Cheap Portrait (Music) (Melina Kana) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of Portrait

Music of Beauty and Originality
I am frequently in search of music by modern Greek artists which is both original yet authentic. Melina Kana's CD, "Portrait" is such. She sings with a haunting sweetness and a serious passion. The lyrics of her songs remind me of the demotika and laika songs I listened to as a child --- often with mythical references juxtaposed against strangely poetic interpretations of stark realities of the mundane world. Others of her songs transport us to another time and place. "Logia, Tsigara" reminds me of the rembetiko tragoudi yet it also reminds me of the quintessentially modern world --- perhaps the world of a Greek woman of the 21st century wherever she finds herself. "Argonaftes, Pezonaftes" transports me to Homer's Odyssey and also to the world of my Greek immigrant grandfather who told me quite fantastic stories of a world that he claimed his own and of which I could only dream. I did say Melina Kana's music will transport you. In "Milo Gia Sena" I imagined myself in northern Greece --- waterfalls, forests, and love --- somewhere near the Balkans. At other times I remembered the music of Rosa Eskanazi. The musicians who accompany Kana are "the bomb." Almost all acoustic instruments: clarino, violin, bouzouki, baglama, guitar, piano, and accordion. Alekandra (Salamandra)is about a fickle she-devil; the clarino is so pure and soulful, and it is the type of song reminiscent of the type I can remember an aunt singing as she cleaned house. Was she a housewife or a "tragoudistria"? This is the music of the double take. Kana and her musical collaborators and partners create a hypnotic space --- melodies and lyrics of beauty and originality that transport you. Again, the authentic and classic influences are clear to anyone who has listened to the full range of Greek music. It's beautiful. Buy it. You'll be glad you did. remember an

---

One of the best singers in Greece
Melina Kana is one of the most creative singers to come out of Greece. Her songs are very poetic (thanks to cooperations with songwritter Thanasis Papakonstantinou), and the music is uniquely Greek, melodic, rich in content, and full of emotion. This is an anthology CD, containing a large PORTRAIT of songs from Melina's long career in music. It includes fast danceable songs such as "Alexandra" & "Ah Na Perasei O Pyretos"(Ah, let the fever pass away) and of course mostly slower songs. Suspiciously absent though from this collection is some of her most well known songs, such as the instrumental track from her collaboration with Ashkhabad from her album "Lafira", which also included one of my all time favorite tracks from her called "Armatolo", and also "Vale Krasi"(Pour on some wine). This album though is the perfect introduction to some good quality Greek music, and of course I recommend it 100%, but I'd also recomend you to get her 1998 release "Lafira"(Loot), which showcases more of her talent.I recomend this singer if you like Eleftheria Arvanitaki (also one of Greece's finest singers) and Eleni Tsaligopoulou. E-mail me for more info at sjikul@hotmail.com