"Your Homeland And The Phonograph" (old advertisement)

The following advertisement was found on the back cover of the Pharos Records songbook of 1928. Pharos Records was an Armenian-owned record company in New York City in the 1920s. Their catalogue contained numerous Armenian and Turkish songs by mostly Armenian artists, with Greek and a few other ethnicities represented. The songbook is a valuable document with lyrics to the songs that are on many of their records, whether in Armenian or Turkish, printed in Armenian letters.

Pharos was not a producer of phonograph equipment and the advertisement below was not selling any particular brand of phonograph. But of course, Pharos wanted you to have a phonograph, so that you could buy their records to play on it. The ad is interesting and touching because it probably gives some of the real reasons that early Armenian immigrants did buy phonographs, and what listening to Armenian and Turkish songs meant to them, especially considering the events of 1915.

Your Homeland And The Phonograph

                The phonograph is that instrument of music, through the grace of which it has become possible to make alive the songs of the homeland and the sweet memories of them. The picture of your ancestral country, the faces of its folk singers, and each syllable of all those songs which lullabied your childhood to sleep and enflamed your youth, will always remain burning and alive in your memory through the grace of the phonograph.

                Let the phonograph be an indispensable object in your house, a beautiful ornament in your parlor, and enjoy it a bit, in order to draw inspiration from the pleasures of an unmatched branch of the fine arts, Music.

                The phonograph is the live communicator of music, through the grace of which you can at all times, in your home, have near you all the singers, not only those who are your compatriots, but also those belonging to other nations and who have fame and talent. Through the grace of the phonograph, even the dead artists will speak with you in the sweet-sounding language of their songs.

Coffeehouse Classics

That's the voice of Garbis Bakirgian, better known as Kanuni Garbis. I know, to many of you this will sound like "middle eastern wailing." But listen to the voice. His pitch is impeccable and his dynamics and the sustain of his voice are too. It's just that the music he performs isn't everybody's cup of tea.  It's what we kef music fans call "heavy." This isn't the usual Armenian dance music heard at parties - it's listening music, the type of thing you would hear in a coffeehouse, and usually sung in Turkish. In the old days, Armenian coffeehouses were common in the US. In the 1920s on South Solvay Street ("Armenian Boulevard") in Delray, Detroit, there were at least 10. These were places where men gathered to talk and argue, often about Armenian politics. "Incidentally" (as Saroyan wrote) they also played tavloo (backgammon), cards, smoked, and of course, drank Turkish coffee. Saroyan humorously claimed that the coffeehouse was invented so the men could get away from their wives, and there's probably some truth to that statement. Women never entered the establishments.

Anyway, Garbis was a well known player of the kanun, a singer, and often worked with oudist and singer Marko Melkon. (A kanun is an instrument similar to the zither, see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qanun_%28instrument%29) Garbis and Melkon were very big in the kef scene but I haven't posted much of them because most of it is available on CD. Here the oud is played by Marko Melkon and the violin by Nick Doneff. Lyrics (Turkish): "They said [to me] don't love a sweetheart, you'll become her enemy, and you'll become an enemy to your friends too"

KANUNI GARBIS SARGAVAK BAKIRGIAN

Garbis was born in Turkey in 1885 and was a well known musician in Istanbul who also toured the Mideast with his band. Garbis was known for his voice and his knowledge of Eastern music theory (makams) even more so than for playing the kanun. He played at the court of Sultan Abdul Hamid (otherwise known for massacring thousands of Armenians in 1894-95), and because of his voice was ordained a deacon in the Armenian Church to serve as soloist for the legendary Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople Maghakia Ormanian. In 1922 (the same year Ataturk succeeded in taking over Turkey), Garbis immigrated to the U.S. Garbis played in NYC until health reasons forced him to seek the warmer climate of Fresno, California, in 1949. In 1950 Richard Hagopian, still a kid, began taking lessons from him, on the advice of Oudi Hrant. (Richard got his unique singing style from Garbis.) Garbis died in 1969 and is buried with his wife Takouhie in...suprise, suprise...Glendale, California.

In case you were wondering, this is the type of music you are supposed to listen to when smoking a nargileh (hookah). Not pop or house or techno.

