ΚΑΛΩΣ ΗΛΘΑΤΕ! Kalos ilthate! Welcome!
Welcome to the Global Greek World - a world of Greek-Somethings which stretches from Auckland to Zanzibar, from Aruba to Zimbabwe.
Wherever you are in the world, this is YOUR world!
Nikos Papazoglou wearing his trademark red bandanna
17 April 2011, Κυριακή των Βαΐων in Greece...
Palm Sunday today, and the wet and miserable weather outside reflects the sadness of those of us who wept at the loss of one of Greece's foremost contemporary singers. Popular songmaker Nikos Papazoglou died early this morning after a tough battle with cancer, just a few weeks after the death of his friend, fellow musician and composer Manolis Rassoulis - two people whose music has left an indelible mark on most of us, and whose musical legacy will remain with us for a long long time...
Music with that extra dimension that makes them truly great...songs which speak volumes and say everything we would like to but somehow can't find the right words, songs with depth and meaning, so aptly descriptive of today's society - Ax Ellada s'agapo, Pote Voudas Pote Koudas and so many more, songs which made Nikos immensely popular throughout Greece and the Global Greek World...
Αχ Ελλάδα Σ' Αγαπώ
Χαρά στον Έλληνα που ελληνοξεχνά Και στο Σικάγο μέσα ζει στη λευτεριά Εκείνος που δεν ξέρει και δεν αγαπά -- σάμπως φταις και συ καημένη -- και στην Αθήνα μέσα ζει στη ξενιτιά
Αχ Ελλάδα σ' αγαπώ και βαθιά σ' ευχαριστώ γιατί μ' έμαθες και ξέρω Ν' ανασαίνω όπου βρεθώ να πεθαίνω όπου πατώ και να μη σε υποφέρω
Αχ Ελλάδα θα στο πω πριν λαλήσεις πετεινό δεκατρείς φορές μ' αρνιέσαι . Μ' εκβιάζεις μου κολλάς σαν το νόθο με πετάς μα κι απάνω μου κρεμιέσαι
Η πιο γλυκιά πατρίδα είναι η καρδιά -- Οδυσσέα γύρνα κοντά μου - που τ' άγια χώματά της πόνος και χαρά καθένας είναι ένας που σύνορο πονά και εγώ είμαι ένας κανένας που σας σεργιανά
Καθένας είναι ένας που σύνορο πονά και εγώ είμαι ένας κανένας που σας σεργιανά
Αχ Ελλάδα σ' αγαπώ και βαθιά σ' ευχαριστώ γιατί μ' έμαθες και ξέρω Ν' ανασαίνω όπου βρεθώ να πεθαίνω όπου πατώ και να μη σε υποφέρω...
The medley below is our tribute to this great artist. Just click on play and close your eyes...
Tomorrow, 21 February at 19.00, at the Olympic Velodrome, at OAKA, the Olympic Complex in Maroussi, there will be a tribute concert in memory of the legendary 'Archangel of Crete' Nikos Xylouris.
150 artists, among them Haralambos Garganourakis, Ross Daly, Psarantoni, Psaroyianni, Loudovikos ton Anogeion, Manos Mountakis and Nikos Androulakis along with the Athens, Kifissia and Heraklion Municipal choirs will be performing at a concert in honour of one of Crete's most famous sons - Nikos Xylouris, the legendary Cretan singer and musician.
The concert which has been organised by the Cretan Association of Marousi and the Athens, Heraklion and Rethymnos municipalities, is directed by composer Christos Leontis who worked with Xylouris in the past.
Entrance is free of charge for all.
Συναυλία στη μνήμη του Νίκου Ξυλούρη την Κυριακή στο Ποδηλατοδρόμιο του ΟΑΚΑ
Τον Νίκο Ξυλούρη, τον σπουδαίο λυράρη, τραγουδιστή και άνθρωπο, που έφυγε πρόωρα χτυπημένος από τον καρκίνο πριν 30 χρόνια, τιμούν την Κυριακή η Ενωση Κρητών Αμαρουσίου «Ο Κρηταγενής Ζευς» και οι Νομαρχιακές Αυτοδιοικήσεις Αθηνών, Ηρακλείου και Ρεθύμνης, με μία μεγάλη συναυλία στο στο Ποδηλατοδρόμιο του ΟΑΚΑ.
Η συναυλία ξεκινά στις 7 το απόγευμα και η είσοδος είναι ελεύθερη.
Την καλλιτεχνική διεύθυνση της συναυλίας υπογράφει ο συνθέτης Χρήστος Λεοντής.
