Amalia Bakas
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Amalia Bakas (born Mazaltov
ally An ally is a member of an alliance. Ally may also refer to: Place names * Ally, Cantal, a commune in the Cantal department in south-central France * Ally, County Tyrone, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Ally, Haute-Loire, a commun ...
Matsa 1897–1979) was a
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
singer and performer in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
during the 20th century. She was heavily involved in the "Eighth Avenue scene" in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and in Greek communities around the United States. Her repertoire consisted of mostly traditional songs to which she added her own style and words. Unlike other singers of the time, her songs were mostly about love. She also wrote two songs, "Elenitsa Mou" after she was baptized and "Diamontoula Mou" for her daughter. Little is known about Bakas before her time in the United States. She was born in
Ioannina Ioannina ( el, Ιωάννινα ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus, an administrative region in north-western Greece. According to the 2011 census, the c ...
in the Janina Vilayet of the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
in a Romaniote Jewish community. The Romaniote community was male-dominated and births of females were not even recorded which may account for lack of information of Amalia’s early life. In 1912, when Bakas was 15 years old, she traveled to America on the Kaiser Franz Josef I
ocean liner An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). Ca ...
. She was detained at
Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mi ...
, lacking the necessary $50 fee until a phone call to a relative was made, who paid the fee for her. In 1913, she married Jack Saretta, also from Ioannina and they lived on Rivington Street on the
Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an im ...
in New York, NY. She worked in a factory as a
seamstress A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes custom clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician. Nota ...
and the couple had two daughters, Diamond and Ester Cleonike. In the 1920s, Bakas began to perform in the café-amans and Turkish nightclubs in the early 1920s taking the
stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...
Amalia. Her first recordings were made with the M.G. Parsekian Record Company in
Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,690 i ...
and consisted of 8 Turkish songs. Later in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
she recorded 6 Greek and Turkish songs with the Greek Record Company. Bakas also recorded with
Marika Papagika Marika Papagika (, née Katsoris; September 1, 1890 – August 2, 1943) was a popular Greek singer in the early 20th century and one of the first Greek women singers to be heard on sound recordings. Biography Marika Papagika was born on the islan ...
, another popular Greek singer of the time. Bakas was one of Papagika’s only known friends and Papagika would babysit her daughter Diamond. Her daughter Diamond would often perform with her mother by either singing duets or by accompanying her on the
doumbek The goblet drum (also chalice drum, tarabuka, tarabaki, darbuka, darabuka, derbake, debuka, doumbek, dumbec, dumbeg, dumbelek, toumperleki, tumbak, or zerbaghali; arz, دربوكة / Romanized: ) is a single-head membranophone with a goblet- ...
. As the life of a performer was not one a woman of the Romaniote community should be leading, Bakas' husband divorced her and sent her other daughter Ester to live in Greece. In 1926 she converted to the
Greek Orthodox Church The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also call ...
to marry Gus Bakas. Amalia and Gus worked in the restaurant business with Bakas still performing at the café-amans on 8th Avenue in New York City. During the 1930s, Bakas did not record, but traveled the United States to perform with George Katsaros. They performed in New York City, the Catskill Mountain region,
Finger Lakes The Finger Lakes are a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes located south of Lake Ontario in an area called the ''Finger Lakes region'' in New York, in the United States. This region straddles the northern and transitional ...
region,
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
, Chicago,
Gary, Indiana Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city has been historically dominated by major industrial activity and is home to U.S. Steel's Gary Works, the largest steel mill complex in North America. Gary is located along the ...
and
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
where large Greek communities resided. In this period of the Second World War, Bakas and her daughter Diamond were living in Chicago, working at a restaurant called Pantheon where she also performed. In the early part of the decade, Bakas recorded for Ajdin Aselois labels in which she had part ownership. She performed with a variety of artists including Gus Gadines, John Pappas, John Dalas, Garbis Bakirgian, Theodore Kappas, Alexis Zervas, and Nicke Doneff. During this period, the 1940s, there was a revival of Greek songs from the 1910s and 1920s and Amalia’s recordings reflected this shift. This revival can be directly attributed to the mass exodus of Greek refugees fleeing from Turkey to Greece - escaping the 20th century's first mass genocide. Over one-third of Amalia's music during this period were old songs from her own or from the pioneer Greek vocalist Coula Antonopoulos's early recorded music - which were laments, music expressing personal anguish and resilience in times of hardship, adversity, and atrocities. These provided some solace to expatriates eager to begin a new life in America. In the early 1960s, Amalia retired from the performing life. She moved to
New Port Richey, Florida New Port Richey is a city in Pasco County, Florida, United States. It is a suburban city included in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was counted at 16,728 in the 2020 census. History B ...
to be close to her daughter in 1974. She died in 1979 and her obituary did not even mention her career as a singer.


Discography

During her career, Bakas made many recordings: * ''Kyria Amalia (Yaniotisa)'' ** "Hetzaz Manes" ** "Antam Aman" ** "I Agia Sophia-Zeibekiko" ** "O Giatros (Ah! Giatre Mou)" (The Doctor) ** "Gamjendeyem-Sarki" n Turkish*''M.B. Amillia Hanum'' ** "Kala Kalaya Bakar" n Turkish** "Turnam Nerdan Galior" n Turkish** "Gulfishan-Neva Canto" n Turkish** "Yolda Bouldoum Bir Elna" n Turkish** "Chifte Telly Ghazel" n Turkish*''Amalia Bakas'' ** "Ali Pasha-Yaniotiko" ** "Trigona-Yaniotiko" ** "Paramana Cuna Cuna" (Rock the Cradle)-Zeibekiko ** "E Thalassa" (The Sea) *''NY April 11, 1927'' ** "Nea Vaslio" -Kalamatiano ** "T’Asteri To Lambro" -Kleftiko ** "Berbantis" -Zeibekiko ** "Sabah Taxim" *''NY August 10, 1927'' ** "Mesa Sto Perivoli Sou" ** "Esi Kimas Me Ti Mama Sou" -Sirtos ** "Mavromata" ** "Den Mou Lete Ti Na Kamo" -Sirtos ** "Apo Ta Mikra Mou Hortaniase" *''NY October 26, 1927'' ** "Elenitsa Mou" (Bakas) ** "Ta Mtia Sou Ine Galana" ** "Haido Sirtos" ** "Karakatsana" ** "Pes Mou Ti Tha Katalavis" - Zeibekiko ** "Gianoula" *''NY February 8, 1928'' ** "Eliosan Ta Kokola Mou" ** "Horis Elpida Na Zo" - Rembetiko ** "Thelo Na S’ Alismoniso" - Karsilamas ** "Mavromatou Me Pligoses" ** "O Pselos" ** "I Vlaha I Emorfi" *''NY February 13, 1929'' ** "Agrilamas Ke Psarades" ** "Mavromalou" *''NY 1929''


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bakas, Amalia 1897 births 1979 deaths People from Ioannina People from Janina vilayet Greek rebetiko singers 20th-century Greek women singers American folk singers Singers from New York City 20th-century American singers Romaniote Jews Jews from the Ottoman Empire Greeks from the Ottoman Empire Greek people of Jewish descent Greek emigrants to the United States Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to the United States 20th-century American women singers