Written and coordinated by Dimosthenis Manasis, narrated in both Greek and English and presented live, by the 11 piece rembetiko band from the Oakleigh Greek Orthodox College, The Rembetiko Story aims to take the audience on a journey through the birth, development and glory of Greek urban blues music.
The musical group came together when Manasis noticed that his dance students at the college had an avid interest in playing music. Always one to encourage Greek culture in the younger generation, he made sure that each student followed their chosen musical style and from it came a desire to explore the melodies and rhythms associated with rembetika music.
Manasis already had a clear understanding of the origins and historical nature of rembetika music. He outlined some basic historical and political events, surrounding the era of rembetika and the band made it their mission not only to learn and play the music, but to devise a way to tell its story.
“There is so much interest in rembetika now, and the material and content and documentation is available as it’s relatively modern,” Manasis told Neos Kosmos.
“And it’s popular because the music is all acoustic. Rembetika, at the time they were around, were very negative, a way the urban culture lived. It was extreme poverty, it wasn’t something that was promoted. And it’s just unfortunate that the negative connotations and themes associated with rembetika like the use of drugs, or abuse of alcohol hinder the presentation and the enthusiasms to teach this because you have to touch these topics in order to present it accurately.
“So our biggest hurdle was how to do a concert, how to present this music. To promote playing rembetika for no reason at a Greek Orthodox College is a bit taboo so we knew there had to be a storyline, and we decided to make it educational. And the students themselves decided to make it a narrative so students can learn from the concert.”
Along with a cast of actors, dancers and musicians, the concert will present close to 30 songs from bilingual Greek / Turkish melodies, to the famous Zembekiko Tis Evdokias, some of which were written and played throughout the darkest days of Greece’s history. The show outlines the origins, definition, identity, themes and connotations, historical background, musical styles, the three periods of rembetika – including the famed Golden Era – famous musicians and singers, substance abuse, the onset of censorship, the demise, influences and further development into laika style music and its revival.
The show is also ideal for any students studying Units 3 & 4 Modern Greek, who may wish to focus the detailed study component of their oral examination on The Rembetiko Story.
“The students have appreciated the support they have been given. We’ve been given an opportunity as a school to have a band and we’ve got to uphold the integrity of the Greek Orthodox college; we need to keep in mind the themes and the content we are representing the school with,” Manasis said.
With that, he said the concert will be presented with respect to the Greek Orthodox Faith, and the fasting period leading up to the “Dormition of the All Holy Virgin” (August 15th), it was the decision and preference of the band members to host the concert as a theatre-style, informative type seminar, rather than a glendi.
The Rembetiko Story is on Saturday 13 August at the College Assembly and Conference Centre, 77 Willesden Road, Oakleigh. Tickets are $10 per person.