Category Archives: music
A Musical Refuge for Ronnie Malley
In September, 2018, I had an opportunity to attend ArtsMidwest in Indianapolis. This was a large conference that featured different arts organizations, councils and artists from around the Midwest. As I was scanning the big expo hall filled with different … Continue reading
Posted in Business of Music, Middle Eastern music, music
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Harry Bedrossian: Euphoric Oud Ride
If you have ever met musician Harry Bedrossian I think one of the first things you would say about him is that he loves life, doesn’t take himself too seriously (as none of us should) and is an excellent musician. One … Continue reading
Posted in Armenian, art, Middle Eastern music, music, oud
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Chick: The Blue Collar Musician
As I was growing up listening to Armenian music, there were different groups of instrumentalist musicians that I was aware of that played folk music. One of those groups of musicians were oud players. As far as I was concerned, … Continue reading
Posted in Armenian, belly dance, Middle Eastern music, music, oud, Uncategorized
Tagged Armenian, belly dance, herbie mann, jazz, Middle Eastern music, music, night club, oud
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Amer-abic Percussionist Remembered: Eddie “the Sheik” Kochak
2018 marked the end of another legendary icon of Middle Eastern music in America, his name was Eddie “the Sheik” Kochak. He was 97 years old. Another way to describe Kochak would be to refer to him as a personality. … Continue reading
Posted in music, Uncategorized
Tagged Amer-abic, Arabic, belly dance, Danny Thomas, darbukka, Dean Martin, Kochak, music, New York, oud, Syria, The Sheik, violin
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Taqs.im creates community for musicians
Several years before social media became a household word, if you wanted to communicate in a collective group across the globe and share ideas, thoughts or questions you either created email groups or listserv forums. About twenty years or so ago, … Continue reading
Posted in Armenian, Business of Music, music, Uncategorized
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A 10 Year Old Armenian Musical Prodigy
If I mentioned the name Kristine Engoyan most of you would not know who she is. She is a remarkable Armenian young girl that has mesmerized many of us that enjoy and perform Armenian music. She plays the kanun, the … Continue reading
Posted in Armenian, art, music, Uncategorized
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Thoughts from Arts Midwest 2018
A few weeks ago I was given a great opportunity to travel Indianapolis for the annual Arts Midwest conference. Thanks to John Bracey, Executive Director (soon to be retiring – congrats again!) from Michigan Council of Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA) … Continue reading
Posted in art, Creative Industries, music, Uncategorized
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Armenian Music in Hartland, MI
Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to perform Armenian and Middle Eastern music in Hartland, Michigan. This is a small community with under 15,000 people and not richly diverse, but a community that wants to embrace diversity. The Cromaine … Continue reading
Fred Elias (1922-2018) – Legendary Violinist
Fred Elias was a legendary musician. An Arab violinist, living to an impressive age of 95 years old, passed away only a few hours ago from the publishing of this blog. He was well regarded throughout the country, especially in … Continue reading
Posted in music, Uncategorized
Tagged arab, Armenian, Fred Elias, Middle Eastern, music arabic, violin
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Greek Santouri player Yiannis Roussos
Several years ago, I met Jim Stoynoff, a Greek/Macedonian clarinet player from Chicago. We met at a Chicago music/folk dance festival that I attended because I knew oudist Joe Zeytoonian was coming in to play the gig and we had … Continue reading
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