Who Are These Guys?

I've had some requests for more pictures on the blog so here's an interesting one I have come across. These gentlemen are apparently the "Ardziv" Band of Philadelphia. The picture was accompanied by an advertisement for 2 of their records, "Lai-Lai Sofigus" and "Khunchouyki Yerk" along with the lyrics to the songs. (Khunchouyki Yerk is the well known Wine Song or Seghann Eh Arad; Sofig was the second part of the opening number on John Berberian's "Echoes of Armenia" album with Onnik Dinkjian and Armen Babamian on vocals). I have no idea who the guys in this band are, and would welcome any information about them. The picture was cut out of an old Armenian newspaper, I'm guessing from the 1950s based on other clippings found with it. This picture shows a typical Armenian band of the 20s-40s, almost certainly of the immigrant generation. Oud, violin, and drum was a very popular combination in that era. The plucked and sustained sounds of the oud and violin respectively, complement each other, and the drum of course gives the beat. The fact that the oud and violin are both fretless and can play any note also adds to the versatility of this combo.

Since I haven't before, let me also explain the title picture that appears at the top of the blog. This was found in a book on Yerzinga published in Yerevan, but the picture is of a Yerzengatsi picnic in Detroit! As you can tell the picture shows one man playing the oud and another the tambourine while a woman and man dance, and a crowd looks on. (The man dancing with the woman is at the far right). If anyone knows who any of the people are in that picture I would welcome that information as well. The picture is I believe from the 1930s but I am not sure.

For those unfamiliar with Armenian culture the style of dance they are doing is called "tak bar" which is usually a couples dance with a man and a woman, facing each other with arms at shoulder length and forward, sometimes snapping fingers. This is the second most common type of Armenian folk dance, after the line or circle dances where a large group lines up linked by pinkies and dances that way. The Armenian youth today refer "tak bar" in English as "freestyle". As you can see from her face it seems the woman is really feeling the music.

Ode To The Gamavors

Karekin Proodian - Gamavor Zinvor by Harry Kezelian

Hello everyone, the hiatus is over and "Kef Time U.S.A." is officially back in action.

Today's recording, "Gamavor Zinvor" is in 10/8 time and is sung in Armenian by Karekin Proodian with oud and violin accompaniment. (The oud is possibly played by Mr. Proodian himself). This was originally recorded in the 1920's on M.G. Parsekian Records and later in the 20's pressed by Pharos Records, who seem to have bought out MGP (both were independent Armenian record labels). Note the nice taksim intro on the oud.

The lyrics are as follows:

Gamavor zinvor too yes - You are a volunteer (gamavor) soldier
Verkis palasan too yes - You are balm for my wounds
Amen kisher kez g'erazem - Every night I dream of you
Srdis hadoruh too yes - You are a piece of my heart

Yes ullam, yes ullam, hop! - I want to be, I want to be (hop!)*
Koo dadragut yes ullam - I want to be your turtledove
Asdoodzmen meg moorad g'oozem - I want one wish from God
Hureshdagut yes ullam (2nd time: nushanadzut yes ullam) - That I should be your angel (2nd time: that I should be your fiancee)

Guh kales zinvori bes - You walk like a soldier
Getsvadzkut usbayi bes - Your stance like an officer
Ches garogh kudnel aghchig muh - You cannot find a girl
Vor kez sire indzi bes - Who would love you like me

Yes ullam, yes ullam, hop! - I want to be, I want to be, (hop)*
Koo dadragut yes ullam - I want to be your turtledove
Yegeghetsin jermag koghkov - In church, in a white veil
Kovut ganknadz yes ullam - I want to be standing next to you

*Hop or Hopa is an Armenian exclamation similar to the Greek "Opa"

Although gamavor simply means "volunteer" in Armenian, it also has a specific historical connotation. The Gamavors were members of the "Armenian Legion" which fought under French command against the Turks during World War I. The recruits were made up mostly of the Armenian Genocide survivors of Musa Dagh, then living in refugee camps in Port Said, Egypt, and Armenian immigrants living in the US. Musa Dagh was a mountain with 6 Armenian villages just north of Antioch. When the Turkish Army came to deport the Armenians there, the Armenians had engaged in armed resistance and held out until they were rescued by a French battleship. The Armenian Legion fought notably in the Battle of Arara in Palestine and then, with other French forces, moved north into Cilicia, which they occupied while the exiled Armenians returned and declared independence. After a couple years, the new Kemalist Turkish army drove the French out and the (native) Armenians with them. This song is in tribute to those brave soldiers. It was later made popular by Mike Sarkissian - more information about Sarkissian and his version of the song is found on Prof. Leon Janikian's site, The Archive of Armenian Music in America. The song has proved popular and was recorded by John Berberian in '66 (instrumental only), the Vosbikian Band with the late Joe Vosbikian on vocals in  '97, and by Khatchig Jingirian in 2009 (in a 6/8 meter). The beginning of this youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tTBF201BIU also features the song played by John Tarpinian and Souren Baronian, in a style similar to John Berberian's '66 version - on which Souren played.

