My Sweet Canary // Roza Eskenazi Biography

My Sweet Canary // Roza Eskenazi Biography
R o z a Eskenazi (mid-1890s – 2 December 1980,
G r e e k: Ρόζα Εσκενάζυ) was a famous Greek singer
o f R ebetiko and traditional Greek music, whose
r e c o rding and stage career extended from the late
1 9 2 0 s into the 1970s.
. . . . ............... Childhood .....................
E s k e nazi was born Sarah Skinazi to an
i m p o verished Sephardic Jewish family in Istanbul.
T h r o ughout her career she hid her real date of
b i r t h, and claimed to have been born in 1910.
I n f act, she was at least a decade older, and was
l i k e ly born sometime between 1895 and 1897. Her
f a t h er, Avram Skinazi, was a rag dealer. In
a d d i tion to Roza, he and his wife Flora had two
s o n s , Nisim, the eldest, and Sami.
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My Sweet Canary // Roza Eskenazi Biography
S h o r tly after the turn of the century, Skinazi
f a m i ly relocated to Thessaloniki, then still
u n d e r Ottoman rule. The city was undergoing rapid
e c o n omic expansion at the time, with its
p o p u lation growing by 70 percent between 1870 and
1 9 1 7 . Avram Skinazi found work in a cotton
p r o c essing mill and took various odd jobs to
i m p r ove his family’s financial standing.
A t t he time, he entrusted young Sarah to a
n e i g hboring girl, who tutored several local
c h i l dren in basic reading and writing. These
s e s s ions were the extent of her formal education.
F o r some time, Sarah, her brother, and her mother
l i v e d in nearby Komotini, a city that at that
t i m e , still had a sizable Turkish-speaking
p o p u lation. Roza’s mother found employment there
a s t he live-in maid for a wealthy family, and
R o z a assisted her with the housework.
O n e day, Sarah was overheard singing by the
T u r k ish owners of a local tavern. They were
e n t h ralled by her voice, and immediately came to
t h e door to express their wish to hire the girl
t o p erform in their club. Sarah’s mother was
i n c e nsed at the suggestion that her daughter—or
a n y other member of her family—would become an
a r t i ste. Years later, in an interview, Roza
a d m i tted that her time in Komotini was a turning
p o i n t in her life. It was there, she said, that
d e c i ded to become a singer and dancer.
. . . . ............. Early career ...................
S a r a h was not to realize this dream until her
r e t u rn to Thessaloniki. At the time, the family
w a s renting an apartment near the city’s Grand
H o t e l Theater, and several of the neighbors
p e r f ormed there. Every day, Sarah would help two
o f t he dancers carry their costumes to the
t h e a ter, hoping that she would one day appear on
t h e stage alongside them. It was there that she
f i n a lly began her career as a dancer.
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My Sweet Canary // Roza Eskenazi Biography
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W h i l e still a teenager, Sarah Skinazi fell in
l o v e with Yiannis Zardinidis, a wealthy man from
o n e of Cappadocia’s most prominent families.
Z a r d inidis’s family disapproved of the match,
c o n s idering her to be of loose moral character.
N e v e rtheless, the two of them eloped around 1913,
a n d Sarah changed her name to Roza, the name by
w h i c h she was known throughout her career.
Z a r d inidis died, due to unknown circumstances,
a r o u nd 1917, leaving Roza with a little childP a r a schos. Realizing that she could not maintain
h e r career as a performer while raising an
i n f a nt, she brought him to the St. Taksiarchis
n u r s ery in the city of Xanthi. His father’s
f a m i ly agreed to support him there, and Paraschos
Z a r d inidis eventually grew up to be a high
r a n k ing officer in the Greek Air Force. It was
o n l y years later that he finally reunited with
h i s mother, after finding her in Athens in 1935.
. . . . ................. Athens ...................... .
R o z a had moved to Athens shortly after
Z a r d inidis’s death to pursue her musical career.
S h e quickly teamed up with two Armenian cabaret
a r t i sts, Seramous and Zabel, who reportedly liked
h e r because she could speak Turkish, and because
s h e showed talent as a singer. Though she
c o n t inued to perform as a dancer, Roza also began
t o s ing for patrons of the club in Greek,
T u r k ish, and Armenian. It was there that she was
f i r s t “discovered” by well-known composer and
i m p r esario Panagiotis Tountas in the late 1920s.
T o u n tas immediately recognized her talent and
i n t r oduced her to Vasilis Toumbakaris of Columbia
R e c o rds.
R o z a ’s first two recordings for Columbia, Mandili
K a l a matiano and Koftin Eleni Tin Elia (c. 1928)
m a r k ed the beginning of a recording career that
w o u l d continue almost without interruption well
i n t o the 1960s. By the mid-1930s, she had
r e c o rded over 300 songs for them, and had become
o n e of their most popular stars. Some of the
My Sweet Canary // Roza Eskenazi Biography
m u s i c was folk songs, especially from Greece and
İ z m i r in Turkey. Her most important contribution
t o t he local music scene, however, was her
r e c o rdings of Rebetiko and especially the Smyrna
s c h o ol of Rebetiko. She was, almost
s i n g le-handedly, behind the music’s breakthrough
i n t o popular culture, and even today her unique
s o u n d is still identified with the genre.
