New book on Armenia Diaspora Music

For possibly the first time in history, a full length book in English, and a scholarly one at that, has been published which includes an in depth look at kef music.

Sylvia Alajaji, Ph.D., has written the book "Music And The Armenian Diaspora: Searching For Home In Exile."

Dr. Alajaji is an Associate Professor of Music at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Her research through the discipline of ethnomusicology has led her to compose this book which is the first of its kind, though several articles, theses or dissertations (including by the author herself) have been done on the topic. Interviews with leading authorities on different styles of Armenian music including kef music legend Richard Hagopian have contributed to the making of the book. I myself have ordered the book and I promise a review of it at some point in the near future to appear here on "Kef Time USA."

As far as I can tell, the book is an analysis of the differing developments or conceptualizations of Armenian music in different diaspora communities after the Genocide. Armenians in Lebanon performed semi-classical Armenian folk music with a nationalist direction, following in the footsteps of Gomidas, and later developed Armenian pop music (estradayin). Armenians in the US played the music they had played in the Ottoman Empire, in Armenian and Turkish languages, in a Near Eastern style (kef music). Finally the Lebanese Armenian and American Armenian music cultures came into confict when the Lebanese Armenians immigrated in large numbers to especially Southern California after the Lebanese Civil War broke out in 1975.

The author's starting point is the question "what is Armenian music?" and she seems to be highlighting how the musical differences in the different diaspora communities reflected different conceptualizations of Armenianness, politics, etc.

The chapters of the book are:
1. Ottoman Empire, 1890-1915
2. New York, 1932-1958
3. Beirut, 1932-1958
4. Beirut 1958-1980
5. California

...representing as far as I can tell, 1. Gomidas, 2. immigrant kef musicians in NYC Greektown, 3. Semi Classical Armenian folk music in Lebanon 4. Armenian pop music in Lebanon 5. Armenian pop music meets kef music in California

The book is certain to be interesting. I found a teaser youtube video of Prof. Alajaji explaining her book somewhat to another academic at Duke University:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFKHzdLFDU8

Unfortunately for our purposes, she didn't say much about kef music in the interview but it was interesting nonetheless and I'm looking forward to reading the book! To be continued.....

"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.

Onnik's latest album takes us back to the "old country," but with a fresh vibe

For years, singer Onnik Dinkjian has been one of the biggest names in the Armenian-American kef scene. Born in Paris in 1929, and living in America since 1946, Onnik might be the oldest active kef musician today but his energy still outpaces many of his younger peers. Personally, I last saw him sing at AYF Olympics in Detroit last September and in the words of my generation, he "killed it." Both Onnik and oudist son Ara's careers have been profiled elsewhere and I will get straight to the point of my post.

Onnik's latest production, "Diyarbekiri Hokin" (The Soul Of Diyarbekir [Dikranagerd]), is truly a landmark album in our music. I knew that a recording specifically of Dikranagerdtsi folk music was in the works, and that fact in itself was notable, as far as I was concerned. But I didn't anticipate how great the album would actually turn out!!! From the first listen I couldn't believe my ears. Onnik, and son Ara who led the ensemble on oud and did most of arrangements along with Istanbul-Armenian guitarist Ari Hergel, managed to create an album that was as traditional as you could possibly get in this day and age, yet sounded fresh, alive, vibrant. Musician friends around the country agreed with me that this album was something special. Opening with a traditional Diyarbakir Peshrev, the audience is kept waiting for Onnik's vocals but enjoys this expertly played Near Eastern classical piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNFFA9gYIfg, setting the mood for the album you are about to hear. Best enjoyed with a bottle of arak, mezza, and good friends, this is not your typical "kef" dance album, but a real work of art.

