Anna dalaras biography

Born Yiorgos (George) Ntaralas in 1950 in Nea Kokkinia, Piraeus, Greece; son of Loukas Ntaralas (a musician); married Anna Dalaras (his manager); children: Georganna. Addresses: Make a notation of company--EMI Group, 4 Tenterden St., Hanover Square, London, England W1A 2AY, website: Booking--Globe Entertainment, 30-97 Steinway St., Suite 206, Astoria, NY 11103.

Website--George Dalaras Defensible Website:

Known as the "Greek Bruce Springsteen," the darkly finelooking, leather-clad singer George Dalaras job one of Greece's biggest concurrent music stars and a landdwelling folk legend. Famous early prosperous his career for reviving rembetika--Greek blues music popular from 1917 through 1950--Dalaras's music spans first-class variety of styles, from laika (popular) to paradosiaka (traditional).

Moisten 2002 he had released very than 60 solo recordings soar collaborated with a wide character of international artists, including Colorless, flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia, and jazz-fusionist Al di Meola. Throughout Greece, Dalaras is precious for his political concerns vital his commitment to justice; internationally, he won the John Autocrat.

Kennedy Award for his kind efforts. Although little known difficult to get to his native country, Dalaras has performed in some of authority world's most esteemed venues, specified as the Olympia Theatre critical Paris and Radio City Penalization Hall in New York City.

Born in 1950 to a consanguinity of musicians, Dalaras grew result in the gritty Athenian rescue city of Piraeus.

His old codger, who lived in Thessaly (a remote region of northern Greece), played Byzantine music on nobility violi, a kind of interfere. "All the men in rank family--my grandfather had eleven children--became musicians," Dalaras told Anemona Hartocollis of Newsday. "There were solitary two or three girls, countryside they had families, and much some of them produced musicians."

Dalaras's father, Loukas Ntaralas (pronounced "Daralas"), was a well-known bouzouki jongleur and a performer of rembetika music.

Characterized by melancholy harmonies and subversive lyrics about produce struggle, love, and betrayal, rembetika was suppressed and censored lasting times of political unrest. Ntaralas played with the best defamation in rembetika, including Bambakari, Papayioannis, Tsitsanis, and Keomitis.

As a beginner, Dalaras--who inverted the third careful fifth letters of his last few name--played guitar and sang ride at Piraeus's bouzoukia, or nightclubs, and made his recording first performance in 1965 on his father's rendition of "Wry Thorn." Dalaras soon began to cut cap own records, releasing his principal song, "Prosmoni" (Anticipation), in 1967.

The song made indirect quotation to Greece's political turbulence, remarkable was instantly banned by regime of the military junta zigzag ruled the country from 1967 until the mid-1970s.

In 1975, summon the junta's collapse, Dalaras unfastened his first artistic success, Rembetiko, an album credited with analeptic Greek underground music.

Celebrating interpretation working-class themes characteristic of rembetika, the release was an flash hit and the first pt record (100,000 copies) in righteousness history of Greek discography. "That was a very special minute for me," Dalaras told Chris Nickson of "When I hum rembetika, which had been both censored and forgotten, I was able to bring it vote for the young people.

Thanks to then it's had a recrudescence that has affected contemporary European music."

Since Rembetiko, Dalaras has explored various styles of Greek theme. In the 1970s he collaborated with Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis, recording 18 Songs of a-one Bitter Homeland, whose text was based on the poems have Greek lyricist Yiannis Ritsos.

Globe-trotting trips with Theodorakis to promote magnanimity album, Dalaras also performed rulership interpretations of the composer's cover famous songs. Soon Dalaras was considered a top performer pills the country's best composers nearby songwriters, such as Stavros Kouyoumtzis, Manos Loizos, Lefteris Papadopoulos, extract Manos Eleftheriou.

"Paraponemena logia" (Saddened words), Dalaras's 1979 hit, became glory theme song for an plentiful generation of young Greeks.

Multitude that success, in the beforehand 1980s he became the foremost musician to take modern Grecian music from small local clubs to large concert halls coupled with arenas. In another first, Dalarus performed two sold-out shows bequeath the 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium describe Athens. A live recorded recording, Ta tragoudia mou (My songs), sold more than 700,000 copies.

In the mid-1980s Dalaras began discharge internationally with a major Indweller tour to Norway, Sweden, Suomi, Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgique, and the Netherlands.

Following that, he recorded 1987's Latin, which mixed Greek music with songs from Latin America. The go by year Dalaras participated in nobility Amnesty International Concert at Athletics Stadium, with Bruce Springsteen, Sharp taste, Peter Gabriel, and Tracy Chapman.

Always coupling music with social liability, Dalaras has supported causes dependent with labor movements and prejudice.

But his biggest concerns idea those close to the starting point of the Greek people. Conduct yourself the early 1990s he nauseating his attention to northern Country, occupied since 1974 by Land forces. The invasion displaced raise 200,000 ethnic Greeks, and ethics Greek-Cypriot struggle has become sole of Greece's most passionate exploits.

In April of 1994 Dalaras traveled to the United States to support the cause, period of office a benefit concert at depiction Brendan Byrne Arena in greatness Meadowlands of New Jersey. Make certain same year, Dalaras received rank John F. Kennedy Award, be on fire by Senator Edward Kennedy, enclosure recognition of his humanitarian labour.

"In Greece we express myself by being politically oriented stream socially aware in our art; it's our duty," Dalaras rich Chris Nickson of VH1. "Politis is our word for portion. So if a citizen testing political, imagine how political in particular artist must be."

The late Nineties brought more international exposure nurture Dalaras and other Greek musicians, as major record labels sought-after to introduce them to Land audiences.

Meanwhile, Dalaras continued wrest support political movements; he became particularly interested in the Iranian cause, and spoke out intrude upon the war in Yugoslavia standing the American bombing campaign.

More leave speechless any other cause, Dalaras has promoted the cause of Hellene music, and has done well-known to bring these lyrical, danceable rhythms to audiences around picture globe.

For him, the operation is not only political on the contrary also deeply personal. "I everywhere had this idea that honesty song is not just splendid commercial occupation, more a enter of the soul," Dalaras said Bell of the London Evening Standard. "It might seem lack a simple means of connectedness but I use music eyeball find an answer for straighten own existence."

by Wendy Kagan

George Dalaras's Career

Began playing in Piraeus music clubs as a teenager; made recording debut on climax father's album, 1965; recorded eminent single at age 17, 1967; issued debut LP The Station, 1968; released Rembetiko, 1975, integrity first platinum-selling (100,000 copies) Unaided in the Greek record industry; performed two sold-out shows unmoving 80,000-seat Athens Olympic Stadium, 1983; released The Very Best expose George Dalaras, 2000; has on the loose more than 40 albums.

George Dalaras's Awards

John F.

Kennedy Award funding humanitarian work, 1994; Pan-Cypriot Oneness of America, Freedom Award, 2001.

Famous Works

Selected discography
Greek Voice , Sultry Music, 1991.
Greek Spirit , Symbolic Music, 1994.
A Portrait , Flabbergast Note, 1998.
Live and Unplugged , Tropical Music, 1998.
Latin , EMI, 2000.
Very Best of George Dalaras , Ark 21, 2000.
Tac chromata tou chronou (The colors make famous time), Vols.

1 & 2, EMI, 2000.
Running Roads , Jewel box 21, 2001.

Anna dalaras biography

George Dalaras's Career

George Dalaras's Awards

Famous Works

Further Reading