His last recording was in 2023 with young Epiro Lauto player Vassilis Kostas, a 2-part album called The Soul Of Epirus.  Here is a live version of the album:

That is finally it from Greece, which dragged on a bit due to some health issues I had over the past year.  Next we'll head into Albania.  In the meantime, as usual, you can follow my virtual ramblings on my tripline map

Greece - Macedonia & Western Thrace

 

Chalkidiki, when I visited in 2013

Accordionist Thanos Stavridis was born just outside of Thessaloniki in the town of Langadas in 1978. According to his own words he didn't choose the accordion, but it chose him as he spotted one in a shop window aged 4, and he has been playing ever since.  Apart from representing dance music from his native Macedonia he widens his music to the wider Balkan region and Gipsy influences.  The name of his band is Drom, which translates as road in the Romani language.  Here is a fun track from his 2025 album fygame (let's go in Greek) called Raikos: 

  Going down to the 3-fingered hand shaped Chalkidiki peninsula, we visit the middle finger, where singer/songwriter and guitarist Sokratis Malamas was born in 1957 in the village of Sykia.  He spent large parts of his youth and adult life in Germany, but learned Greek tunes from his father.  He bought his first guitar aged 13 and later studied music at the Macedonian Conservatory in Thessaloniki.  He has since published many albums and has written music for movies too.  Here he is in collaboration with singer and actor Melina Kana from Thessaloniki playing a song called Hilia Prosopa, which features on the 2010 compilation album The Rough Guide to Greek Café:

On the next leg of our virtual journey we are going to have to leave the women behind, as we are entering the monastic settlement of Athos on the easternmost of the 3 finger-peninsulas, where women and female animals are not allowed (except cats to catch rodents (female ones I presume)).  So if you are a woman (or another female animal) and reading this, please skip to the next paragraph.  On the peninsula are some 20 monasteries housing about 2,000 monks, whom time seems to have forgotten about.  They have been here for at least 1,000 years, although probably not the same ones.  Anyway, apart from praying lots, the monks have also been known to do lots of chanting.  Somebody made some field recordings of them in the 1960's.  In 2024 French multi-disciplinary publishing house FLEE brought out a book about the musical traditions of the monks of Athos complete with an accompanying double CD, on which contemporary electronic musicians cover some of that music and incorporate some of those field recordings into their compositions.  The project was called Athos: Echoes from the Holy Mountain, and here is a track from the album by an act called Holy Tongue called Athos Dub:

Next we are heading to the far east of Greece to Xanthi  in the region of Western Thrace.  Here we meet sister duo Eleni & Souzana Vougioukli.  They sing traditional folk from Greece and other Mediterranean regions such as Italy, Spain and Portugal. Here's a song from their self-titled 2009 album called Kalinyfta, which, if my very basic Greek is correct, means good night:

As we are heading west again our next stop is in Drama, where singer Petros Gaitanos was born in 1967.  He mostly known for his interpretations of Byzantine music, the religious hymns and chants of the Medieval Byzantine empire.  Here is a more recent and contemporary song of his from 2024 called Molivia:

And finally we move little further west to the village of Agia Pnevma, where Glykeria,  one of Greece's most popular singers was born in 1953.  She started her career in the mid'70's and has been producing prolifically ever since, with several platinum albums of Greek folk and pop.  Here is a song which features on her 2009 album Tragoudi Asithimatiko called Piga Se Magissis:

That's it from the northeast of Greece, next we're finishing off in the northwest. In the meantime, as usual, you follow my virtual travels on my Tripline Map.

