Ordoulidis, Nikos, 2025. ‘Musical Palimpsests: Greek-Jewish Historical Discography’. In The SOAS Rebetiko Reader: Collected Papers Arising Out of the Hydra Rebetiko Conferences 2000–2020, edited by Ed Emery, 129–54. London: Red Notes. (online at https://www.geocities.ws/soasrebetikoreader/)

The article explores the interwoven histories of Greek and Jewish musical traditions as documented in early 20th-century recordings. By analysing phonographic evidence from major recording companies, I trace how shared melodies, performance practices, and instrumentation reflect deep cultural exchanges between these communities. These recordings, spanning Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and the USA, reveal how musicians navigated and adapted within the multicultural soundscapes of the Austro-Hungarian, Russian, and Ottoman Empires. My research highlights the fluidity of musical traditions, emphasizing how migration, urbanization, and recording technology facilitated the cross-pollination of styles. Rather than viewing these traditions as separate entities, the study presents them as part of a dynamic cultural continuum, challenging rigid distinctions between scholarly and popular music.

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