Rembetika Hipsters

Pegasus Tuesdays

2012-01-26T18:34:00.000-08:00

We are back at Pegasus every second Tuesday for another year, our eleventh! The next performance is this upcoming week, on January 31st. Stay tuned for a celebration of ten years at the restaurant, upcoming in March.

Also in the plans for 2012 are return visits to Ontario and BC, and possibly Manitoba. There is also an outside chance some of us will travel to Greece in October.

2011-12-18T11:40:00.000-08:00

Collectors Items: Our first two CDs

2011-11-07T17:31:00.000-08:00

A couple of years ago, we ran out of copies of our first two CDs, Architects of Narghile (2001) and Dinner in Polidroso (2004). Rather than reprint them in these download-happy times where it is now much harder to sell CDs, we decided to let them go out of print and concentrate on marketing our latest release, Kafeneion. But recently a very few shrink-wrapped, untouched copies surfaced. If you are interested in acquiring them, send us an email at thehipsters@rembetika.com. These won't last, so act quickly. Makes a fabulous Christmas gift, I'm sure!

Also! Jonathan Lewis has compiled a selection of tracks from these two CDs on a best-of CDR. And he remastered them so they sound better than ever. And he added an out-take from Kafeneion, our version of an old rebetiko song, Arrostisa Manoula Mou, unavailable anywhere else.

Any of these items are $20 Canadian.

"Michaela Tryptiko" at Littlefest

2011-10-14T15:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a nice video from our performance this summer at Littlefest, a great off-the-grid music festival near Slocan BC in the heart of the Kootenays. The song is Jonathan D. Lewis's three-part epic "Michaela Tryptiko". Onstage with us is Ben Johnson, our former percussionist who moved to the Kootenays a few years ago. The song starts around 1:40...

Calgary Herald Article

2011-06-20T09:58:00.000-07:00

A nice piece courtesy of Mike Bell in the June 18, 2011 Calgary Herald.

Rembetika Hipsters revive spirited take on traditional Greek music

BY MIKE BELL, CALGARY HERALD JUNE 17, 2011

Calgary band the Rembetika Hipsters have released a new album, Kafeneion. It’s their first in six years.

It is what every rock band dreams of: a sponsorship deal with a booze company.

Jagermeister, Jack Daniels, Heineken or even Molson Canadian or Pilsner are usually at the top of the list.
But what kind of booze sponsorship does a rembetika band hope to land? Apparently Metaxa, the Greek brandy and wine spirit.
So mission accomplished and dream come true for local vets Rembetika Hipsters, who recently signed a promotional and sponsorship deal with the liquor that they almost single-handedly kept in business during the band’s regular Wednesday night residency at former 14th Street eatery Pegasus.

“Usually what would happen is people would say they’d want to reward the band,” says violinist Jonathan Lewis. “And they would say to the server, ‘Get the band a round of ouzo.’ And the server would always say, ‘Actually, get them Metaxa.’
“So it’s good.”

And, again, it’s fitting, especially considering that after a year layoff, the Hipsters have just started up the residency again in Pegasus’s new location in Altadore (4824 16th St. S.W.). Every second Tuesday, the mainstays of the Calgary folk and world music scene will sit, eat, drink and play their traditional and untraditional rembetika material, in a whole different setting.
“It all felt very tentative,” says Lewis of the first night back two weeks ago. “And then we started playing, had a glass of retsina, settled in, and then it felt good. I was excited to be there and I know the other guys were, too.”

For those patrons who’ve lost track of the band during the past year, they’ll be rewarded the next time they see them — be it at Pegasus, or tonight at Mikey’s Juke Joint — with some new material from the Rembetika Hipsters’ latest release Kafeneion, which features 13 originals, covers and reworkings of past compositions.

The album, their first disc in six years, features the latest incarnation of the band once more offering its exotically intoxicating take on the rembetika sound — a traditional urban Greek style, often referred to as that country’s blues. They also take it further this time, delving into other musical leanings of the region and exploring them with their western sensibilities, while still staying true to the spirit they wanted to capture when the Hipsters were formed in the mid-’90s by friends Nick Diochnos and Allen Baekeland.