Nor Daree, Kef Style

Though I have been absent from the blog for a couple months, I would like to take the opportunity of a New Year's Resolution to start blogging again. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Armenian Christmas (this Sunday, January 6) to all my readers.

There have been an inordinate amount of events planned for this year featuring popular Armenian singer Onnik Dinkjian - and not without good reason. At the age of approximately 83, Onnik is still a powerhouse performer. It truly is a feat incredible for his age. The Paris-born Onnik, who came to America as a young man, is often known as the "Frank Sinatra of Armenian Music" but even the Chairman of the Board had to retire from singing at age 79, while Onnik showed no signs of stopping in the two events I saw him at recently. The man's vocals are still incredible as well as inimitable and his energy onstage is unreal for a man of his age. The first event I attended was held in December, in Detroit (Onnik had recently played Providence on Thanksgiving weekend), which was sponsored by St. John's Armenian Church. This was a high-toned dinner dance, and the entertainment definitely focused on Onnik himself. He did all his signature songs, such as Havada Sirelis, Aghmoogi, Amenu Daran (a folk song from Dikranagerd), Agh Anoushes (Misirlou with Armenian lyrics), and Hey Jan Yerevan. He even sang a few stanzas in French in the middle of a fast Armenian dance number, in fact he did this twice as I recall. Onnik also continually connected with the audience, making remarks such as: "Wow, you guys can really dance!" and "I don't know about you, but I'm having a great time" and "I've been here (Detroit) before, but I've never seen anything like this!" (there was a 300+ crowd, large for an Armenian dinner-dance) delivered in his French-Armenian accent. He came down off the stage and strolled around the dancefloor, singing directly to various attendees. In short Onnik was Onnik and there was no stopping him. In a future post I may say more about Onnik's career but here I am focusing on the two events.

The second event I attended was PAND 2013. PAND stands for Philadelphia Armenian Nor Daree (New Year), and it is a two-day dance event thrown by an independent committee of Armenians in Philly, with the proceeds going to the 5 Armenian Churches in the Philadelphia area (including the Protestant and Catholic Armenian Church - most Armenians being Orthodox). As many readers of this blog will know, the Armenian community is horribly divided into factions due to political issues which we won't discuss here. But PAND is one of those few events/organizations that bring all members of the Armenian community together in unity. No one feels out of place at PAND, and its been going strong for some 30 years. At the Eve of the Eve Dance, Armenian pop singer Harout Balyan kept the dancers going, but for me, and the other "kefjies" the best was yet to come on New Year's Eve itself. This year, a really amazing team of musicians was brought together by the committee, and although Onnik was the featured attraction, the musical entertainment was just as focused on the accompanying musicians - Greg Vosbikian (oud), Dave Hoplamazian (violin), Chris Vosbikian (dumbeg), Jake Terkanian (dumbeg) and the internationally known composer-musician Ara Dinkjian on keyboard. Ara seemed to be serving as the "maestro" for everything that went on on stage. Onnik was once again at the top of his game and sang many popular Armenian songs such as the ones already listed. As I entered the room i heard the familiar strains of the "Laz Bar," one of the traditional Armenian dances, and headed immediately to the foot of the stage with a musician friend. I spent much of the time at the stage just watching the band play, as in between stanzas Greg Vosbikian took oud solos or Dave Hoplamazian took violin solos (both of which were outstanding). Chris and Jake even had a double drum solo on one song. It was a combination of all ages of musicians - the senior Onnik, middle aged Greg and Ara (Onnik's son) and the latest generation of musicians - Dave, Chris (Greg's son), and Jake, who i'm guessing are in their 30s. It was one of the hottest combinations of players that had been seen in Philadelphia, or anywhere else, in a long time. I can remember Mr. Vosbikian taking a solo and Onnik just feeling the music, giving Greg the limelight. I remember Dave's unique violin solos which were applauded with shouts of "Aferim" ("Bravo" in Turkish)...and Chris and Jake's wild, back to back drum solo's, which were just incredible. It was a night I will not soon forget. If anyone has video from the night, if you send it to me I will post it in this blog. I am sorry but I do not have any material to post that would do justice to this evening. I encourage my readers to purchase Onnik Dinkjian's albums, as well as those of the other musicians. Onnik himself, in addition to his impeccable vocals, talked with the audience just as he did in Detroit, although he didn't come offstage (or at least I didn't see it), dedicated a song to his granddaughter (who was in attendance) and encouraged audience participation (shouting "hey" on Hey Jan Yerevan). For me the highlight of the evening was when Onnik held the microphone up in front of the stage, and along with him, a huge group mostly of young people in their 20s, many 4th generation Armenians-Americans like myself, sang - actually shouted the chorus of the Armenian Wine Drinking Song: "Lutsnenk Ungerner, Pazhagneruh Li, Togh Hayots Kini, Mez Anoush Lini." The translation is "Friends, fill the glasses full - may the wine of the Armenians be sweet for us." These immortal words were penned by the poet Sarmen, and set to music by composer "Kousan" (minstrel) Garo Zakarian, both Soviet Armenians, yet this song is extraordinarily popular among American-Armenians, especially during wine toasts. To their words, "may the wine of the Armenians be sweet for us," I can only add, may the music of the Armenians be sweet to our ears.

