Manes, or amanes, is a musical form from Asia Minor that was adopted into classic era rebetiko. Named for the repeated use of the word “aman” during singing, manes were improvised on makams (similar to but not quite like Western music scales). Usually, there were instrumental sections interspersed with highly ornamented lyrical sections, all using the notes of a specific makam. (In this recording, the makam is one called sabah, hence the title.)
Many manes were recorded in the 1920s and 1930s, and at times manes would turn up as extended outros to more traditional rebetiko pieces. But in the late 1930s, manes were one of the major targets of the Metaxas dictatorship’s ban on music and lyrics because of their “eastern” sound.
Sabah Manes was recorded by Rita Abatzi, one of the great voices of rebetiko.
Born in Smyrna, she recorded more than 400 sides during the 1920s and 1930s, including Smyrneika and Piraeus rebetiko and Greek folk songs. Abatzi largely stopped recording after World War II (I haven’t been able to find out why) although she reportedly still performed. She died of cancer in 1969.
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