Even though it is very hard to sum up an ongoing experience of two years it is time to revisit the questions that were born at the beginning of this process in 2018. Through an open collaboration with many musicians in this project it gradually became very easy to revisit and answer the questions formed in the beginning of this journey:
1) What are the effects of music with strong cultural characteristics traveling and blending with musical influences from elsewhere?
2. How can the concept of Rebetiko be re-imagined for a group of multi-cultural musicians in Finland, in order to create a framework for new musical ideas to emerge?
With great surprise I came to the understanding that the two questions posed could be answered through the same process:
All twelve of us involved in this project in more or less active roles, but also all musicians, carry our own traditions or traditions that we have discovered and loved along our lives. These traditions are depicted in the way we play and the way we interpret familiar but also new music. Through a distillation of these musical traditions we evolve and shape our personal way of playing. When we travel, these traditions travel with us, sometimes consciously and at other times subconsciously. More specifically, this is exactly what happened for Rebetiko and Greek urban folk to be born. People travelled carrying their musical traditions, many times as their only luggage, from Asia Minor, east Mediterranean and the Balkans, to Greece, and again as an ´´immigrant´´ to America, wherever there is Greek diaspora and back to Greece.
From every point a new element took its place, and the fusion of all the elements created Rebetiko and Greek urban folk.
If we would take this project as a case study to answer this question the results would be worth looking at. Analogically what happened, in order to form Rebetiko, can happen to Rebetiko itself if it travels through musicians and interacts with the traditions of other musicians. In this project’s case, the traditions did not only coexist but merged into forming a new more global approach to it. The music travelled from Greece to Finland, to interact and finally merge with musical traditions from the South Caribbean and South America. The result can be judged individually, according to the preferences and aesthetics of the listener, but as a rule the feedback received based on the outcome of the project has been encouraging and seems to work in harmony. Passing through different stages and reaching a transcultural result, the music maintains the original characteristics of the different music traditions, but gains a life of its own a bit beyond those traditions. Music through this interaction creates a new character of its own, with new points of reference, body and focus, but through the exterior the different traditions always shine through, bringing familiarity and sometimes nostalgia to the listener.
Finally, there are also a few discoveries that have stood out throughout this project that are worth revisiting:
(i) The open collaboration of musicians makes the coexistence and fusion of different musical traditions possible, culminating in a transcultural result. The project did not start on this basis, but it was visibly clear at the end of the line that the music offered a new perspective to this tradition. We created forms that could include a Zeibekikos of an odd 9/8 rhythm and Tumba of a 6/8 Rhythm, an Aptalikos of 9/8 with Songo and Ska of 4/4.
(ii) In order to achieve deep collaboration between the musicians, we needed, sought and gained a deeper understanding of each other’s traditions. It was only then that the music flew and felt organic and desirable.
(iii) Woking with a larger group highlighted the need for an organised and standardised way of approaching the material, the rehearsals and the performances. Only when this side of the project was explored and decoded, we found our common pace and headed united in a common direction. In our case, the combination of scores and learning by ear, interaction in rehearsals, a steady practice schedule, free exploration and standardised presentation times, worked as one of our greatest allies.
Throughout this process one new question kept coming up, signifying a natural continuation of the project. What happens if you translate Greek to Papiamento, then to Portuguese then to Finnish, Estonian, Spanish, Albanian and Turkish, and then back to Greek?
How would a Greek person welcome the translated information? More specifically, what would be the reaction of a Brazilian listening Rebetiko based Samba, a Colombian listening to Rebetiko based Cumbia, an Aruban listening to Rebetiko based Tumba and finally a Greek listening to Rebetiko fused with spices from the previously mentioned countries?
This would maybe require the fusion to reach these countries in some way and have a discussion with representatives of all the traditions involved.
(iv) An unexpected discovery was that to reach the desirable results there is the absolute need for dedication, time and care for the project. In this case we have been blessed and honoured that the musicians threw themselves into this project and created a beautiful result.