“We kind of do our own thing with it, too,” says Lewis of their rembetika approach. “I would never call it purist by any stretch, but we try to honour the esthetic of it.”
For Lewis, who also produced the album, the recording allowed him to show how much he’s learned and grown over his seven years with the band, which recruited him after the departure of a longtime member with a high-profile Jack Singer date looming. The musician admits adapting to the foreign style was made a little easier because of his role in local faves The Plaid Tongued Devils, whose sound, itself, is a worldly blend of folk, klezmer, ska and pop. But he also says getting into the Hipsters swing provided its own inherent learning curve, steeped in history as it is.

“It’s something different for me to study, in terms of from an intellectual sense. There’s always lots of challenges with the Devils, too, but it’s a different challenge tackling a music that’s 100-plus years old,” he says.
“The form that we play is based in the last hundred but it has its roots way further back than that.”
Perhaps that’s why, since teaming up with the band, Lewis has immersed himself in the music to the extent that he’s travelled to Greece five times, including to train with a noted violin instructor fluent in particular folk style he’d found himself drawn to, and one which he incorporated into Kafeneion and his pair of original compositions.

And as an added bonus, Lewis and his Hipster cohorts also toured Greece, so he could see first-hand the native reaction to what they had lovingly appropriated from the Mediterranean nation.
“I found in Greece people are remarkably welcoming of it. And usually pretty shocked that anybody other than a Greek is interested in this music.
“Nick, for example, recently connected with the son of a famous composer of rembetika music, Vassilis Tsitsanis,” he says of the late musician, who was a huge celebrity in Greece before his death.
“He was so excited about this band on the other side of the world playing his father’s music that he sent Nick a giant package . . . full of CDs and books and everything about his dad. He was so excited.

“Most people see it that we intend well and we respect it,” he continues.
“We don’t tend to take a whole lot of liberties when we’re playing somebody else’s music. The liberties we take are much more when we play our own.”

Preview
Rembetika Hipsters perform tonight at Mikey’s Juke Joint and every second Tuesday at Pegasus, including this week.

mbell@calgaryherald.com Follow on Twitter@mrbell_23
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Illyas Pagonis Art Exhibition Opening

2011-05-14T10:42:00.000-07:00

Our great friend Illyas Pagonis, who painted the portrait of the band that adorns the cover of our new CD Kafeneion, has a new exhibition of abstract works starting this week at Virginia Christopher Gallery in Calgary. Some of the Rembetika Hipsters will be at the opening on Thursday May 19 5:30 to 8 PM playing songs for the assembled art-lovers.

Thanks for playing Kafeneion!

2011-03-24T21:03:00.000-07:00

This means you, CJSW, CKUA, CBC, CILU, CIUT, CJSR, CKXU and so many others! Ευχαριστω!

Win a Copy of the new CD at Swerve magazine

2011-02-12T07:51:00.000-08:00

Sweve is giving away a copy of Kafeneion. Contest closes February 18. Enter here .

2011-01-14T21:19:00.000-08:00

We've played some great shows recently. The photo (taken by our friend Andrew) is from our Christmas party at Mikey's Juke Joint in Calgary, and features Lincoln Frey as "the Bishop". Packed house, three sets of mayhem, and a brace of Xmas songs - "Jingle Bells" as a kalamatiano, "Rudolph the Red Nosed Rebetis" as a zeimbekiko, and the ever-popular "God Rest Ye Merry, Trainwreck".

New Years Eve was spent playing the party at Kefi, a newish Greek restaurant on MacLeod Trail in Calgary - thanks to Gus and Tony at Kefi. Try the kalamari.

We opened up for Bela Fleck and the Flecktones at the Jack Singer. A humbling experience. Those guys can play pretty good.

