A bit repetitive but engaging historical biography of a group of earthy musicians who created and popularized a whole genre of music. It felt a lot like looking at the history of Bluegrass music n the USA, but with even more heroin, prostitutes, and repressive dictators. A very earthy look that gives depth to music that now just sounds "Greek."

This was one where the cover caught my eye, read a few other graphic novels from Europe Comic that I liked and decide to give The Famous Quartet of Piraeus a try.

Found it to be interest, yet took a while to read, kept reading a few a few pages at a time, just got buried on my reading TBR list, didn't really connect with other than being about music, being a Steve Vai fan, he played an instrument similar to what the musician's played during a Whitesnake concert on one of the songs and finally finished it. It's historical, if you like music, you'll find this aninteresting read.

Thanks to netgalley.com and Europe Comics for the advance ARC copy for my honest review.

This was one where the cover caught my eye, read a few other graphic novels from Europe Comic that I liked and decide to give The Famous Quartet of Piraeus a try.

Found it to be interest, yet took a while to read, kept reading a few a few pages at a time, just got buried on my reading TBR list, didn't really connect with other than being about music, being a Steve Vai fan, he played an instrument similar to what the musician's played during a Whitesnake concert on one of the songs and finally finished it. It's historical, if you like music, you'll find this aninteresting read.

2 stars

Set in 1930’s Greece, this story is about a famous quartet of Rebetiko musicians under the Metaxas dictatorship. I enjoyed the art & the subject matter is interesting, but the storyline was difficult to follow & had an abrupt ending.

[What I liked:]

•I do like the art. It’s detailed, with a variety of panel arrangements, & has a retro feel which fits the historical setting.

•The tidbits I learned about Rebetiko music & instruments were the most interesting part of this book for me, & I’d love to read up on the characters more & hear some of their music!

•The glossary & footnotes helped me understand the context of the music industry & basic politics relevant to the story. I’d have been even more lost without those.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•It’s hard to tell the characters apart visually (many of them have the same clothes, haircut, & mustache), & there are many side characters that get introduced for one scene & then are never seen again. The dialogue wasn’t distinctive, it was like every character sounded the same.

•The storyline is hard to follow, disjointed & not cohesive. Markos suffers financial issues & government censorship, but I never felt engaged by his character or fully sympathetic to his woes. It was like reading a recitation of plot points rather than a story. This graphic novel was adapted from a full length novel, & also translated to English, so maybe the original book had more character development & depth? Maybe much was lost in translation, & I missed important cues & implications because I’m not familiar with the history?

•The story ends mid-scene without any sense of resolution, with Markos reading a negative critical review of his music. So? Did he carry on despite criticism? Did he give up? I didn’t get any sense of why that scene was important, or why the story ended there.

•Small quibble, but it was odd seeing terms like “bro” & “homeboy” mixed in with the Greek slang words. That felt a bit anachronistic or out of place.

CW: drug abuse, infidelity, homophobic slurs

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

The Famous Quartet of Piraeus is a biographical graphic novel that explores the lives and careers of a band of four Greek musicians pre-World War Two. The band is formed in a cafe around 1934 and did go on to record multiple records to critical acclaim. Their success catches the eye of authorities who are displeased at some of the quartet's lyrics.

THINGS I LOVE IN THIS BOOK
The colour profile complements the story and its timeline. The dialogue is natural and the book does not seem to shy away from uncomfortable themes like infidelity, bribery, drug addiction, etc

DISLIKES
Some of the Greek words used in the book may be confusing for those unfamiliar with the language.

WHO THIS IS FOR
The Famous Quartet of Piraeus is for any music enthusiast who loves the historical side of it.

Many thanks to Europe Comics for providing a review copy.

I enjoyed being exposed to rebetiko greek music, and fell down a rabbit hole of youtube videos. But this read was different than expected. I found the story a bit confusing, and had trouble keeping track of the characters besides Márkos and Zingoala. An interesting slice of history, but couldn't get into it.

Come here for copious scenes where the art never once lets you tell one character from another, countless dialogues where every speech bubble needs a reference or translation note or a look back at the glossary, and something about music. If I admitted all I'll take from this is a singular kind of whore house arrangement, people will say that says more about me than the book, but that's only partly the case.

Greece had a rough time for a number of years, being invaded by Fascist Italy in 1941, then invaded again by the Axis Powers during WWII itself, and finally rule by a right-wing military Junta. During times like this, the arts always have a tough time thriving, unless the artist is willing to entirely sell themselves to the state and become a mechanism of propaganda. This graphic novel tells the story of a case where four men basically say “no” to this and do what they want no matter the consequences.

“The Famous Quartet of Piraeus was formed in 1934 as a café band. It was the first group featuring the bouzouki and the baglama, and consisted of frontman Markos Vamvakaris, Giorgos Batis, Anestos Delias, and Stratos Pagioumtzis. Markos’ fiery love for Zingoala, his first wife, is the main and painful source of inspiration for the founder of rebetiko music. Starting as a skinner at a slaughterhouse, Markos becomes a pioneer who paves new paths for traditional Greek music and entertainment, running constantly afoul of the musical mores of the era—as well as the police, his wife, and the dictatorship of Metaxas. And all the while, war is approaching in the background like an inevitable chorus…”

The “main character” of the story is Márkos Vamvakáris, a man that is self taught on a Greek bouzouki, a small stringed instrument. Being that he is not trained classicly, he forges his own path and makes the instrument his own, drawing comparisons to other musicians like Jimi Hendrix. His home life is not the best, having a loveless marriage with a wife that he is always trying to avoid, instead falling for other women on the road. Vamvakáris is not painted as a hero, but a complicated man that does his best to survive in a time just before all hell breaks loose in Greece. It’s interesting to see the Government start to overstep their boundaries more and more as the story progresses – corruption, censorship, and even false arrests run rampant. There’s even an attempt for the men use to use their bar to “rat out” drug dealers, something they refused to do.

I know basically nothing about Greek folk music, but this book is an interesting look at a time period that most probably have no idea about in America. I enjoyed the story, and liked the art-style despite it’s occasional simplicity. The book is bookended with essays talking about the band and their significance, something that did a great job helping me understanding what was going on. If you are a history buff, this is an unlikely solid choice to read about a period of time right before WWII, to see the slippery slop Greece was heading towards.