HYE Times

The other night I went over to the home of a local Armenian family because they had a picture they wanted to give me that showed some Armenian musicians that I could use in my documentary. When I went over to their house and sat with them for a bit, we struck up a conversation about other musicians and the types of events they attended (when they were younger) within the community. What always amazes me, even today, is that you can still see their vivid memories of those days just by looking into their eyes and watch their facial expressions.

It’s a shame that the technology that is available today was not available 50 or 100 years ago so that we could not only see clearly the enjoyment in their eyes but also hear them express themselves. A time machine would work just as well!

Why do you suppose that this generation had so much fun? Some might say that all generations have the same amount of fun and because of the generational gaps, we just assume the “good ole” days exists for all of us. Yes, this is most likely true, but for me it seems there is something about my parents/grandparents generation and what they went through (The Great Depression and World War II) in order to find and preserve happiness. This generation had to be more imaginative. Radio helped with this quite a bit. They had to imagine the story they were hearing. It would allow them to appreciate the spoken word so much more. Going to Armenian dances or nightclubs in the evening or on the weekends made a world of difference to them and I think had the same affect.  I can’t tell you how many Armenians have told me that they would count down the hours until they would get home from work or school – clean up and go out again to go hear and dance to Armenian music. They truly appreciated the fun.

The fellowship they created would turn into marriages or life-long friendships. Yes, times were very different back then. Armenian families lived closer together. Assimilation was not a word they would come to know until many years later. They knew how to enjoy one another and the music was a major connector for all of them.

Sadly, (and my opinion only) I think we have lost some of this in Detroit. Assimilation is our enemy and as we grow older, we shift in many directions. Not living close together certainly enables this great divide. What is equally sad to me is that the Armenian music wasn’t strong enough to keep communities (today) together as it had decades ago…but, it is strong enough to keep us as an ethnicity together. This may seem contradicting, but I do feel our music has a force that brings all of us together. Can music revive the fellowship we once had in the communities? There are so many questions we should be asking ourselves.

It’s somewhat easy to be reflective as we go into the 100 anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. We will be looking at who we were and how far we’ve gone in the last 100 years. As Armenians, we will write, speak, and reflect about ourselves as we enter the 100th anniversary which is only months away.

By all accounts, this was a pretty good for me. I really can’t or shouldn’t complain about too much. Sure, it never goes perfectly, but when you compare and contrast to others – music and all that is associated with it, has been going very well for me.

I am fortunate to get a wide variety of gigs and presentation opportunities and with a upcoming film documentary to roll out in 2015, the road seems to be paved with more good will and ideas for the future.

Here are some photo highlights from 2014 — Happy New Year everyone!!

The Mark Gavoor Ensemble in Walla, Walla, WA.  A very cool gig performing for the Whitman College.

Pictured here with my friends Leon Janikian and Mike Shimmin..we just landed in Walla Walla…crossing my fingers that the kanun landed too. (It did!)

The AYF Olympic weekend brought many Armenian musicians together. Here I am with Onnik Dinkjian, legendary Armenian troubadour singer and friend.

Fun gig at St. Johns Armenian Church, Kef Time Keghi II. Young and older musicians come together to provide great entertainment to a packed audience.

One of the greatest joys of 2014 has been the work I have done with my upcoming film. Interviewing the musicians about they hey day in music was an awesome experience. In particular, meeting Art Melkonian was a tremendous joy to me.

Kind of interesting for those of you into web stats. Check our what WordPress.com did for me.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 3,700 times in 2014. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 3 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

On Sunday, July 7, 1935, the Armenian Democratic League held their 15th annual convention in Detroit at the Michigan State Fairgrounds. The convention was a festival that featured opera and choral singers along with traditional Armenian dance music and musicians.  The highlights were captured on 16mm by Jack Stephens but the film was then provided by the late Souren Aprahamian in order for this short documentary to be made.

A screen freeze-frame from the 16mm film which features Armenian musicians playing at the Michigan State Fairgrounds in 1935.