Στη σκηνή του ποδηλατοδρομίου θα βρεθούν 150 καλλιτέχνες: Οι Χορωδίες των Δήμων Αθηναίων, Κηφισιάς, Ηρακλείου, που θα ερμηνεύσουν κομμάτια από το «Καπνισμένο Τσουκάλι» και οι Νίκος Ανδρουλάκης, Χαράλαμπος Γαργανουράκης, Ross Daly, Βασίλης Καρεφιλάκης, Λουδοβίκος των Ανωγείων, Μάνος Μουντάκης, Μίλτος Πασχαλίδης, Στέλιος Πετράκης, Μαρία Σουλτάτου, Ψαραντώνης, Ψαρογιάννης.
30 years ago today God took his archangel, Niko Xylouris, the Archangel of Crete as he was called, to his side, leaving all of us in the Global Greek World infinitely poorer yet somehow also infinitely richer ...
Έβαλε ο Θεός σημάδι παλικάρι στα Σφακιά κι ο πατέρας του στον Άδη άκουσε μια τουφεκιά. Της γενιάς μου βασιλιά, μην κατέβεις τα σκαλιά. Πιές αθάνατο νερό να νικήσεις τον καιρό. Έβαλε ο Θεός σημάδι παλικάρι στα Σφακιά κι η μανούλα του στον Άδη τράβηξε μια χαρακιά. Της καρδιάς μου βασιλιά με τον ήλιο στα μαλλιά, μην περνάς τη χαρακιά η ζωή είναι πιο γλυκιά...
His brilliant and almost prophetic "Evale o Theos Simadi" is the song that is especially associated with him - a particularly poignant and evocative song,
Έβαλε ο Θεός σημάδι παλικάρι στα Σφακιά κι ο πατέρας του στον Άδη άκουσε μια τουφεκιά...
God aimed at a valiant young man from Sfakia, and his father in Hades heard the shot of the rifle...
It speaks of a young man who has been 'chosen' by God but whose parents, already in Hades, try to prevent him from taking those dreaded steps down to the Underworld to join them... A beautiful song indeed from composer Stavros Xarhakos and poet Nikos Gatsos.
About Nikos Xylouris
Nikos Xylouris was born on the 7th of July 1936 in Anoghia, on the island of Crete to a family steeped in traditional music. In 1941 his family fled Anoghia for the village of Mylopotamos after the Germans burned his village and returned after Crete was liberated. His talent shone early, and he sang and played the mandolin with his friend Giorgi Kalomoiri. He later learnt to play the Cretan Lyra, and started to tour the villages and towns to play at festivals, weddings and baptisms.
Still in his teens, at the age of 17, he began performing in a club called Kastro in Heraklion. It wasn't easy for him and very different from what he expected, just making enough money to meet his needs.
"In the city, the people were dancing tango, waltz, rumba, samba and we were obliged to learn those tunes so as to play them at feasts and festivals, in order to earn our living but also to make people get used to and gradually develop a love for Cretan music ..." he said later in one of his interviews.
At one of those dances he met and later married his beloved Ourania, daughter of a prosperous family of Heraklion, and in November of 1958 he recorded his first 78, Mia Mavrofora Otan Perna - for which he received 150 drachmas! In 1960, their first child , a son, Yiorgos was born and 6 years later, their second, a daughter, they named Rinio. Again it wasn't easy, times were tough…
At the time, in Crete, there were two schools of traditional Lyra players, those with Mountaki (Mountakikoi) and those with Skordalo (Skordalikoi). Xylouris was somewhere in between, but with the added advantage of having a distinctive voice that he could adapt to vastly diverse music styles...he could sing everything, from the traditional Cretan Rizitika to the modern songs that were being sung around Greece. He spent several months in Athens in 1964 and in 1966 left Greece to participate in the San Remo Folk Festival, eventually winning the first prize!
Between 1967 and 1969 Xylouris played at various music clubs in Heraklion - Erotokritos, Zamania, and Oasis to name a few - with people flocking from near and far to listen to his magical Lyra and his tremendously expressive voice. In February of 1969, he recorded Anyfantou, a song that started him on his journey to the top... He moved to Athens to sing in a traditional Cretan music club the Konaki, which still exists today, where he met poet Errikos Thalassinos and who, recognising his talent, introduced him to celebrated composer and fellow Cretan, Yiannis Markopoulos.
Xylouris signed up with Columbia and collaborated extensively with Markopoulos, starting with Chroniko, a wonderful group of songs that combined traditional and modern musical styles.
