The Famous Quartet of Piraeus was formed in 1934 as a café band. It
was the first group featuring the bouzouki and the baglama, and
consisted of frontman Markos Vamvakaris, Giorgos Batis, Anestos
Delias, and Stratos Pagioumtzis. Markos' fiery love for Zingoala, his
first wife, is the main and painful source of inspiration for the
founder of rebetiko music. Starting as a skinner at a slaughterhouse,
Markos becomes a pioneer who paves new paths for traditional Greek
music and entertainment, running constantly afoul of the musical
mores of the era-as well as the police, his wife, and the
dictatorship of Metaxas.
And all the while, war is approaching in the
background like an inevitable chorus...
The Famous Quartet of Piraeus was formed in 1934 as a café band. It
was the first group featuring the bouzouki and the baglama, and
consisted of frontman Markos Vamvakaris, Giorgos Batis, Anestos
Delias, and Stratos Pagioumtzis. Markos' fiery love for Zingoala, his
first wife, is the main and painful source of inspiration for the
founder of rebetiko music. Starting as a skinner at a slaughterhouse,
Markos becomes a pioneer who paves new paths for traditional Greek
music and entertainment, running constantly afoul of the musical
mores of the era-as well as the police, his wife, and the
dictatorship of Metaxas.
And all the while, war is approaching in the
background like an inevitable chorus...