Kef in Review: the Summer of 2013

Hello to everyone out there in cyperspace - I can't believe it's been since April that I've blogged on here. A lot has taken place since then. So here's the rundown of the latest Kef events.
(Click below to hear a clip from Kef Time Providence: Onnik Dinkjian singing Ko Siro Hamar with an oud solo by John Berberian)

SPORTS WEEKEND/KEF TIME PROVIDENCE

L to R: Mal Barsamian, Richard Hagopian, John Berberian
at Kef Time Providence/ACYOA Sports Weekend

This year's ACYOA (Armenian Church Youth Organization) General Assembly and Sports Weekend was held in Providence on Memorial Day (yes I know that was a long time ago!). The entertainment for Saturday night was a dance held officially under the auspices of the local parish (rather than the ACYOA), billed as "Kef Time Providence." And boy did they put together some band! The headliners were Richard Hagopian (oud/vocals), John Berberian (oud), and Onnik Dinkjian (vocals). Betwen the three of them, we've got two of what I would rank as the top three living Armenian oudists (the other being John Bilezikjian), as well as the two most popular vocalists in the kef genre. I've never heard of the three of them being on one stage at once and neither had most people I talked to. The rest of the band was a veteran group as well, up to the task of participating in this supergroup: Mal Barsamian (clarinet), Ara Dinkjian (background keyboard), Ron Tutunjian (dumbeg), Chris Vosbikian (dumbeg), Paul Mooradian (one of the most veteran musicians in the kef scene) on tambourine (which we call the "daf"), and up and coming oudist Brian Ansbigian (the only member of the group in his 20s). Before the music started, I had no idea what to expect. All these people had never been on one stage before. How would they balance out all the star players that were on stage? My friends and I went with Brian to the the ballroom when the musicians were setting up. It was there that I snapped this photo of the two masters conferring (Richard Hagopian with his back to the camera and John Berberian facing it), one would assume to discuss the format of the evening's music:

The Summit Meeting

In any case they did not disappoint. What ended up happening was that John and Richard played oud at the same time (their hands were practically strumming up and down in unison), accompanied by the rest of the group. It seems to me that Richard took most of the taksim intros and John took most of the "rides" (solos during the song). Richard and Onnik switched off on vocals, and the group performed many of the signature songs of Richard, Onnik, and John.

Richard and John grinding away

A friend of mine was continually telling me as we stood watching in awe: "This is it, Harry. This is the best it's ever going to get." While I didn't want to think that I would never see a performance this good again, he had a point. It's unlikely we'll see all three of these guys on the same stage again. All three of course are legends, but my personal favorite is Richard Hagopian (John or Onnik are just as good - its just personal preference), and my all time favorite song played by him is Parov Yegar Siroon Yar, an Armenian love song written by Oudi Hrant. I was sitting with the girlfriend of a friend of mine (who had gone to use the restroom) when Richard started to play a taksim in his old familiar style:
I was really feeling it - a mixture of excitement and contentment/relaxation/nostalgia in hearing my favorite music live. To me its a sensation like no other. Kef still lives and all is right in the world. But then when the melody started into "Parov Yegar" I couldn't control myself. It was drawing me irresistibly to the dance floor. I felt bad about leaving the girl sitting by herself, especially because she didn't know anyone else there, but she said "no, go ahead."  Figuring my friend would return momentarily I made it for the dance floor. My favorite song, this was it! And not only that, but it turned into an epic medley. Parov Yegar was followed by a clarinet solo by Mal, then "Sivasda Bir Yar Sevdim" (a popular Turkish number), then a oud solo by what sounds like John Berberian from the recording, then "Hele Hele Ninnaye" the well known Armenian folk song of Dikranagerd (among other places), on which Richard and Onnik (a Dikranagertsi himself) traded verses back and forth, "Dikranagerdi Halay", and finally "Sut Ictim Dilim Yandi" (Turkish) during which I experienced some new dance moves :) It was an unbelievable performance, but the rest of the dance was just as great, as you can hear from the short clip at the top.