10/8: if you have to ask, you'll never understand

 The title of this posting is, of course, a play on Louis Armstrong’s famous response to the question “what exactly is jazz?” So what is 10/8? 10/8 is a rhythm used in Armenian music, but even if you try and count it out you probably won’t get it; it has a weird syncopation to it that those who haven’t grown up with it find it very hard to pick up (unless perhaps you are a professional percussionist). Here is a great example of a brisk 10/8 meter: the well known “Husenigin Sazera Medley” by (yet again) the Kef Time Band. (Richard Hagopian on oud and vocals, Hachig Kazarian on clarinet, et. al.) 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9vWNppTGA8

10/8 (as played in this song) is pretty much restricted to Armenian, Turkish, and Syriac music – and in the realm of Armenian music, it’s only used in Western Armenian kef music as played in America, and basically, not in any other genre. (They’ve never heard of a 10/8 in Armenia. There’s no sheet music with this rhythm either, outside of Turkey.) If you don’t have a very good feel for 10/8, for the swing and the nuance of the rhythm, you won’t be able to just get up and play along. And I find if you can’t feel the rhythm of a song, you’re not going to enjoy the song or understand why it appeals to others. Hence the title phrase of this post. But hey, prove me wrong. Just to be clear I’m not trying to insult the rest of the world, I just think that it’s hard to appreciate this style of song if you didn’t grow up with it.

Someone (I can’t remember where I read it) once described the 9/4 zeybek rhythm as “the soul rhythm of Smyrna.” I would call 10/8 the soul rhythm of the Armenian-Americans. Our favorite dance, the “shuffle,” is done in 10/8 rhythm. A lot of our dances are difficult, but doing the shuffle is like riding a bike – once you really have it in your bones, it falls into place like a beautiful I-don’t-know-what. I’ve been to so many Armenian dances I could practically do the shuffle in my sleep. It’s as if an Armenian’s heart beats in 10/8 instead of 4/4. But again, the shuffle is an Armenian-American dance created in America. It is unknown in the old country, or what’s left of the old country, to be precise. But does that make it any less Armenian? It’s as least as Armenian as William Saroyan, if not more. 

All our best and most important songs are in 10/8 rhythm, like “Hars oo Pesa,” (Bride and Groom) a folk tune hailing from Kharpert which has become the pan-Armenian-American wedding song (at least for those who have kef time music at their weddings). Here’s how it goes down in suburban Detroit. The wedding party, pinkies joined, waits outside the doors of the reception hall. The oudist plays an introductory taksim (basically an instrumental solo, but that’s a story for another post) and as the anticipation bubbles up, announces the bride and groom. Then, as the doors are swung open, the beat of the song begins – and the anticipation bubbles over and explodes, and relief sets in that, yes indeed they did get married! And joyfulness with a touch of familiarity, upon hearing that sweet, good old beat of the 10/8 rhythm, fills all the wedding guests. Upon seeing the new bride and groom dance into the hall to that beat, a sweet feeling of nostalgia for all weddings past and hope for all weddings in the future accompanies the joy for the wedding of the present. It’s practically a spiritual experience. 

I don’t have an example of “Hars-oo-Pesa,” but I do have a 1920s example of Husenigin Sazera (here entitled Ouy Janem, this is the Dikranagerdtsi version while the first example was the Kharpertsi variant.) The following will link you to Ouy Janem, sung by Karekin Proodian (with oud and violin accompaniment), an early Armenian immigrant musician best known for his composition of yet another 10/8, “Sheg Mazerov Er” (She Had Blonde Hair), which can be found on itunes on the album Kef Time Detroit. And without further ado, Mr. Proodian:

Ouy Janem - Karekin Proodian (click me)

The way to count it, if you really want to know, is 1-2-3 1-2 1-2 1-2-3 with the accent on each count of “one”. Except do it at double speed because it’s really not 10/8, it’s 10/16 and we just call it 10/8 out of convenience. But note that it is not 5/8 because it doesn’t repeat itself until you’ve done 10 counts.