Of course you don't because it's not even Greek.  It's actually a French word that refers
to a specific style of Greek music, the golden age of Greek music.  

The word ‘BOITE’ (pronounced ‘bwat’), is French and it literally means ‘box’.
It has been widely used to characterize those music places where the best quality of
Greek music was performed. It was the era of the so called “new wave”, the golden age of
Greek song, when some of the best-known Greek artists began to emerge, setting the
foundation and providing the momentum which kept quality Greek music alive to date.

 Manos Hatdjidakis and Mikis Theodorakis were well known in the 60's and 70’s. The BOITE era
 brought to prominence new composers such as Yiannis Spanos, Manos Loizos, Stavros
Kougioumtzis as well as great singer-composers Dionisis Savopoulos and Kostas Hadjis.
Other well-known boite-style/performer-representatives at that time were Lakis Papas,
Giorgos Zografos, Mihalis Violaris, Yiannis Poulopoulos, Kostas Smokovitis, George Dalaras,
Dimitra Galani, Arleta, Popi Asreriadi, Keti Homata, Haris Alexiou, and many others.

 The main characteristic of the “BOITE”, as a place of musical entertainment, was precisely
 what we miss and long for today: An informal sing along atmosphere, high quality, natural
sounds that do not pierce our eardrums played on authentic, non-electric instruments and
songs with meaningful lyrics and high quality ear-pleasing melodies. It was this kind of
entertainment that had an unprecedented cross-generational appeal from the 60's through
the 80's.

Now is your chance to relive that Golden Age of Boite Music at the Hellenic Cultural Center.
 FRIDAY & SATURDAY APRIL 20-21 @ 7:30PM   SUNDAY APRIL 22nd @ 5 PM 
A UNIQUE ONE OF A KIND MUSIC AND SONG CONCERT   
A REVIVAL OF THE ATHENIAN AND NEW YORK BOITE ERA THE GOLDEN PERIOD OF GREEK MUSIC 
AND SONG with Grigoris  Maninakis and the Mikrokosmos Ensemble with the participation 
of Greek American youth and guest artists from Greece and New York 

At the Hellenic Cultural Center of the Archdiocese, Astoria NY 
Information-Reservations @ 718-626-5111 or 917-915-8647