The end of the night (Richard picking up dollar bills
that are customarily thrown at the musicians)

RETURN TO ASBURY

While you're listening to the 15 minute-long clip I just threw at you, let me tell you a little about the Asbury Kef. This event took place August 2-4 in Asbury Park, New Jersey. In the 40s, 50s, and 60s, Asbury Park was a popular summer resort town frequented by Armenians (among other people). However, it's probably best known as the Jersey Shore beach town where Bruce Springsteen got his start. At any rate the idea of the weekend was to recreate the old glory days of Armenians going to the Shore with hanging out at the beach during the day and socializing at night. The title of this event was "Return to Asbury" and the Armenian Students Association (ASA) did a great job putting it on. One of the stated purposes was to propagate the traditional Armenian dance parties with a live band playing the old instruments, meaning kef music and other traditional styles of Armenian music - in my mind a great cause. The first night was a bar night and the second night was a dance. My cousin and I drove all the way from Detroit to Asbury Park, a feat I don't think I'll try again. We stayed in Ocean Grove with its interesting Victorian architecture. During the day before the dance there was a happy hour at the pool at which dumbeg player Ohannes Berin had organized an open jam session (or as they called it in the old days, a "hookup"). He had contacted me to play at it as well as serve as MC, and I agreed. Ohannes asked me if I could get other musician friends to participate and I was able to get Paul Derderian on oud and Mike Givelekian on vocals. The others didn't step up to the plate....you know who you are. :) Nevertheless we had a GREAT time.

L to R: Paul Derderian, myself, Ohannes Berin

During the jam session I played clarinet, Paul played oud and Ohannes, dumbeg. Mike G. and I shared vocal duties. We also had as guest vocalist Mike's father Mirijohn who did a great rendition of Dele Yaman! I'm sure someone has video of this. Michael Gostanian (probably the most prominent kef singer in the younger generation) even sat in on dumbeg. In all we had a great time and thank you to Ohannes for organizing this. 

The dance was played by a combination of the Michael Gostanian Ensemble and the Artsakh Band, with Chris Marashlian on bass guitar. I wish I could name all the musicians but I can't. To my memory, Chris Vosbikian (dumbeg) and Stevie Vosbikian (clarinet) were there, Michael Gostanian (vocals), Armen Sevag (violin), Anthony Deese, Aram Hovagimian (keyboard), Antranig Kzirian (oud), and Chris Marashlian (bass guitar). I think Dave Hoplamazian was also there (?) but we've already got two ouds and a violin so if he was I don't know what he played. Sorry kefji's I can't remember much of that night! I know some of you will read this so please send in corrections. A special guest who showed up in town at the last minute was Brian Ansbigian on the oud. I don't remember too many specific details from that night but the two bands kept the crowd dancing nonstop and we did everything from tak bar to tamzara. In all, the assembled kefjis of the young generation did a spectacular job. 

After the dance we had a little hookup of our own in the hotel lobby, Brian played oud, I sang, Garo Papazian (I don't remember where he showed up from!) played dumbeg, and Ohannes played tambourine. Stevie Vosbikian also joined us on dumbeg at one point. Now at this time all the bars in town closed down because it was 2 AM or whatever. So a stream of people started showing up at the hotel, who were staying there. For some reason, they were all hipsters. This crowd of hipsters enters the lobby as we are in full blown kef mode playing and singing really heavy stuff, like chifte telli's and whatnot. The hipsters were enthralled by our sounds and crowded around us. They started to ask Brian questions. "What is that" (an oud) "What kind of music is this" (Armenian) "Where are you guys from" (Brian says Boston) "Do you do this in Boston? I want to be Armenian!" (said one drunken hipster). If any of you hipsters are reading this I'm glad we were able to introduce you to our music. So that was my kefji summer. I was unable to attend AYF Olympics as I had a friend's wedding to attend. But I did get to play oud and sing at the henna party the night before the wedding!  (the bride is a huge fan of kef music). Unfortunately the hotel had no microphones and no one could hear me. We had fun anyway. If anyone has stories or videos or audio of the music at AYF Olympics, feel free to post it and/or send it to me and I will put it up. OK, that's all for now. Next post I will catch you all up on the events of the past couple months, get back to checking out my 78s collection, and explain what a henna party is.

The inevitable Lobby Hookup - yes, we do this at every Armenian event
L to R: Me, Garo Papazian, Brian Ansbigian, Ohannes Berin, Paul Derderian.
With his back to the photo, Timothy "Dimig" Aivazian.
Brian intentionally posing as the young John Berberian from the cover of Oud Artistry.