The instrumentation and songs are completely traditional but the arrangements at times were very modern, especially in the background rhythm section. On the intro to a few of the songs you hear some modern guitar playing and percussion that then leads into a traditional kef song. But even the typical kef songs were made fresh and new by Onnik's interpretation. For example, on the every popular song "Kale Kale" (i.e. Hayde Kale) Onnik sings not like he's at a kef belting out lyrics, but gently, as if he's in his backyard singing to his wife or perhaps granddaughter. Of course, this understated style was always what has set Onnik apart from his fellow kef singers and earned him the name of "the Armenian Frank Sinatra." This song in particular was a highlight for me and one feels you can actually hear Onnik smile as he sings the lyrics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE4Cthhw2Ms

ARA AND ONNIK

An interesting aspect of the album were the two tracks interspersed between the songs, where Onnik speaks in fluent Diyarbekir Armenian dialect about life in the old country. Most Armenians will be unable to understand it - I was just able to get the gist of what topics he was discussing - but his enthusiasm shows through and it is a valuable legacy of our heritage. Maybe those tracks will go over a little better in New Jersey :)

In correspondence with Ara, he told me that his intention with the project was "to reclaim Armenians' historical presence in Dikranagerd". To this end, many songs from Dikranagerd that previously have been sung in both Kurdish and Turkish (by Armenians as well as Turks and Kurds) were sung with lyrics written mostly in Diyarbakir Armenian dialect by Onnik, or lyrics taken from Dikranagerdsi Armenian poetry or folk songs. Devoted kef music fans will note the song "Liberde" recorded by John Berberian with Robert Afarian on vocals, done here as "Siranoush." The instrumentation seems to have been chosen with the same idea in mind, taking us back to the Diyarbakir that could have been if 1915 had never happened. Notably, the producer of the album, Aytekin Ataş, who FUNDED the entire project is a Kurd from Turkey. If you have been following Armenian current events, you know the now Kurdish-run municipality of Diyarbakir gave the historic St. Giragos Church back to the Armenian community, the first return of a historic Armenian church to ever take place since 1915 (see http://armenianweekly.com/2011/10/25/mouradian-armenians-locals-in-diyarbakir-send-powerful-message/) (Onnik mentions the St. Giragos church in his Diyarbakir monologues on the album.) Aytekin, like the leaders of the Diyarbakir municipality, is one of a growing number of Kurds who have embraced the Armenian cause (which as Ara reminded me, is really a human cause), sometimes putting themselves at risk for doing so. Not only Kurds, but Turks as well, as the ensemble on this recording, aside from Onnik, Ara, Ari, and Greek kemence player Socratis Sinopoulos, were to my knowledge mostly Turks. Quite impressive. As Onnik is quoted in the liner notes: "See, we are very happy together. If 1915 had never happened; we could have been brothers and sisters, relatives, neighbors and we could have lived on the same land all together."

ARMENIAN KANUN AND VIOLIN PLAYERS
IN DIKRANAGERD BEFORE 1915

In addition to the traditional pieces are a number of songs written by early Armenian-American immigrants from Dikranagerd, notably Hovsep Shamlian, many of whose compositions, written in 1920s New Jersey, are still popular today. (Famous oudist Roupen Altiparmakian had a saying "if you want to have kef with Armenians, you need to find Dikranagerdtsis") Two of the 3 Shamlian songs on the album are the already mentioned "Kale Kale," and "Sheg Mazerov Er," which are extremely popular and well known to most Armenian-Americans and the third, "Zuyk Me Jermag Aghavni" is well known at least to people like me who own kef albums, having been recorded years ago by Onnik with John Berberian. Based on my collection of 78 rpm records, I would have to say that Dikranagerdtsi immigrants had an influence on kef music that was probably out of proportion to their numbers in the community.

HOVSEP SHAMLIAN

And then there are the songs Onnik has written, mostly episodes from his life. The second track, where we hear Onnik sing for the first time, was written by Onnik to a Diyabakir folk melody. The lyrics in Western Armenian paint a picture of Onnik's mother Zora who tragically passed when Onnik was five. Her voice was legendary among the Dikranagerd Armenians of Paris, who, as the song depicts, would come and sit on the floor, eagerly waiting to hear her sing the songs of their homeland. Onnik dedicated the album to his mother Zora, and this tribute to his mother who I'm sure was a huge influence on his pursuit of Armenian music, seemed like a great way to open this album of songs, some of which she probably sang herself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q94tiEXfJHM&list=PL3_XjKN0AXNwC14ebaA0XDlyfGrl_v2MT&index=2

ONNIK'S PARENTS GARABET AND ZORA

It seems like a good way to end this review, too. If you haven't yet, get Onnik Dinkjian's "Diyarbekiri Hokin" on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, or however else you get music!!! You won't regret it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UNY6EVM/ref=dm_ws_sp_ps_dp

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/diyarbekiri-hokin-ermenice/id976619931

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.