S o o n after she began recording, Roza began
p e r f orming nightly at the Taygetos nightclub in
A t h e ns as well. Appearing with her on stage were
T o u n das, the violinist Salonikios, and oud player
A g a p ios Tomboulis. Eskenazi, however was the star
o f t he show, earning an unprecedented 200
d r a c hmas per night. She later confided to her
b i o g rapher Kostas. Hatzidoulis that she should
h a v e been much wealthier, just from the income of
t h e show, but that she had a weakness for
e x p e nsive jewelry and spent too much of her
i n c o me on it.
A s h er career blossomed, Eskenazi signed an
e x c l usive contract with Columbia Records,
s o m e time in 1931 or 1932. According to the terms
o f h er contract, she would record at least 40
s o n g s per year and receive 5 percent of the cost
o f e very one of her records that she sold. At the
t i m e , she was the only female Greek artist to
h a v e a royalties agreement with a record
c o m p anies.
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My Sweet Canary // Roza Eskenazi Biography
. . . . .......... Inter national career .............
B e f o re long, her career extended beyond the
p o l i tical boundaries of Greece to the Greek
D i a s pora. Together with Tomboulis, she traveled
t o E gypt, Albania, and Serbia, receiving a warm
r e c e ption not only from the local Greek
c o m m unities, but from the Turkish communities as
well.
H e r music had a certain edginess to it, and one
o f h er songs, Πρέζα όταν Πιείς (“When You Take
C o c a ine”), was even censored by Greek strongman
I o a n nis Metaxas. As a result of his decision,
m a n y other traditional rebetiko artists were
m a r g inalized, though a new trends in the genre,
l e d by Vassilis Tsitsanis, gained ground.
. . . . .............. W orld War II .................
W i t h in a short time, however, Greece’s own
i n d e pendence would be challenged. By 1940, Italy
i n v a ded, and in 1941 the German army occupied the
c o u n try. Despite the repressive regime, Roza
c o n t inued performing, and in 1942, she even
o p e n ed up her own nightclub, Krystal, together
w i t h her son Paraschos, with whom she had since
b e e n reunited. Although she was a Jew, she had
m a n a ged to obtain a fake baptismal certificate,
t h o u gh her safety was also ensured by an affair
s h e had with a German officer.
B u t Roza Eskenazi was hardly a traitor or even a
c o l l aborator. She used her privileged position to
s u p p ort the local resistance, and hid resistance
f i g h ters and even English agents in her home. She
w a s also able to rescue Jews in both Athens and
T h e s saloniki. Among those she saved from
d e p o rtation to Auschwitz was her own family. By
1 9 4 3 , her cover finally crumbled, and Eskenazi
w a s arrested. She spent three months in jail
b e f o re a concerted effort by her German lover and
h e r son succeeded in getting her released. She
s p e n t the rest of the war in hiding, fearful that
s h e might be arrested again.
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My Sweet Canary // Roza Eskenazi Biography
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My Sweet Canary // Roza Eskenazi Biography
. . . . ........... The post-war years ..............
O v e r the course of her long career, Roza
d e v e loped good relations not only with Columbia
R e c o rd’s Vasilis Toumbakaris, but also with Minus
M a t s as, who had recently founded
O d e o n/Parlophone. This enabled her to promote the
c a r e ers of many other well-known artists,
i n c l uding Marika Ninou and Stella Hazkil. She
i n t r oduced them to the 'I Aliliovoithia'
m u s i cians union, and within a short time, they
w e r e recording with Vassilis Tsitsanis.
A f t e r the war, in 1949, Roza returned to Patras
t o o btain a new ID card. She gave a few concerts
a s w ell, but the real turning point in her life
c a m e when she met Christo Philipakopoulos, a
y o u n g police officer almost thirty years her
j u n i or. Despite the age gap, the two of them fell
i n l ove. It was a relationship that would last,
i n s ome form or other, for the rest of Roza’s
life.
A l t h ough Roza had toured extensively throughout
t h e Balkans, it was only in 1952 that she made
h e r first tour of the United States to perform
f o r the Greek and Turkish Diasporas there. The
t r i p was sponsored by the Parthenon Restaurant
a n d Bar in New York City and lasted several
m o n t hs.
T h i s was just the first of several musical tours
o v e r seas. In 1955, Albanian impresario Ayden
L e s k oviku of the Balkan Record Company invited
h e r to perform and record in Istanbul, the city
w h e r e she was born. She eventually recorded about
f o r t y songs for Leskoviku, and received about
$ 5 , 0 00 for them. Although this was a relatively
p a l t ry sum, she later claimed that her
p e r f ormance fees and tips were ten times that
a m o u nt.
