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