Instrumental Folk Music from Greece (collected in the field by Wolf Dietrich)

If your looking for great Greek music, don’t turn to Yanni’s saccharine sweet and derivative pop. Look instead for the energetic and effusive sounds found on Topic Record’s Instrumental Folk Music From Greece. On this 19-song release, a bevy of musicians from Crete, Zakynthos, Lesbos, Naxos, Macedonia, and Epirus present a host of heartfelt, pulsating traditional tunes. The recordings were collected at weddings, cafes, and in the intimacy of musicians’ homes. Violins, clarinets, percussion instruments, lutes, and even the horns of a brass band pipe through these spirited cuts. If you equate “traditional” with old and stodgy, think again. Instrumental Folk Music From Greece: Traditional will have you bopping and bouncing all night long. – John Vallier