Greece - Thessaloniki

 We arrive in Greece's second city Thessaloniki, the capital of the Macedonia region.

photo credit: By Ymblanter - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=128512358

Guitarist Dimitris Mistakidis is based here, not sure where he was born around 1970.  He interprets Rembetiko just using his guitar and voice.  His 1996 debut album 16 Rebetika Tragoudhia Paigmena Me Kithara came out as a bonus CD on the Rough Guide to Greek Café.  Whilst the following song

Στην Υπογα

didn't feature on that album, it is played in a Greek Café:

Singer & guitarist Savina Yannatou was actually born in Athens in 1959, but her musical home appears to be Thessaloniki, as the name of her band Primavera en Saloniko suggests.  Her repertoire mixes Greek folk with jazz, Sephardic and Mediterranean influences and even throat singing.  Here are some live extracts from her 2025 album Watersong:

Singer/songwriter Nikos Papazoglu was born in Thessaloniki in 1948 and sadly died prematurely of cancer in 2011.  In the 1970's he moved to Germany to break into the international market and formed his band Zilotis.  In 1976 he returned to Greece where his music started to gain wide recognition.  His following extended to all over Europe and the USA, becoming known for his distinctive red bandana and his playing of the baglamas.  Here is the title track from his 2005 album Maissa Selini:

 Singer Sofia Papazoglou (no relation to my knowledge) was actually born in Brussels in 1972, but moved to Thessaloniki with her family when she was still young.  She started singing traditional and contemporary folk in the clubs of Thessaloniki during her student years, moving on later to tour internationally and release several solo albums.  Here is a song which features on the 2010 compilation The Rough Guide to Greek Café called Rixte Sto Yiali Farmaki (pour medicine into the glass):

And that's it from Thessaloniki for now, next we'll explore the rest of the north-eastern part of Greece.  In the meantime, as usual, you can follow my virtual ramblings on my Tripline map.

Greece - Peloponnese & Thessaly

 Leaving Athens we enter the Peloponnese peninsula.  Although Folk quartet Matzounia were founded in Athens, their members hail from various parts of mainland Greece, including Kyparissia on the Peleponnese.  They specialise in traditional dance tunes from Epirus, but also include songs from Macedonia and Albania playing clarinet, lute and other traditional instruments accompanied by their voices.  Here is a song from their 2021 album Στο πηγάδι του Αγγλία (in the English Well) called Σκοπός αμαν γιαρει.  The album is available on Bandcamp for a pay as you feel like it basis:

Composer and violinist Evanthia Reboutsika was born in 1958 in Kato Achaia on the north side of the Peloponnese near Patras.  She is mostly known for her instrumental arrangements and also for scoring for TV series and films.  The latter is probably due to her father having owned a cinema in her home town.  She learned the violin aged 6 and later toured with her siblings as a string quartet.  Her albums became best-sellers in Greece.  Here's a live version of her tune An Umbrella Over Vosporos from her 2003 album A Touch of Spice:

Next we are heading onto the mainland to Elassona in the province of Thessaly, where singer/songwriter Thanasis Papakonstantinou was born in 1959.  He likes to combine his traditional rembetiko with electronic and experimental notes, even veering into rock.  Here is a song called Pehlivanis, originally from his 2000 album Βραχνός Προφήτης, Vrachnos Profitis, which was reissued in 2015.

I'll leave it at that today.  Apologies for the long silence between posts, I had some health issues in the last few months.  Next time we'll look at some of the music from Thessaloniki.  In the meantime you can check my virtual wanderings on my tripline map.

Greece - Athens Part II

 Continuing our exploration of the music of Athens, we encounter the duo of Kristi Stassinopoulou & Stathis Kalyviotis.  They have taken the ancient traditional music form of Demotika and added a modern twist coming up with what they call Greekadalia. Kristi sings and plays an Indian Harmonium or a frame drum, whilst Stathis accompanies her with Greek lauto, live looping and electronics, which makes for an hypnotic effect.  Here is a song from their 2012 album Greekadalia called Neratzoula Fountomeini:

Singer and composer Marina Satti was born in Athens in 1986 to Cretan and Sudanese heritage.  She started playing the piano aged 5 and later went on to study classical singing and eventually jazz composition at Berklee University in the USA.  She has written music for films and has done voice overs for animated movies.  After several successful singles, she released her debut album Yenna in 2022.  Last year she represented Greece at the Eurovision Song Contest.  Her style is a blend of various cultural influences as well as pop and electronica.  Here's a song from her above mentioned album called Pali:

