Tribute to singer Stelios Kazantzidis
Stelios Kazantzidis, 29 August 1931 – 14 September 2001 was a prominent leading Greek singer of popular music, or Laïkó. He collaborated with many of Greece's foremost composers, a hallmark in his career – and an event of great importance for the musical scene of post-war Greece – was his cooperation with composer Vassilis Tsitsanis. Starting in 1956 it resulted in several new songs as well as reinterpretions of Tsitsanis older songs. Kazantzidis, thus, sung and popularized such rebetiko classics as "Synnefiasmeni Kyriaki", "Bakse tsifliki" and "Ta Kavourakia". A few years later Kazantzidis started to develop his own musical style, a style with influences ranging from rebetika to Indian music. This new turn met with considerable success and became a template for later developments in Greek popular music. Kazantzidis was the voice of the people, of the weary, the exploited, the betrayed. And the voice of the refugee and the émigré, too. Listen to the podcast and find out more