And many thanks to all of you who came out for the CD release party on a cold night at the end of November. And to our special guests Zoe Theodorou and Jon May recreating their fine contributions to "Kafeneion".

Jonathan Lewis travels to Greece to study with an Epirotian master

2010-12-04T08:49:00.000-08:00

Rembetika Hipsters Jonathan Lewis has a keen interest in the music of the mountainous Greek region of Epirus. This music, known as Epirotika, is dominated by clarinet and violin and often features polyphonic vocal melodies.
Thanks to a grant from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Jonathan travelled to Kastoria, Greece this September to study Epirotian violin with Aourel Kyrio. You can hear Aurel playing here . To hear some of Jonathan's explorations of Epirotika, go here.

Video of "Michaela Tripticho"

2010-11-29T21:25:00.000-08:00

Rembetika Hipsters from Big Sky Sessions on Vimeo.

This is a videi shoot we did back in March for Big Sky Sessions. Shot on the observation deck of the Calgary Tower - the overhanging glass floor. One take only. Don't look down....

Palookaville

2010-11-27T13:49:00.000-08:00

I'm a big fan of the self-styled underground cartoonist Seth of Drawn & Quarterly Publications, for his ongoing comic Palookaville, for the amazing Bannock, Beans and Black Tea memoir, for his work designing the ongoing Complete Peanuts for Fantagraphics.

So I was surprised and thrilled to find that the Rembetika Hipsters make an appearance in Palookaville #20. In a story called "Calgary Festival", he recounts an existential crisis he experienced while booked to read at the 2001 Wordfest festival. While in Calgary, he attends our CD release party for our first album Architects of Narghile at the late lamented Night Gallery Cabaret.

"the band comes on, they are actually quite good". Love it! - Allen

2010-11-08T16:40:00.000-08:00

Jonathan found this, a great BBC documentary on Epirotian music: here

MySpace

2009-11-03T13:46:00.000-08:00

New MySpace Page : http://www.myspace.com/rembetikahipsters - includes rough mixes of some new recordings.

Illyas Pagonis

2008-11-11T07:32:00.000-08:00

If you're at all a regular at Pegasus Wednesdays over the past 5 years or so, you've probably seen a wild-haired Greek sitting in with us from time to time playing violin. Illyas Pagonis isn't mentioned anywhere on this website yet so I thought I'd correct the oversight. He's one of the Hipsters' best friends and patrons, and we're hoping he'll do the cover art for our next album - you see, Illyas is a pretty phenomenal painter and sculptor. Among his many sculptural projects was the restoration of Calgary's Centre Street Bridge lions. In 1999 the Centre Street Bridge received a major overhaul. Prominent on the bridge were sculpted lions sitting on top of kiosks on the four corners of the bridge. Having been built in 1916, the lions had badly deteriorated. It was decided that the original lions would have to be replaced with exact replicas. Illyas Pagonis did the work. He also designed some of the prehistoric park at the Calgary Zoo. As a visual artist, Illyas' depictions of the Canadian west are represented locally by the Virginia Christopher gallery. He and his wife Margo just celebrated 30 years of marriage. Yiasou Illya!

For Fans of Jonathan Lewis's Violin Playing

2008-09-09T20:59:00.000-07:00

Jonathan Lewis's YouTube channel

Nice Review from the Belleville, ON Intelligencer

2008-08-30T07:23:00.000-07:00

Audience on its feet for Hipsters

Westben performance

Posted By JACK EVANS, SPECIAL TO THE INTELLIGENCER

Posted 24 days ago

The best way to end an exciting festival season is with a good party. That seemed to be the deal at Westben Sunday as a Greek folk group from Calgary called the Rembetika Hipsters got the audience clapping and yes, even dancing in the aisles.

The audience didn't seem to care that the music was predominantly eastern Mediterranean, with strange rhythms and often soulful melodies, even strange instruments like a baglana, a miniature version of a bouzouki, similar to a balalaika or a mandolin with a long neck.

The very name of the group clued those in the know into the type of music to be expected. Many people in the audience were Greek, of Greek descent or wished they were.