In Memory of the Armenian Genocide of 1915

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtcSavLRWpE
click on the above link to hear "Derzor Dasdanaaci" by Vahan Boyajian

First a couple notes, yes I know I'm almost a week late on this, but what can I say. Second, I actually own this same record but when I tried to upload it to Soundcloud it kept coming out extremely soft even though it was playing loud and clear on my iTunes. So that's why we have a link today instead of an embedded track.

Derzor Dasdaanaci means something like "the ballad singer of Derzor" or "one who sings a ballad about Derzor." A destan is a type of Turkish song that I am roughly translating as ballad. And the c is pronounced as a "j" here according to modern Turkish spelling. This song is more commonly known as "Derzor Cheollerinde" (Derzor Çöllerinde) meaning "in the deserts of Derzor." Derzor or Der Zor is the Armenian name for Deir ez-Zor, a city in present day Syria. During the Armenian Genocide of 1915, it was the main destination of the deportations ("death marches") of the Armenians from their homes by the Ottoman Turkish forces. When the Armenians arrived in the desert outside Der Zor, they were killed. Even though it is actually the name of a city in Syria, to most Armenians the words "Der Zor" has no other meaning than "the killing fields."

This song, sung in Turkish, describes the conditions in Der Zor during the genocide. It was apparently composed by those who were on the death march. Dr. Verjine Svazlian has done much research on this and other songs related to the Genocide, all sung in Turkish. A summary of her research can be found here: http://www.cilicia.com/armo_geno-songs.html

The first verse of Boyajian's version goes like this (in phonetic spelling):

Der Zor cheollerinde yarali chokdir - In the deserts of Der Zor there are many wounded
Gelme doktor, gelme, charesi yokdir - Don't come doctor, don't come, there is no remedy
Bir Allahdan gayri hech kimsem yokdir - Aside from the One God I have no one at all
Millet ughurina giden Ermeni - Armenians who go (i.e. march, are deported) for the sake of the Millet

He also ends every verse with that last line. Millet is a special word used in Ottoman Turkish often translated "nation," which in our modern parlance would be translated "ethnic group." The Ottoman Empire had 4 main Millets, the Islamic Millet, the Greek Millet, the Armenian Millet, and the Jewish Millet, in addition to the smaller millets such as the Assyrians or the Protestants. Each ethnic group was self-ruling in internal matters like education, marriage and divorce, and inheritance law. The head of each ethnic group was their religious patriarch, who was directly answerable to the Sultan. Of course in the case of the Muslims, the Sultan himself was basically their patriarch (as the Caliph). So in other words, the Armenians were being deported and killed because of their ethnicity.

Other versions of the song have "Dininin ughurina giden Ermeni" (Armenians who go for the sake of their religion), or "Armenians who die for....."

Vahan Boyajian was an Armenian singer who recorded as far as I can tell, almost exclusively in Turkish. He was an immigrant to the US and recorded here in the 1920s for Columbia as well as his own record label "Bilbil" (Nightingale) as seen in the above video. Here he is accompanied by the typical violin and oud duo.

My great-grandmother Vartanoush narrowly escaped being sent to Der Zor by paying a large bribe to the Turkish gendarmes while the caravan was near the city of Rakka in present day Syria. She and her family crossed the river into Rakka where they lived for a time, before her family all died, she was adopted by Bedouin Arabs, and after the war, sent to an orphanage in Aleppo and subsequently brought to the United States in 1921 to be the bride of my great grandfather Onneg Kezelian. Grandma Vartanoush's sister-in-law Sirvart was not so lucky, however. After being taken to Der Zor, the group she was with was slaughtered. She was cut across the back with a sword and she fell, they thought she died but later someone came and found her and another woman still alive, she was taken away and eventually came to America where she remarried my great-grandfather's cousin - but she had the scar of the sword mark in her back the rest of her life. I could go on and tell about my other great-grandparents that were in the massacres but I'll leave it at that so as to not drag out this post. This post is in memory of all those who died in 1915, and to all those who survived. Asdvadz hokineruh lousavoreh/may God enlighten their souls.

PS here is another version of the song, sung a capella by Vartan Shahpazian from Kharpert, living in Fresno in 1939 http://memory.loc.gov/afc/afccc/audio/a426/a4266b2.wav

It is also interesting to note the similarity of this melody to Gyozals Khrov Eh by Kusan Shahen