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Contact Us
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PAUL "PAVLOS" KAKOURIS
BOUZOUKI WORLD
408-799-7385
8262 POINT ARENA CT.
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, USA 95828
pavlos@citlink.net
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Bouzouki Player for 47 years!
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In all the years of playing I have learned enough to regard myself as an expert on what makes a bouzouki great. After having played hundreds of bouzoukia and hanging out with Greeces finest players and developing my own technique, I felt I had made the best luthier contacts in Greece and the experience to become an importer.
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MY EXPERIENCE
I found my first bouzouki in a junk store in Los Angeles in 1960.
I had been playing mandolin since I was 5 years old. Bouzouki was rare in the 40's in the USA. I listened to recordings of the old masters and would try to get the tunes down but I knew the sound was really different. In 1951 I took my first trip to Greece at age 14. That's when I saw a bouzouki for the first time. I say with great pride that I saw Tsitsanis and Papaioanou playing bouzouki. I fell in love with the culture and of course the bouzouki. At that time it was not socially acceptable to play bouzouki. The connection with the subculture, REBETIKA, hashish dens, and the lower working class in those days and long before, was the reason my mom would not allow me to bring a bouzouki back to the USA. About 1957 bouzouki players began appearing in California. There are sites on the net to find historical info. I looked for a very long time to find a bouzouki locally until one day I stopped to browse at a large junk store in south Los Angeles and there I saw high on a shelf covered in a heavy layer of dust my first bouzouki. Made in New York City in Feb. 1922.by the House of Stathopoulos. I still have it.
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Personal Information
My Personal Information
My first modern bouzouki was made by Zozef Terzivasian. Zozef is the godfather of bouzouki makers. There were others of that period but today his instruments are collectible and he is considered to be the best of the time. I was fortunate to meet him in 1971. Most makers today admit that they owe everything they know about bouzouki construction to Zozef. There are many still being played and should be for years to come. I have a 1965 model that is still wonderful. I began my professional career playing bouzouki in 1968.
My enormous love for the instrument made this my work and my hobby. Actually my whole life has been about bouzouki and the music. Over the
years I spent thousands of hours playing and as well as spending time in the shops in Greece watching and listening to the makers. Everything is still done by hand. The materials and techniques have improved greatly in the past 20 years. Bouzouki is a very sensitive instrument. It has heart and soul like most fine wood instruments. Climate and temperature has an affect. Sometimes positive, sometimes negative.
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