A new take of old songs | Sma Rag Da ft. Dimitra Galani & Stathis Drakos | TEDxAthens

Описание: Sma Rag Da remakes two traditional songs from Epirus, “Athamania Omorfi” (Beautiful Athamania) and “Tsopanakos Imouna” (I used to be a shepherd), to honor the singer Christos Fotiou, from whom she learned and heard these songs for the first time. After launching the Broken Greek EP (2016) along with the British electronic music producer Brodsky, Sma Rag Da is back with another music project that merges the greek tradition with contemporary music elements, placing it within a frame of modern aesthetics. This time, Sma Rag Da remakes two traditional songs from Epirus, “Athamania Omorfi” (Beautiful Athamania) and “Tsopanakos Imouna” (I used to be a shepherd), to honor the singer Christos Fotiou, from whom she learned and heard these songs for the first time.

By inserting these tunes within an entirely different music frame and by filtering them with her own experiences and music influences, Sma Rag Da managed to create an EP that addresses to a rather broad audience, regardless of age: from the village’s mayor to Dimitra Galani and Stathis Drakos, who will accompany her with their voices. By stripping the songs off their traditional tone, the danger of losing their essence and dynamic is rather present. This is why Sma Rag Da chose to add the element of polyphony, which is deeply rooted in the tradition, although it did not originally exist in the specific songs. In traditional music not only the greek one polyphony holds the magic power to touch a rather soft spot within people, since it includes something indefinitely organic and almost ritualistic. When would people gather and sing together? It would be in mourning, joy, pain, festivities, housework, field tasks and religious ceremonies. That is to say, in all those occasions that created the need to feel that they are not alone - but rather one music instrument of many hearts beating as one. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx