Yiorgos Batis

Yiorgos Batis Γιώργος Μπάτης
Yiorgos Batis in the 1930s.
Background information
Birth name	Yiorgos Tsoros (Γιώργος Τσώρος)
Also known as	Yiorgos Ampatis
Born	c. 1885 Methana
Died	10 March 1967 (aged 81–82)
Genres	Rebetiko
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer, song-writer
Instrument(s)	Baglamas, Bouzouki

Yiorgos Batis (Greek: Γιώργος Μπάτης, also Giorgos Batis) (1885 – 10 March 1967) was one of the first rebetes influential to rebetiko music. His real name was Yiorgos Tsoros although he was known as Yiorgos Ampatis. He had a great love for music and musical instruments (baglamas, bouzouki, etc.).

Life and career

He was born in Methana in 1885 and moved to Piraeus when he was very young.

He served in the Greek army from 1912 to 1918. In the mid-1920s, he opened a music school called "Carmen". He opened a café named "Georges Baté" in 1931 and formed one of the most important scenes of rebetiko music. He continued to work as a quack-salesman, improvising treatments for toothake and other minor ailments. He kept a collection of many instruments and also used to name them. In 1933, Yiorgos Batis did his first sound-recording with bouzouki in Greece. In the 1930s, he dedicated himself solely to music and collaborated closely with Anestis Delias, Markos Vamvakaris, and Stratos Pagioumtzis in a rebetiko band (Greek: Η τετράς η ξακουστή του Πειραιώς, romanized: I Tetras i Xakousti tou Peiraios, lit. 'the Famous Quartet of Piraeus').

He appeared in Alekos Sakelariou's 1954 film (Greek: Οι παπατζήδες, romanized: Oi papatzides, lit. 'The Priests'). He died in Piraeus on March 10, 1967.