Jazz-folk fusion band Mode Plagal were formed in Athens in 1990.  They combine funky upbeat saxophone-lead jazz with traditional Greek folk inflections.  Here is a track from their 1998 album Mode Plagal II called Pikrodafni:

Singer Katerina Papadopoulou is considered one of the very few in Greece who still continue the art of the old masters of traditional singing.  She founded the Anastatica Project to highlight the ancient traditions of Greece and has recorded an album with them in 2021 entitled Anástasis - a journey through old Greek music.  Here's a flavour of their music.  Turn on the subtitles for English translations.

That's it from Athens for today, next we will be exploring more music from the Greek mainland.  In the meantime, as usual you can follow my virtual route on my Tripline map.

Greece - Piraeus & Athens Part I

 Arriving back from the Aegean Islands your literal first port of call is the busy harbour of Piraeus.  Inevitably many of the people born here trace their origins to the islands too, I suppose they have better hospital facilities there.

First up we meet multi-instrumentalist Michalis Nikoloudis, who was born in 1949 to parents from the islands of Chios and Ikaria respectively.  He started playing the electric guitar from an early age, playing in various bands.  He later went on to play a number of string instruments including mandola, baroque lute and mandolin.  He is particularly known for his custom-made mandola with a modified neck, strings and tuning.  His music combines both Greek influences as well as the sounds from the wider Balkan and Anatolian region.  Here is a tune called Armenistis, which originally came out on his 1995 debut album Aeolia but also features on his 2016 compilation Complete Guide to Michalis Nikoloudis:

Folk and jazz singer Eleftheria Arvanitaki was born in 1957 in Piraeus, also with roots in Ikaria.  She has appeared at several Womad festivals as well as participating in the closing ceremony to the 2004 Athens Olympics.  Her style has influences of both Rebetika and jazz.  Here is a song from her 2019 album Ta Megala Taxidia (The Long Journeys) called Ki Ego Pou Elega (And I said):

Next we are heading into the bustling and ancient capital of Greece, Athens.  I spent a couple of days there on my rough hitchhiking trip back in 1981.  We arrived late at night and we tried to find a quiet spot to sleep somewhere.  Seeing a fence with some trees behind, we decided to climb over and camp out there.  In the morning we were woken by some tourists taking a tour of some ruins and finding us sound asleep.

Legendary singer Maria Farantouri was born in Athens in 1947.  She collaborated extensively with Mikis Theodorakis, toured with him around Europe while in exile during the military dictatorship in Greece and shared Theodorakis left-wing political convictions and, like him, later served in the Greek parliament.  Her voice is a contralto spanning 2 octaves, and she has been described as the Callas of the people or the Greek Joan Baez. Here are a couple of songs from a live performance from when she was only 18 years old.  They are from the 1966 Ballad of Mauthausen, which has been re-released a couple of times since:

Singer / songwriter Nena Ventsanou was born in Athens in 1955 and was gifted with beautiful voice from an early age.  Like many of her contemporaries she went into exile during the junta years.  Like Farantouri she has always been deeply involved with the political left and has collaborated with Mikis Theodorakis amongst many others.  Here is a song called Pira Ti Strata Erhome (I took the step and I'm coming) which features on the 2004 compilation album The Rough Guide to Rebétika:

We've come across lyra master Sokratis Sinopoulos before in Istanbul as collaborator with Derya Türkan. He was born in Athens in 1974 and was taught on the lyra by Ross Daly. He is now considered one of the most eminent proponents of the lyra, leads his own quartet and teaches at Thessaloniki University. Here is a track from the 2020 album Soundplaces together with Turkan on the kemençe called Cyclades:

I've been having a bit of a busy month (blame the great weather!), so I better get this post published and continue in Athens next time. In the meantime, as usual, you can track my virtual wanderings on my Tripline Map.