Rembetika originated in the wake of an early 20th century conflict between Turkey and Greece when large numbers of Greeks formerly residing in Turkey were expelled, forcing them to live in shack towns or slums around major Greek cities. They also brought Turkish culture and music with them, melding it into a distinct style of Greek music called rembetika, born out of poverty, disenfranchisement, oppression and perhaps even hashish, band leader Nick Diochnos explained. He compared it to the American blues, and said that it was outlawed in the mid 1930s and forced underground.

While many of the tunes were soulful, most of the rhythms, while disjointed by western standards, often in a strange nine-beat time, remained infectious, with the audience willingly swaying and clapping.

The eastern Mediterranean flavour also inspired a dancer named Zarqaa from the Meksha Belly Dance Studio in Colborne, to get up and perform, complete with tingling discs wrapped around her middle. She also led several in the audience to move with the music for the final number.

Retired Belleville businessman Bill Yeotes was front and centre in the audience, enjoying his first visit to the Westben barn auditorium and, being Greek himself, especially the music.

Typical of the Greek folklore included in the program was a song called "Tomas's Place," in which a wild party at a remote tavern attracts the interest of the angels in heaven and the demons from hell to join the party and share hands and dance with the people. Orchestra drummer Ben Johnson, spelled off for one number, moved to the back of the stage and demonstrated a Greek dance, "bent over like a hawk eyeing its prey," he explained. That inspired another person of Greek origin from the audience to get up and do a similar dance later on.

One Yellow Rabbit Silver Jubilee

2008-06-08T21:38:00.000-07:00

The Rembetika Hipsters are proud to be part of a gala event celebrating 25 years of Calgary's One Yellow Rabbit theatre company.
For this performance, we will be joined by three excellent musicians - percussionist Brent Van Dusen and cellist Morag Northey of Red Venus Blue Tango and bassist Joni Brent from the Lovebullies, as well as members of the Greek dance troupe Dionysus.

One Yellow Rabbit Silver Jubilee
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
Show at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $25 and available at Ticketmaster (299-8888) or ticketmaster.ca, or oyr.org
In addition to The Rembetika Hipsters other featured performers include Bruce McCulloch of Kids in the Hall, members of Rheostatics, Karen Hines, Daniel MacIvor, and many more

Oso Varoun tops 10,000 views on YouTube

2008-03-30T12:24:00.000-07:00

Without a doubt our most popular recording thus far, "Oso Varoun ta Sidera" (As Heavy as Iron) - recorded live at Calgary's Engineered Air theatre on December 17, 2006 - has just topped 10,000 views on YouTube. The piece features violin solos by Brigitte Dajczer and vocals by Allen Baekeland, both of which seem to pull the heart strings of many, many people.

We'd like to thank everyone who viewed the video, especially those who can't get enough and watch it again and again!

We have also made an mp3 of the live recording freely available on our audio page (scroll down to the bottom), so those who love this piece can put it on their music player on heavy rotation (pun fully intended).

Pegasus 25th Anniversary

2008-02-15T21:15:00.000-08:00

Pegasus, where we have performed on Wednesday nights for the past six years, is celebrating its 25th anniversary on March 2. Of course, we'll be part of the fun.

PEGASUS 25TH ANNIVERSARY - MARCH 2, 2008

Sunday, March 2nd, PARTY!!!

Tickets are $50 with all proceeds going to
Woods Home Exit Outreach Program
16th Avenue & Centre Street NE

Appetizers, Wine, Beer & Live Music
Free Gift (while quantities last)

RESERVE SOON!!! 229-1231
There are a limited number of
Tickets & Gifts available

From Wood's Homes:

"Wood’s Homes’ EXIT Youth Shelter is a refuge for at-risk and homeless youth that provides food, safety, a warm bed and counselling, to offer understanding and guidance. It is here that young people are able to reconnect with society by focusing on their strengths, relationships and opportunities. Wood’s Homes, which has been helping children and families since 1914, is most pleased to count Pegasus Restaurant as one of its community supporters and is thrilled to be able to take advantage of this generous opportunity. At Wood’s Homes: We Never Say No, Never Give Up, and Never Turn Anyone Away."

