Greek music | World Music Central

The album cover shows a black-and-white photograph of a dirt path rising toward a bright, clouded horizon, flanked by dark grass.

Album reviews

Folk Dances, Fresh Ears: Topos Reimagines Bartók

Sokratis Sinopoulos and Yann Kirim – Topos (ECM, 2025) Lyra meets piano on Topos by Greek duo Sokratis Sinopoulos (lyra) and Yann Kirim (piano). This…

The Voodoo Drummer Duo - HELLaS SPELLS cover artwork. A photo of the artists playing cello and drum set.

Album reviews

Dionysian Rites and Rhythmic Spells: The Voodoo Drummer Duo Casts a HELLaS of a Trance

Tyler Bennet July 28, 2025 No Comments African music Afro-Dionysian Chris Koutsogiannis experimental Greek music Stavros Parginos The Voodoo Drummer Duo world fusion world music

The Voodoo Drummer Duo – HELLaS SPELLS (2025) At first glance, HELLaS SPELLS might appear to be an experiment born of whimsy, a cello, a…

Derya Türkan & Sokratis Sinopoulos - Soundplaces cover artwork. a photo of the two artists side by side, looking to the right, holding their musical instrument.

Album reviews

Soundplaces Weaves a Bowed Dialogue Across the Aegean

Tyler Bennet June 23, 2025 No Comments Greek music kamancha lyra Turkish music world fusion world music

Derya Türkan & Sokratis Sinopoulos – Soundplaces (Seyir Muzik, 2020) Soundplaces, the 2020 release by Derya Türkan and Sokratis Sinopoulos, offers a contemplative, transcultural conversation…

The album cover for Lamenta by Xanthoula Dakovanou features a solemn face, pale, expressionless, and framed by dark shadows. The title Lamenta is handwritten in flowing white script across the center. At the top, bold orange and black text credits Dakovanou alongside featured artists Magic Malik and Nikos Filippidis.

Album reviews

Lament of the Times: Xanthoula Dakovanou Weaves Mourning and Modernity in Lamenta

Madison Quinn June 18, 2025 No Comments Greek music world music Xanthoula Dakovanou

Xanthoula Dakovanou – Lamenta (Quart de Lune, 2021) Lamenta, the 2021 release from Greek vocalist and composer Xanthoula Dakovanou, is anchored in the miroloï tradition…

Cyprus - Image by Dimitris Vetsikas from Pixabay

Articles

How Rembetika music unites the people of troubled Cyprus

John Philpott June 10, 2025 No Comments Cypriot music Greek music rembetika rembetiko world music

(headline photo: Image by Dimitris Vetsikas from Pixabay) Writer and musician John Phillpott travels to Cyprus and discovers a music that has played a crucial…

The album cover for Meybahar features an orange background with shadowed silhouettes of musicians playing traditional instruments. The composition is divided into four sections, each highlighting different instrumentalists—one playing a frame drum, another a bowed instrument, a third with a santuri instrument, and a duo with a percussive element.

Album reviews

Meybahar’s Debut: A Daring Fusion of Greek and Hungarian Traditions

Tyler Bennet May 21, 2025 No Comments Greek music Hungarian music santouri santuri world fusion world music

Meybahar – Meybahar (Fonó, 2019) Meybahar‘s self-titled debut album bridges Greek and Hungarian musical traditions through the interplay of the santuri (Greek hammered dulcimer) and…

The album cover for Watersong by Savina Yannatou, Primavera en Salonico, and Lamia Bedioui features a mist-shrouded seascape with choppy waves under a grey sky. The minimalist text, set in clean, modern font, floats above the ocean.

Album reviews

Waters of Change: Savina Yannatou and Lamia Bedioui Dive Deep on Watersong

Angel Romero May 2, 2025 No Comments Corsican music Cypriot music Early Music Egyptian music Greece Greek music Harris Lambrakis Italian music kanun Kostas Vomvolos Kyriakos Gouventas Michalis Siganidis Savina Yannatou Spanish music world fusion world music Yannis Alexandris

Savina Yannatou, Primavera en Salonico, Lamia Bedioui – Watersong (ECM 2773, 2025) On Watersong, her superb fifth release for ECM, remarkable Greek vocalist Savina Yannatou…

The album cover for Thanos Stavridis & Drom – Fygame features a smiling boy in striped clothes and a beret riding a donkey while holding a large retro radio. The title "DROM" appears prominently in bold, red and blue shadowed letters, with "Thanos Stavridis" above it in a handwritten font. The backdrop consists of stylized clouds.

Album reviews

On the Drom Again: Thanos Stavridis & Drom Explore Macedonian Roots with Fygame

JGurski April 25, 2025 No Comments Greek music Macedonian music Thanos Stavridis world music

Thanos Stavridis & Drom – fygame (self-release, 2025) Thanos Stavridis & Drom released their new album Fygame on April 1, 2025. The ensemble, formed in…

The poster for Music Village 2025 features an illustration of a seated figure with long, flowing hair shaped like a circular halo. The figure appears to be meditating or opening a book. The event details are presented above the artwork, listing the workshop periods from August 18 to September 14, 2025, in Agios Lavrentios, Mt. Pelion, Greece.

Events

Greece’s Music Village Reveals 2025 Folk Tradition Workshops

World Music Central News Room March 29, 2025 No Comments Greece Greek music Music Village world fusion world music

Music Village returns for its 19th edition in Agios Lavrentios, Mt. Pelion, Greece, continuing its tradition of artistic collaboration in a setting renowned for its…

Kairos Collective - Ariadne cover artwork. A white flower.

Album reviews

Kairos Collective Delivers Striking Interplay of Eastern Mediterranean Modal Music and Western Elements

Madison Quinn March 8, 2025 No Comments Cretan music Greek music Kairos Collective world fusion world music

Kairos Collective – Ariadne (Kairos Collective, 2024) The Ariadne EP by contemporary modal ensemble Kairos Collective, released in 2024, is a captivating selection of live…