Giorgos Batis

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Giorgos Batis, born Giorgos Tsoros, was one of the first rebetes to influence rebetiko, the urban Greek music that had its roots in the port districts. He was born in 1885 in Methana and moved as a child to Piraeus, the port city near Athens. From 1912 to 1918 he served in the Greek army. In the mid-1920s he opened a music school called Carmen.

Music and breakthrough

In 1931 he opened a café called Georges Baté. It became one of the most important venues for rebetiko. The café attracted musicians who met there and developed the new style further. Besides his work as a musician, he sold home-made remedies for toothache and other minor ailments as a quack. He owned a large collection of instruments.

Influence

Batis died on 10 March 1967 in Piraeus. He never became a famous singer or composer, but his name stands for the first generation that gave rebetiko its place. Anyone who wants to understand later Greek music will find the beginning of that history in him and his café.

Listening