For the Month of March we will offer a "Pegasus Anniversary Dinner" for $25.00 per person. This will include appetizers, salad, main course and a dessert.

Jonathan on Youtube

2007-12-07T17:19:00.000-08:00

BC Tour Report

2007-08-30T12:53:00.000-07:00

Jonathan D. Lewis writes:

Well... or should I say Wells?

The Cave of Markos V 2007 Tour of Interior BC has come to a close. More Greek food consumed in 5 days than most people would eat in an entire year!

Lorenzo's Cafe, Ashton Creek: Lots of dancing women (and a few lucky guys). A great gig to get us warmed up.

Theos, Penticton: A 300-seat, yet still intimate, restaurant with a most gracious host, Nikos Theodosakis and family. Fantastic food, great company, and free-flowing Metaxa.

On the following morning, struggling through the haze of the previous evening's Metaxa, we were back at the restaurant. In the beautiful atrium, Nikos, also a director/filmmaker, shot a video for us. Watch for it in the upcoming months. I, for one, can hardly wait to see it! Another beautiful lunchtime meal, and then we were back on the road again.

Minos Restaurant, Kamloops: Realizing that in the very tight quarters of this cozy restaurant amplification wasn't going to work, we went acoustic. As we roamed through the restaurant, George, the owner, followed us, dancing, singing along, and ensuring a raucously fun time for all. Again, we were more than amply fed.

Sunset Theatre, Wells: Last, and certainly not least, we performed in this beautiful, historic theatre which is being lovingly restored by Karen and Dave Jeffery. Gorgeous acoustics, requiring only just a slight touch of amplification made this a very magical night. Eventually, we left the stage, speakers, and mics, and joined our audience. There was some great dancing... and I will confess to having danced my first zembekiko.

August Update

2007-08-19T17:12:00.000-07:00

The Hipsters are taking a break from Pegasus August 15-29. We'll be back on September 5.

There are only five(!) copies of our first CD, Architects of Narghile, left for sale, in the world. Contact us if you want to buy one. We won't be reprinting it in yer standard CD format again, so act fast.

We'll be doing a short interior BC tour, though: Lorenzo's in Enderby, BC August 23. Theo's restaurant in Penticton, BC August 24. Minos restaurant in Kamloops, BC August 25.
The Bear's Paw Cafe and Sunset Theatre in Wells, BC August 26.

I haven't written anything about the Calgary Folk Festival yet - our concert was a litle disappointing; sabotaged by the stage crew we only got to play 30 minutes out of our scheduled 45. But the workshops, Vre Manga! Here's a nice review by an audience member of Brave New World, which was an enormous, sprawling jam with the Tuvan throat singers Chirgilchin and the Afghani-Canadian qawwali band Mushfiq Ensemble - http://www.calgaryfolkfest.com/users/news_view.asp?FolderID=2860&NewsID=130. The other show was with our good friend Geoff Berner and Montreal's Lubo Alexandrov (whose accordionist, Emil, knew all our songs and became a fast friend). Here's a note from someone who saw that show: http://nix-this.livejournal.com/49882.html . Many thanks to Kerry for inviting us back to this wonderful, utopic festival.

Our Calgary Folk Festival schedule

2007-07-21T10:42:00.000-07:00

For those of you attending next weekend's Calgary Folk Music Festival, here's where you can catch the Rembetika Hipsters:

Sat 10:30 – 11:35 am Field Law stage 3 ‘Love, Lust, Liquor and Knives”
aka "The Balkan Band workshop". We host this workshop, with our pal, Vancouver's Geoff Berner and Montreal's Lubo Alexandrov and Kaba Horo. Another alternate title: One Degree of Brigitte Dajczer.