Coming to America

Its Armenian Christmas today, but unfortunately I don't have any Christmas-related recordings.

To all my Armenian Christian friends: Christos dznav yev haydnetsav!

Of course it's also the beginning of a new year...a time of new beginnings...so here's song about a man starting fresh in the land of the free and the home of the brave...it's not quite kef music by strict definition but its a fun Armenian song:

Yep, its our old friend Edward Bogosian, who we last heard in the first post on this blog singing his all-time hit "Soode Soode." "Sofi Jan," a tale of immigrant life is one of my favorite pieces by Maestro Yetvart. It is unusual in that in addition to the violin and oud there is a very prominent piano on this track. Also, it's in a moderately fast 6/8 which combines to make it sound more like Eastern European music. Although thats not my thing in general, I really like this song. The depiction of immigrant life is very poignant "come on and let's suffer together" yet the singer sounds happy, not depressed. My family has now been in America for 100 years. When they got here they suffered but they never lost hope. They struggled and they made money and raised children and grandchildren and great grandchildren (me). That's why this song resonates with me, and I'm sure many of you reading this.

Yela, yega America - I got up, I came to America     

Gananch dollar-uh yes shaheloo - To earn the green dollar

Paytz guh tzavim yes useloo - But it pains me to say

Gananch derevuh chi kudah - I didn't find the green leaf (money)

Aman aman Sofi jan - Aman aman Sofi dear

Naz m'uner toon, Sofi jan - Don't be coy, Sofi dear

Aman aman Sofi jan - Aman aman Sofi dear

Naz m'uner toon, Sofi jan - Don't be coy, Sofi dear

Herik herik toon zis danches, - Enough, enough, with you torturing me

Minchev yerp toon zis al khapes? - And until when will you keep fooling me?

Yegour yertank menk, ay Sofi - Come on, let's go, oh Sofi

Vorbes tzavenk miasin - So that we can suffer together

(chorus)

Usbasel em yes al nra - I've been waiting for her

Gyankus eller eh oo al g’erta - My life has come and it goes

Yegour yertank menk, ay Sofi - Come on, let's go, oh Sofi

Vorbes tzavink miasin - So that we can suffer together

(chorus)

Kani me dari al verchuh - And a few years later

Bzdig mun al danuh mechuh - There'll be a child in the house too

Aghchig muh ulla ne kezi - If it's a girl, for you

Manch muh ulla ne indzi - If it's a boy, for me

(chorus)

EDWARD BOGOSIAN
ARMENIAN ACTOR AND COMIC SINGER

Since I haven't already I thought I would do a bio of Mr. Bogosian for those interested in this major figure in the early Armenian-American music scene. Yetvart Boghosian was born in Constantinople in 1900, the son of Nazaret Effendi, a schoolteacher at the Bezazian School in Istanbul and the Varvarian School in Kum Kapu, whose thick eyebrows and glaring eyes behind his round eyeglasses frightened many a student, despite his short stature. In reality though, Nazaret Effendi was a kind man who loved clever jokes, and his son took after him. Yetvart got his start in showbusiness at a very young age in the Armenian theaters of Constantinople, and was formed by the theater movement of the Menagians and the Benlians (not sure who they were). He was one of the founders of the "Hay Arevelyan Taderakhoump" (Armenian Oriental Theatre Troupe) in Kum Kapu.