S o o n after Istanbul she embarked on two more
t o u r s of the United States, and performed in New
Y o r k , Detroit and Chicago. On 5 July 1958, during
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My Sweet Canary // Roza Eskenazi Biography
h e r second trip to the U.S., she married Frank
A l e x ander. The wedding seemed to have been in
n a m e only. This was necessary for her to get a
w o r k permit in the U.S. Nevertheless, Eskenazi
l o v e d America and would have emigrated there were
i t n ot for her other love, Christo
P h i l ipokopoulos. She returned to Athens in 1959
s o t hat she could be with him. She bought the two
o f t hem a large house in Kipoupoli with the money
t h a t earned in the States, as well as two trucks
a n d some horses. She and Philipakopoulos would
l i v e in that home for the rest of her life.
. . . . ......... Declin e and rediscovery ............
E s k e nazi was now in her sixties, and the music
s c e n e in Greece had changed considerably since
s h e launched her career over four decades
e a r l ier. Smyrneika (the music of İzmir) and
r e b e tiko had declined in popularity, and she and
o t h e r masters of the genre were relegated to
o c c a sional appearances at village festivals and
o t h e r small events. Though she did record a few
s o n g s over the coming years, these were mainly
c o v e rs of her older, well-known hits, made for
m i n o r recording companies in Athens.
I t w as only in the late 1960s that there was some
r e n e wed interest in her earlier work. RCA
r e c o rded two 45s containing four of her songs
( i n c luding Sabah Amanes) with violinist Dimitri
M a n i seli, but the release was limited. This all
c h a n ged, however, in the final days of the
m i l i tary dictatorship in the early 1970.
S u d d enly, the youth of the country developed a
r e n e wed interest in the urban songs of the past,
a n d several important compilations were released.
O n e of the best known was Rebetiki Istoria, a
s i x - record collection of rebetiko music, which
s o l d hundreds of thousands of copies. After over
a d e cade away from the limelight, Roza Eskenazi,
n o w in her seventies, was a star again.
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My Sweet Canary // Roza Eskenazi Biography
W h a t set this decade apart from her earlier
c a r e er was the widespread appearance of
t e l e vision. Roza quickly adapted to the new
m e d i um and appeared on a number of shows. In
1 9 7 3 , she was documented in the short film To
B o u z ouki (directed by Vassilis Maros) and in 1976
s h e did a TV special with Haris Alexiou, which
i n c l uded interviews and songs, as well as a
c o u p le more appearences. Throughout that time,
h o w e ver, Roza never abandoned her roots in the
c o u n try’s nightclubs, and she did a weekly live
s h o w in Themelio, a nightclub in Plaka.
A s o ne of the few surviving rebetiko singers who
r e m a ined active at the time, artists and
m u s i cologists began studying her style, which was
d e e m ed “authentic.”
T h i s had a lasting impact on a new generation of
p e r f ormers including Haris Alexiou (whom she
a p p e ared with on television) and Glykeria. The
t r a g edy was that while musicians and academics
w e r e intrigued by her abilities, as well as by
h e r insights into a lost musical world, the
g e n e ral public was less enthusiastic, and
c o n s idered her more of a curiosity. Nevertheless,
s h e continued to perform, giving her last show in
S e p t ember, 1977, in the city of Patras. Fans of
a l l ages came to see her sing and dance and get a
t a s t e of the music of the past.
. . . . ................ Last days ...................
E s k e nazi spent her twilight years in quiet, at
h e r home in Kypoupoli, together with Christo
P h i l ipakopoulos. Although she was a Jew from
b i r t h, she converted to the Greek Orthodox faith
i n 1 976, and was renamed Rozalia Eskenazi.
W i t h in two years, she began to show symptoms of
A l z h eimer’s disease, and would occasionally get
l o s t as she made her way home.
I n t he summer of 1980, she slipped at home and
b r o k e her hip.
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My Sweet Canary // Roza Eskenazi Biography
T h i s led to three months in the hospital, with
C h r i sto constantly by her side, tending to her
e v e r y need. She returned home briefly, but was
s o o n back in a private clinic due to an
i n f e ction. She died there on December 2, 1980.
R o z a Eskenazi was buried in an unmarked grave in
t h e village of Stomyo in Korynthia. In 2008, the
v i l l age’s cultural committee raised enough money
t o e rect a simple tombstone, with the
i n s c ription, “Roza Eskenazi, Artist.”
. . . . ............... Biographies ..................
I n 1 982, two years after her death, Kostas
H a t z idoulis published a brief memoir entitled
Α υ τ ά πού Θυμάμαι (“The Things I Remember”), based
o n i nterviews Eskenazi gave later in life.
I n c l uded in the book was a vast collection of
p h o t ographs, especially of Roza early in her
c a r e er.
I n 2 008, filmmaker Roy Sher of Sher Productions
b e g a n work on a musical documentary named My
S w e e t Canary, based on the life and career of
R o z a Eskenazi. The film, an international
c o p r oduction, follows three young musicians from
G r e e ce, Turkey, and Israel, who embark on a
j o u r ney in search of Greece’s best-known and
b e s t -loved rebetiko artist. The film is scheduled
t o b e released in Spring 2011.
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