Sat 2:50 – 3:50 pm Broken City Stage 6 “Brave Old World”
A world music session also featuring Mushfiq Ensemble (Afghanistan) and Chirgilchin (Tuvan throat singers).
This should be awesome.

Sun 11:20 am – noon Sunterra Stage 5 Our concert.

See you there!

Some views from the North Country Fair

2007-06-27T16:58:00.000-07:00

The weekend of June 22-24 saw us playing the North Country Fair. This year's fair seemed a bit smaller than in the past, albeit it was at a new location in Driftpile, Alberta. It was a fairly wet weekend but our spirits were not dampened one bit. Allen Baekeland put on an impressive yodelin' and pluckin' performance in his workshop "Twist of the knife".

The band played two Tribal Fusion belly-dance workshops; one at noon in the pouring rain, featuring "monsoon style" costumes such as rubber hip-waders, and a much sunnier one later in the day, hosted by Ben with guests Paul and Dave from Edmonton. Special thanks to Nancy, Paul and Dave from Vibe Tribe http://www.vibe-tribe.ca/

We had a great crowd at our mainstage performance, lots of dancing including a gorgeous sword dance by Nancy. One lucky little girl went home with free copies of both our CDs, just for being at the right place at the right time ;-).

Winnipeg Show Ticket Info

2007-06-14T21:44:00.000-07:00

For the July 17 concert at the West End Cultural Centre:

The tickets are available now through Ticketmaster and the WECC box office.
$12 Advance $15 Door
Available at Ticketmaster and the WECC
www.ticketmaster.ca
http://www.ticketmaster.ca/venue/139414/ (is a direct link to our venue page)
our box office # is 204.783.6918

Here's what they say in the WECC newsletter:

What the heck is a Rembetika Hipster?

Rembetika was the music of the underworld in Greece after the turn of the century. When over 1.5 million refugees were relocated to Greece from Asia Minor in 1921, a rich and vibrant musical tradition grew out of the darkened corners of Athens’ slums, cafes, and hashish dens. Once despised by the upper classes and suppressed by the government, Rembetika was the music of outcasts: the blues of Greece. Like so many underground musical traditions, Rembetika is now embraced around the world and can be heard in its various incarnations, just about anywhere.

Enter the Rembetika Hipsters, a nationally-acclaimed Greek music group based in Calgary. Since 1996, their repertoire has included authentic Greek Rembetika songs, original Canadian compositions in Greek, Balkan & Middle-Eastern styles, contemporary belly-dance instrumentals and jazz-influenced bouzouki pop.

Since the Hipsters were going to be making a brief stop in Winnipeg, we thought "what better way to spend a Tuesday evening than with some amazing world music?" They play the West End on Tuesday July 17, tickets are $12 in advance at Ticketmaster and the WECC.

BBC documentary on Rembetika

2007-05-31T08:55:00.000-07:00

A very informative hour-long feature on rembetika music, narrated by Anthony Quinn, has been posted on YouTube in 10 parts.
Here are the links to each part:

Part 1 (4:34)
Part 2 (4:40)
Part 3 (6:12)
Part 4 (3:51)
Part 5 (4:15)
Part 6 (3:17)
Part 7 (5:20)
Part 8 (4:48)
Part 9 (5:17)
Part 10 (5:10)

New Rembetika Hipsters Facebook page

2007-05-28T21:13:00.000-07:00

For those who haven't heard, the latest rage on the 'net is Facebook, and although we managed to resist MySpace, this one is actually pretty neat. So go ahead, check out our group on Facebook. You'll have to sign in, but it'll be worth it 'coz you'll end up finding people you haven't seen in years!

Ben, Malcolm and Jonathan perform in "Raices"

2007-04-12T21:08:00.000-07:00

Annette Morcos presents:
"RAICES" - A Journey Through the Roots of Flamenco

Friday, May 4, 2007 at 8:00 pm
Orpheus Theatre, SAIT campus
$27 in advance / $35 at the door
For information: 403-217-1954

"Raíces" is a musical and dance journey that will explore the roots of Flamenco. Combining critically acclaimed musicians from the Plaid Tongued Devils and Rembetika Hipsters as well as award-winning artists in bellydance and Flamenco, Raíces is an explosion of ancient cultures presented through an entire selection of unique live music, singing and performance. The concert will portray the enrichment of Flamenco through the interplay of gypsy and Indian influences, while highlighting the elegance of Moorish and Spanish cultures.

