Greek Rebetiko Trio

About

Once an underground rebel sound, the wailing “Greek blues” known as rebetiko has been embraced by young musicians both in Greece and in the Greek diaspora, including the members of the Greek Rebetiko Trio.

The origins of rebetiko date back a century to the Greco-Turkish War, when over a million people of Greek descent fled Asia Minor. Many of them arrived into the port city of Piraeus near Athens. Musically, rebetiko is a mixture of Greek and Eastern Ottoman music, with lyrics about poverty, drug addiction, migration and loss. It was commonly heard in tekedhes (hashish dens). Dictator Ioannis Metaxas banned rebetiko in the late 30s because of its anti-authoritarian stance. Its revival has come as Greek’s recent economic struggles have renewed anti-Western and anti-establishment sentiments.

The Greek Rebetiko Trio is led by singer and bouzouki player Dimitris Mann, who grew up on the island of Mykonos. His grandfather owned a Piraeus barbershop where rebetiko was played, and at age 12 Mann found in an attic some 78s of his grandmother’s uncle, the renowned rebetiko composer Giannis Papaioannou. He was struck at learning how the sound’s originators “were forced to meet in these underground places in secrecy. Rebetiko was a way for them to freely express themselves.”

When Mann came to Boston to study composing for film at the Berklee School of Music, he found an audience eager to hear and dance to rebetiko at Grecian-American cultural venues.

Since moving to Los Angeles he’s maintained the Trio. In Lowell he’ll be joined by LA-based Greek-American classical guitarist Taso Comanescu and Cyprian singer Andrea Charles, who will be exploring the lesser-heard repertoire of rebetiko composed for women to sing.

Mann is constantly digging out obscure rebetika for the Trio. “This is something I do to keep the connection with my culture and heritage alive, and introduce others to this music,” he says.