Iakovas Montanaris wrote 30 Smyrneika-style rebetiko songs in the 1930s, some of them now classics. That’s interesting, because he had no connection with Asia Minor.
He was born in Athens and, while his primary occupation was as a bank clerk, he was a talented musician, who played oud, santouri, guitar and harpsichord. He started work as a musician in 1915 and wrote most of his most famous songs between 1931 and 1937. His musical and compositional skill led to recordings by all of the major Smyrneika singers and reported record sales in the tens of thousands.
With the death of Smyrneika style rebetiko because of censorship, his recording came to an end, but he continued working as a musician until his death in the early 1960s.
The Dervish and Rita, sung by Rita Abatzi and Dimitris Atraidis, is a version of Montanaris’s song The Dervish and Anna. (Manges adopted some terms from the Sufi sect in their early years: they gathered in tekes and called themselves dervishes, among other names.)
In the song, an absent lover turns the singer into a hash-smoking dervish, pining for Rita.
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