This was a troubled period in Greece. The military junta was in power and the people at all levels were resisting the dictatorship. The voice of Xylouris, whether singing Markopoulos' music or the folk songs of Crete, became synonymous with that resistance.
In the summer of 1973, Xylouris, along with Tzeni Karezi and Kostas Kazakos performed Iakovos Kambanellis' now legendary To Megalo Mas Tsirko - Our Great Circus - at the Athinaion Theatre.
Songs and the dialogue officially referred to Greece’s recent history but were in fact cleverly disguised, satirising and criticising politicians and political events and expressing sentiments which were forbidden in the very tense political climate of that period.
Emotions and passions ran high - the songs signalled rebellion! As the word about this 'resistance' theatre went round, people flocked in to hear them and they played to a packed theater every single night. The Polytechnic student uprising followed in November of the same year and Xylouris' presence inside the Polytechnic was catalytic, rallying the students and the people who gathered outside the gates with the depth and the power of his distinctive voice ...
His song Pote Tha Kanei Xasteria, was a call to battle, a rally to resistance against the Junta and the 7 year old dictatorship...
After the fall of the Military Junta, Xylouris went on to make major recordings in collaboration with some of Greece's most talented artists, composers and poets
Ithageneiaand Stratis Thalassinos with Yiannis Markopoulos
Dionyse Kalokairi Mas and Syllogi with Stavros Xarhakos
Tropikos tis Parthenou and Akolouthia with Christodoulos Chalaris and
Kapnismeno Tsoukali with Christos Leondis, lyrics by Yiannis Ritsos.
At the same time, he recorded the Antipolemika songs by Linos Kokotos and Dimitris Christodoulou
as well as George Seferis’ poetry set to music by Ilias Andriopoulos.
His music travelled around the world and he gained international acclaim. So much in such a short time, as if he knew it was running out...
Between 1974 and 1979 he performed to packed houses in Athens at 'boites' like Ledra, Archontissa, Aposperida, Kyttaro and Themelio - interpreting many popular Cretan songs, which reflected the tremendous love for his roots, his homeland, Crete - songs such as Filentem, Pramateftis, and Argalio.
His repertoire was very diverse and he was equally at ease singing Rizitika, from the mountains of Crete as he was singing some of the most beautiful byzantine hymns. I Zoi en Tafo, which you can watch below, is one of the most beautiful lamentations of the Greek Orthodox Good Friday service, and showcases the incredible purity of his voice.
Thirty years ago today, on 8th February 1980, at the age of 44, Nikos Xylouris left this world after a battle with cancer... Today we celebrate his life and the legacy he left us. His voice and his legend live on in our hearts and for that we are truly grateful.
His family continue to honour their loved one's life and memory.
His beloved Ourania and his children, Yiorgos and Rinio, run the Xylouri Store in Panepistimiou Street in downtown Athens .
His brother Psarantonis a musician in his own right continues the Xylouri family tradition with his own very personal and unique musical style.
In his latest album and tribute to Manos Hadjidakis, Epohi tis Agapis or Season of Love, our tremendously talented Global Greek performer, Mario Frangoulis, sings one of the composer's most beautiful pieces.
Asteri tou Voria, lyrics by Nikos Gatsos shown below, was composed for Elia Kazan's acclaimed film about the massacre and expulsion of the Greeks and Armenians from Asia Minor "America, America" released in 1963.
Τ' αστέρι του βοριά
θα φέρει ξαστεριά
μα σαν φανεί
μεσ' απ' το πέλαγο πανί
θα γίνω κύμα και φωτιά
να σ' αγκαλιάσω ξενητιά
Και 'συ χαμένη μου
πατρίδα μακρυνή
θα μείνεις χάδι και πληγή
σαν ξημερώσει σ' άλλη γή
Τώρα πετώ
για της ζωής το πανηγύρι
τώρα πετώ
για της χαράς μου την γιορτή
Φεγγάρια μου παλιά
καινούργια μου πουλιά
διώχτε τον ήλιο
και τη μέρα απ' το βουνό
για να με δείτε να περνώ
σαν αστραπή στον ουρανό Δίς
Διώχτε τον ήλιο
και τη μέρα απ' το βουνό
για να με δείτε να περνώ
σαν αστραπή στον ουρανό...
There are several versions on YouTube...we are including two more which we think are beautiful - you can choose the one you prefer!
With Manolis Mitsias and composer Dimitri Papadimitriou
With Elena Moudiri-Hasiotou and Katerina Sissini
Two students from the Aristotelian University Theatre School on a school excursion to the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus sing the song a cappella... a lovely goosebump producing version in a sacred setting where the acoustics are superb!