At the age of 20 Boghosian came to America where he often went by Edward, the direct translation of his name. Settling in New York, he toured the country performing in Armenian plays, and made records of Armenian comedic songs which were very popular. Many of them, like "Sofi Jan" give us a fascinating look at the life of the first Armenian immigrants. He wrote the words and music of most of his records. More classically trained singers said that although he didn't have quite as good of a voice, he undoubtedly had an extraordinary ear for music, and feel for the music he was performing. He was also known to enunciate his words carefully so that the listener could understand the lyrics. In the 20s he recorded on Pharos records but by the 1940s he was recording excusively for Metropolitan, another ethnic record company. He has an extensive amount of 78 rpm records and 2 LPs, which were made around 1960 and 1975, and were compilations of his 78 recordings, with a few originals on the second LP. According to noted oudist Mr. John Bilezikjian, Bogosian used Garbis Bakirgian on Kanun, Marko Melkon on oud, and Nick Doneff (who was Bulgarian) on violin for his 78 rpm records. This makes sense since they were essentially the house band for the Metropolitan and related labels. Certainly Garbis played Kanun on the recordings that included that instrument (not on Sofi Jan), because he is pictured on the first Bogosian LP and it says "Accompanied by Kenar Orchestra" next to his picture. As for who is playing piano on this piece I have no idea.

OOR EH? HOS EH!

In my last post I said that I would tell some more about recent dance events and explain what a henna party is. Unfortunately technical issues prevented me from uploading the music that was supposed to go with that post. So I'm going to go ahead with a post I've been meaning to do for a while.

Readers of this blog will remember this picture from several posts ago:

At the time I was responding to a request for more old pictures on the blog and I had found this cool picture in a newspaper clipping. I did not know the identity of the gentlemen in this picture other than that they were the "Ardziv" (Eagle) Band of Philadelphia. Thanks to noted oudist Mr. Richard Hagopian we have the answer. From left to right they are Bernard Kondourajian (1897-1988), violinist - who seems to have been the leader of the band, G. Kalayjian, vocalist and oudist, and K. "Tommy" Nersesian. Here's a recording of them playing a "Haleh" (titled on the disc as "Halay-Kotchari") :

Kondourajian appears to have immigrated to the US from Arabkir in 1913. The other band members may have been from Arabkir as well since many people from that town settled in Philadelphia. (Thanks goes out to Paul Sookiasian for some of this background information.) In English they wrote their name as the "Arziv Orchestra" and according to Mr. Hagopian they played in the 40s. Well, it turns out I have several 78s from this group - I had confused the 78s with another Ardziv band that was out of Boston, and didn't realize it was the group pictured. On several of the 78s including the one above, they are accompanied by an "M. Kalemkerian" who is listed as playing "fingan". My assumption is that this "instrument" consists of looping a string of worry beads around your vest button, holding the other end out, and scraping the worry beads with a glass (finjan means cup in Turkish.) I know that this percussion "instrument" was often used among Armenians and Greeks in the old days, and specifically Joe Vosbikian mentions it as having been used in Philadelphia in the 30s in an essay on the website dedicated in his memory "Hoachland."

Now, those of you who aren't familiar with the kef culture will ask me "what's a Haleh?" The Haleh is type of dance also known as Halay, Kochari, or Govand. These different terms are used in different parts of Armenia. Govand is specifically the term that was used in Van. Modern day Armenia uses the term Kochari. The term "Haleh" is apparently a broken down form of "Halay", a word that in the Turkish language refers to (I believe) an even wider spectrum of line dances than its usage in the Armenian culture. The Turkish word halay is apparently derived from a Kurdish word meaning circle.

The way everyone older than 30 in Detroit does the Haleh is very similar to this video, except in the video they are holding pinkies as in a regular Armenian dance, while in a Haleh they would be holding hands with all fingers interlocked, and standing very close to one another: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcTysM9jUC0. Also, they tell me that when the old timers would dance it they would stand together "like a wall" and they would "barely move". Now when I say it was slow and they would barely move I don't want you to get the impression that its an old man's dance. By old timers, I simply mean the older generation that had been born in the Old Country. The movements are slow but done with strength and power. The barely moving means in terms of moving to the right like a normal Armenian dance. They do move up and down quite a bit. The video indicates the dance as Gyovnd (Govand). As far as I know, that's a Vanetsi term, and so I suspect that the Detroit Haleh is of a Vanetsi origin. This dance is used as the "Chapter Dance" for the Detroit AYF Chapter at AYF Olympics.