Recently, I was given a DVD copy of a video that was produced several years ago (that included the 1935 film footage) with a narration provided by Karl Couyoumjian Sr. (I want to thank Diane Ekizian for bringing this film to my attention).

This 10 minute video was not commercially released on television and was produced several years ago in Detroit by the St. John’s Armenian Church community. The film was pressumed to have been duplicated for either sale or given away free of charge.

To me, this video is significant as it shows Armenian musicians playing clarinet, oud, davul and violin…from 1935! I am unaware of who these musicians are and would greatly like to find out. I would also like to use portions of the film footage in my project if at all possible.  In looking at the pictures of the clarinet players, I am unfamiliar with who the musician is – which makes this mystery that much more appealing to me.

For any of you reading this from the Detroit area, I would like to hear what you might know about the origination of this film. In order to use this film, I would need to obtain permission from the owner of the original footage or make a determination that these “home movies” are in the public domain (per copyright law that anything prior to 1978 may be in the public domain). I am not a lawyer, nor play one on television – want to do the right thing and so any information would be helpful.

I have the official name for my film documentary! Drum roll please….!

Guardians of Music: A History of Armenian Music in Detroit will replace the working title of Detroit Hye Times which is what I have been using since I applied for the Knight Foundation grant over a year ago.

William Shakespeare coined the phrase “What’s in a name”?

For those of you that know me, you knew that picking a name was not easy. I wanted something catchy yet giving the documentary justice and be clear to the subject matter. Detroit Hye Times, albeit some of you might have liked it, was a placeholder for me as I went on to fundraising and putting the film together.

Actually, I tormented over the name for a very long time. Part of the problem in using the word Hye (which means Armenian) in the title is it was felt by many (including me) that it might give a negative connotation and confusion to the non-Armenian audience that will view this film through PBS. Detroit Hye Times can sound like a commercial for marijuana when it is said out loud. Funny, yes…but I didnt want to take chances.

In the end, I used a simple method in picking out the name.

For several days I concentrated on dictating and writing down words and phrases that I felt represented the film. I recalled the interviews and tried to pick and choose what the musicians said to me. In the end, here are my actual notes I jotted down:

Past time
The music they loved
Out of passion
Dedicate is in preserving the music
Energy
It was never about money
They played for the dancers
The work during the day, they played as nice in on weekends
Music that described the soul of the armenians
It could have been lost forever
The musicians kept it alive
They carried the torch
They carried on the tradition, they passed on the tradition
They had fun
The music allowed people to escape their worries for a short time
The music helped create families
The music kept the community together
If created identity for the Armenians
It unknowingly preserved history
The musicians for the guardians of the music
An Armenian tradition
Passions of Armenian Dance Music
Detroit Armenian dance music
The Detroit Armenian Dance Musicians
Armenian Dance Musicians of Detroit
Detroit Armenian dance sounds

I took my list of words/phrases and asked my wife Della what she thought. It was clear to her that the word “guardian” was an appropriate word and it pays respect to the musicians and also tells the right story. As soon as she said – I knew it was the right word. It tells the story and gives them the respect they deserve.

Thanks Della! 🙂

The Christmas season can be a very reflective one for us…if we ever have time to enjoy it.

It seems that the older I become, the more that time passes so quickly and if we want to enjoy it with our families, we have to be purposeful in doing so. In general, I feel that more people take additional time off with families again now that our economy seems to be a bit more steady. That’s a good thing. On the other end of the spectrum I have read several articles about how to use the holidays to reflect on your 2015 career, ramp up for work, re-energize and prioritize your work for after the holidays….something seems wrong here.

As tradition with my blog, I want to close out with something I find humorous. Several months ago, I have discovered the British comedy team (double act as it is referred to in Great Britain) of Morecambe & Wise.  I have found myself watching many of their comedy skits and perhaps its because their major influences were Laurel & Hardy and Abbott & Costello. Enjoy this classic sketch featuring Andre’ Previn in one of their annual Christmas shows.

Merry Christmas to you and yours and take some time to enjoy your family this season.