Grigoris Asikis ( el, Γρηγόρης Ασίκης) (1890,

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, Constantinople Vilayet – 7 October 1966,

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

) was a Greek singer and songwriter of urban Greek music, '' Rembetiko.'' He wrote lyrics for most of the songs he recorded and played the outi (the Greek oud).

Personal life

Asikis was the third child of Victor Asikis of Lesbos and Marianthi from the Kontoskali district of

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

. Ever since he was a child, he thought he had an exceptional voice and bought an outi at the age of 15. He sang and played the outi for family and friends, but did not begin his professional music career until after the

Asia Minor Disaster Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. In 1922, after the

, Asikis and his wife, Eirene Sotiriadou, and two children, Thanasis and Victor, moved to

, Greece. They moved to the Vyronas section of

and had four more children: Anastasia, Nikolaos, Basiles, and Manolis.

Career

Having moved to

, Asikis tried to continue his professional career of fabricating bronze bed frames, but failed after six months. He would frequent a club called "The Asia Minor", the center of all laika at the time, where he was warmly accepted by contemporary musicians. In the late 1920s, he recorded music for Columbia,

Odeon Odeon may refer to: Ancient Greek and Roman buildings * Odeon (building), ancient Greek and Roman buildings built for singing exercises, musical shows and poetry competitions * Odeon of Agrippa, Athens * Odeon of Athens * Odeon of Domitian, Rome ...

, and Parlophone as did other musicians at the time, like

Kostas Skarvelis Kostas Skarvelis ( el, Κώστας Σκαρβέλης, 1880 – 8 April 1942) was a Greek composer of popular music, of the '' rembetiko'' (''ρεμπέτικο'') genre. He also wrote the lyrics for his songs and was an excellent guitar player ...

. In total, Grigoris Asikis recorded 82 of his songs. In the 1930s his compositions were sung by many famous artists of the time including Kostas Nouros,

Roza Eskenazi Roza Eskenazi (mid-1890s – 2 December 1980, Greek: Ρόζα Εσκενάζυ) was a famous Jewish-Greek dancer and singer of ''rebetiko'', Greek folk music, Kanto and Turkish folk music born in Istanbul, whose recording and stage career extend ...

, Stellakis Perpiniadis,

Rita Abatzi Rita Abatzi (also spelled Abadzi; el, Ρίτα Αμπατζή) (1914 – 17 June 1969) was a Greek ''rebetiko'' musician who began her career in the first part of the 1930s. She was born in Smyrna (now Izmir), in the Aidin Vilayet of the Ottoman ...

Marika Politissa Marika is a feminine given name of Polish, Greek, and Japanese origin. It has its origin in the Hungarian and Greek nickname for Maria, or its Silesian diminutive "Maryjka". Marieke is the Dutch and Flemish equivalent. Marika is also a Fijian ...

Kostas Roukounas Konstantinos (Kostas) Roukounas ( el, Κώστας Ρούκουνας) (Principality of Samos, 1903 – Athens, 11 March 1984) was a Greek singer. His repertoire included both "traditional" (''δημοτικά'') and "popular" songs (''λαϊκά' ...

Kostas Tsanakos Kostas or Costas ( el, Κώστας) is a Greek given name and surname. As a given name it is the hypocorism for Konstantinos (Constantine). Given name * Costas Andreou, Greek musician * Kostas Antetokounmpo (born 1997), a Greek basketball player ...

, Marika Kanaropoulou, and Georgia Mettake. In the later part of the decade, he abandoned composing songs with Asia Minor instruments, i.e. outi,

lyre The lyre () is a stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the lute-family of instruments. In organology, a lyre is considered a yoke lute, since it is a lute in which the strings are attached to a yoke ...

, and violin, and wrote songs using the bouzouki. Some of these songs were sung by famous artists and close friends of his

Markos Vamvakaris Márkos Vamvakáris ( el, Μάρκος Βαμβακάρης; 10 May 1905 – 8 February 1972), was a ''rebetiko'' musician. He is universally referred to by ''rebetiko'' writers and fans simply by his first name, Márkos. The great significance ...

Yiannis Papaioannou Yiannis Papaioannou ( gr, Ιωάννης Ανδρέου Παπαιωάννου; 6 January 1910, Kavala – 19 May 1989, Athens) was a Greek composer and teacher of the Modern Era. He studied piano with Marika Laspopoulou and composition with Al ...

, and

Apostolos Chatzichristos Apostolos may refer to: * The Apostolos (Eastern Orthodox liturgy), a book containing texts traditionally believed to be authored by one of the twelve apostles (disciples) – various epistles and the ''Acts of the Apostles'' – from which one is ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asikis, Grigoris 1890 births 1966 deaths Singers from Istanbul People from Constantinople vilayet Greeks from the Ottoman Empire Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Greece 20th-century Greek male singers Greek rebetiko singers Constantinopolitan Greeks Greek oud players