Can rebetiko music inspire a century after it was born?

It appears so. Born in the early 1900s as the music ancestor of bouzouki music, the Rebetiko was the sound of social exclusion, hardship and love in difficult times performed in underground clubs, dens and cabarets. Half a century after it sprang from the social margins, the rebetiko became mainstream music, reaching out not only to the Greek elite but also to an international audience.

The Italian audience in particular has in recent times welcomed rebetiko with enthusiasm, thanks to the contribution of Italian artists such as Vinicio Capossela, Moni Ovadia, but also Evì Evàn, an Italian- Greek band of Italian musicians and Greeks that live permanently in Rome. "All rebetiko songs were composed to touch the soul. Even if one cannot understand the language, he can feel the passion," says Dimitris Kotsiouros, member of Evì Evàn. Their latest album, Rebetiki Diadromi, is a journey that starts in Istanbul and Smyrna, continues to Piraeus and ends up in modern Athens.