Lovers of Rebetika - Marika Papagika, Roza Eskenazi and Rita Abadzi

Support this podcast by becoming a patron ⁠www.patreon.com/ConKalamaras Undoubtedly three of the most influential trailblazers in the world of Rebetika, Marika Papagika , Roza Eskenazi and Rita Abadzi. 

Marika Papagika distinguished herself from most of her contemporaries by virtue of her sweet soprano voice with its relatively high tessitura, her vocal timbre, somewhat reminiscent of Western classical singers, and her diction. The style and sound of her recordings is further distinguished by the particular accompaniment which graced most of them. 

Roza Eskenazi was a renowned, multilingual Greek singer who had a long and influential career. At seven, Eskenazi moved to Greece with her family and became enamored with the local theater scene over her parents’ objections. She began dancing in taverns and theaters and quickly began singing as well. In the late 1920s, a recording mogul noticed Eskenazi, who launched her career, started touring extensively, and recorded more than five hundred songs in the next ten years. She spent the German occupation running a restaurant in Athens, often risking her life to save others from the Nazis. After a brief resurgence as a recording artist in the 1950s, she retired, only to return to the spotlight in the 1970s, performing on television until her death.

Rita Abatzi (also spelled Abadzi; Greek: Ρίτα Αμπατζή) (1914 – 17 June 1969) was a Greek rebetiko musician who began her career in the first part of the 1930s.

A singer of rebetiko, Smyrneika, and other music, she was a popular performer on gramophone records in the 1930s. During that decade, the only female singer of rebetiko who rivaled her in popularity, and in the number of her recordings, was Roza Eskenazi.[3][4][5]

Abatzi performed with many of the most famous musicians including Kostas Skarvelis, Spyros Peristeris, Dimitrios Semsis, Markos Vamvakaris and Vassilis Tsitsanis. Her career ended after World War II.