Dafne Canales Lees – BELLYDANCER - Dafne is the director of Arabia Adorned Bellydance Academy, a Middle Eastern dance school and company that operates in Calgary. She spent her youth in Libya and has great respect for and understanding of the Middle Eastern dance style.

Ben Johnson – MUSICIAN – Ben is an original Rembetika Hipster. The Hipsters have been playing Greek and Oriental music in Calgary and across Canada for 10 years. A versatile instrumentalist, Ben will be performing on several lutes and drums.

Jonathan Lewis – VIOLINIST – Jonathan is a violinist and composer with Calgary's well-loved Plaid Tongued Devils. In addition, he performs with the Rembetika Hipsters and has worked in dozens of theatrical productions and on many recordings by Calgary musicians.

Malcolm Lim – DUMBEK PERCUSSIONIST- Malcolm is a percussionist and co-founder of the Calgary Samba School. He has been involved with several World Music bands including the Rembetika Hipsters and worked with several western Canadian symphonies. He has studied Middle Eastern percussion extensively, and is currently writing a book on the subject

David Matyas - FLAMENCO GUITARIST –David is a guitarist who has been actively involved in the Flamenco scene for the last three years. He has performed extensively with Salero Caló Flamenco Group, Calgary's premier Flamenco group, over the last three years. The group has performed at several sold-out shows at the Beat Niq Jazz Bar.

Annette Morcos – SINGER & FLAMENCO DANCER – Annette is a Flamenco dancer and singer and the producer of 'Raíces.' She is the director of Salero Caló Flamenco group and Fineza Flamenca Dance School. As well as having skills as a dancer, Annette is a singer of both Flamenco and Arabic music. She has produced several major performances since 2003, the last of which took place in Calgary on March 2006 when international artists were invited to perform. She recently embarked on a three-city tour in Alberta with her group.

Maria Regnier - FLAMENCO DANCER – Maria has been a member of Salero Caló for two years. Before moving to Calgary, Maria was involved in the Saskatoon Flamenco scene and prior to that she danced with a Ukrainian dance troupe. Fineza Flamenca Dance School dancers will also be performing.

KalaBhavan of Calgary – INDIAN DANCER -- is directed by Roma Thakore who holds a Bachelor of Dance from the University of Bombay. Roma has been teaching Bhartnatyam dance in Calgary for 25 years. Her students have won several dance competitions and have performed for several cultural organizations.

Raíces is a one-evening engagement at the Orpheus Theatre, SAIT campus, 1301 – 16 Ave NW.
Tickets: $27 in advance / $35 at the door. Tickets and info: (403) 217-1954, Pumphouse box office (403) 263-0079.

Media contact: Marcela Antoniou
flamencocalgary@gmail.com
403-708-3594

A Few Upcoming Shows

2007-03-11T21:01:00.000-07:00

Some places we'll be travelling this summer:

North Country Fair in Joussard, Alberta June 22 thru 24 - been wanting to play this long-running festival for some time. Check out the 2007 lineup at http://lslncca.ca/current/Lineup07.htm

The West End Cultural Centre in Winnipeg, MB on July 17. Finally, a Winnipeg show! Stay tuned for news of Saskatoon and Regina dates as well. http://www.wecc.ca/

The Calgary Folk Festival July 26-29. The lineup this year is going to be stellar. http://www.calgaryfolkfest.com/users/folder.asp

The new Rembetika Hipsters Blog

2007-02-13T19:49:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the new Rembetika Hipsters blog.
We hope you like it!

the old (2005/2006) blog is here:
http://rembetika.pitas.com/