Some may argue that Kochari, Halay and Govand are all different dances. But they have important things in common: they are circle dances, or as we say "line dances," originally they were done by men only, they have a masculine character to them expressive of strength and vitality, and originally they were done by holding hands with fingers interlocking, the men standing very close shoulder to shoulder to each other so they almost form a wall. And then there are some steps but these are done slowly, steadily, and with strength and as said the old timers would barely move. The fact that Haleh and Kochari are considered synonyms is shown by the above recording's label, which reads "Halay-Kotchari".

The current most popular Haleh today among young Armenian men in the Eastern US especially in the ACYOA is seen in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYEKg3zAg8o. According to Tom Bozigian this one was created by Armenian youth in Yettem, California (near Fresno) in the 1970s. It was made up by a group of guys for a dance contest. In the past 10 years it has gained popularity among the young men of the Eastern US. It was reintroduced to the ACYOA events by a couple of guys who learned it at camp. Names will not be disclosed to protect the innocent. This dance is only done by guys, while the girls dance in a circle around the men's circle, doing the "old haleh."

Apparently what happened is that the men got sick of the fact that their "men's only" dance was taken away from them, they needed a dance that the girls wouldn't even want to do, thus the Yettem Halay filled a need that was there. Supply and demand.

Oh and Detroit has added to the Yettem Halay by adding the "Southfield Spin" as one of the "special moves" (shout out to Mr. Banks). Not only that, but in the past 5 years or so we have developed the position of "halay caller" who stands in the center of the circle and yells out the next move that should be done. This was created by Brandon Maake to solve the problem of huge Haleh circles which, getting larger and larger, were increasingly hard to coordinate, and generally included a ton of people who apparently didn't know what the hell a Haleh was.

I will have to disappoint Mr. Jon Pelaez at this point and inform you that this version of the Hale is not native to Dikranagerd, New Jersey, or Puerto Rico. As stated this Haleh was created by the Yettem, California ACYOA guys in the 70s. The steps seem to be a more elaborate version of the "Kharpertsi Haleh" as seen in the Aradzani Dance Group instructional video (http://www.armenianvendor.com/product_info.php?products_id=1043).

Speaking of Kharpert, here's a version of the Haleh recorded in circa 1927 by violinist Stepan Simonian (who was born in Kharpert,) with his son Haigaz on piano and an unknown dumbeg player.

Special thanks to Fr. Garabed Kochakian (grandnephew of Stepan Simonian) who shared his precious copy of this 78 rpm recording with me.

In both the old and new haleh, the call and response shouts of "Oor eh?" "Hos eh!" can be heard. Oor eh means "where is it" and "hos eh" means "it's here," but in context it means "where's it at?" and "it's right here," a statement of machismo by the guys dancing the Haleh. It was taught to me that the whole point of the Haleh is to impress the girls by showing off.Sometimes one guy will yell "oor eh" and all the others yell "hos eh," another variation is that the girls yell "oor eh" and the boys yell "hos eh." Haleh is one of the favorite dances of the Armenian youth in the United States. It's also often a show-off piece for the musicians, who treat it as an improvisation on a short theme or riff. Probably you have caught the drift of that by now - none of the pieces above were the same yet they all have a similar pattern to them. Armenians from present day Armenia are used to hearing the kochari played on a davoul and zourna, and the older Armenian-American recordings of the halay are usually played on the similar clarinet or at least a violin as above. But at some point in Armenian American culture, the halay became a showcase for the oudist - perhaps inspired by George Mgrdichian's great rendition on his album "The Oud" recorded under the pseudonym "Aram Arakelian" in 1958. (http://www.amoeba.com/the-oud-aram-arakelian-ensemble/albums/841766/). But undoubtedly the best Armenian oud halays are played by Mr. John Berberian, seen in the video above, but also in this great California performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3LeJbmqSig. I can't follow that act, so to all a good night and a Happy Thanksgiving.

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.