Rebetiko & Greek-speaking towns of Apulia, Italy

Rebetiko, plural rebetika, (Greek ρεμπέτικο and ρεμπέτικα respectively) is the name for a type of urban Greek music. Rebetika were the songs of the Greek underworld, sung by the so-called rebetes (ρεμπέτης) who first appeared after the Greek War of Independence of 1821. The basic instruments for the performance of rebetika songs are the bouzouki, baglamas, Pontian Lyra (all three shown in image at left) and whatever similar instruments one might care to include (e.g. the tzouras). Additional instruments used include the tambourine Turkish, accordion, guitar, tonbak, finger-cymbals (comparable to castanets).

The songs, often compared to genres like American blues, are full of grief, passion, romance, and bitterness. They are generally melancholic songs telling of the misfortunes of simple ordinary men. Read more at Wiki.

You can listen to some amazing Rebetika here.


Soleto is one of the nine Greek-speaking towns in the province of Apulia, Italy. Their inhabitants are descendants of the first wave of Greek settlers in Italy and Sicily in the 8th century BC. The dialect they speak is derived from the Doric Greek of the original settlers, but evolved separately from Hellenistic Greek. The people of these towns call themselves Grekos, from the Latin Graecus, and consider themselves Hellenes (Wiki)


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