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.
It seems like yesterday that ‘one of our own’ passed away. I am speaking of Roger Krikorian who was a world-class Armenian dumbeg musician from the New England (Boston, MA) area. He died in 2007.
Roger Krikorian on dumbeg and Ken Kalajian on guitar
I still remember where I was and who called me to give me the very sad news and it still is unbelievable to this day. We lost a musician that was considered an icon in the world of performing Armenian dance music. I don’t know that we all realized how great of an impact his death would have on all of us as musicians and enthusiasts of the music. In speaking to many of the musicians that lived near Roger and observing the number of gigs or types of gigs …I can see the impact.
To me, Roger was a quiet man but always with a smile. Never a bad word about anyone. I would see him a few times a year at different events or kef weekends and we played music together only a handful of times over the years. He may have been quiet, but when he took to the stage, his percussion playing and singing was a force that immediately brought out the dancers. Roger was playing music practically every weekend with either his local group/friends Leon, Kenny, and Joe or traveling throughout the country performing with the likes of Onnik Dinkjian, John Berberian, Richard Hagopian and Hachig Kazarian.
Buddy Sarkissian (Lawrence, MA c.1952)
As I understand it, at a young age Roger’s father took him to Gary Alexanian for dumbeg lessons. After listening to Roger play in front of Gary – he tells Roger’s father that lessons were not necessary – he was a natural. So, Roger, like most Armenian dance musicians, would listen to records and play along with them to learn the songs and rhythms. When Roger was nine years old, he got his first chance to play live in front of an audience with another great musician, Buddy Sarkissian.
So much can be said about him, but the best way to describe Roger is by listening to him play music. As a bit of audiophile junkie, I would record many of the live performances whenever I would travel to the East coast to hear live music. For me, it was one of the rare opportunities to hear some of the musicians I grew up listing to on recordings. Many of those recordings feature Roger’s drumming and singing. When I list to these recordings, it doesn’t feel like we have lost Roger and as I said earlier – its like it was yesterday. Fortunately, YouTube and a handful of archivists, have included many clips from Roger’s various performances. Here is one of them.
Roger’s brother recently made available a double CD set of some of Roger’s finest performances of Armenian, Greek and Arabic music. This tribute from his brother is very touching and was not done for financial gain but for those of us that love Armenian music and enjoyed the talents of Roger – it is a way to remember him.
Tom Vartabedian, a columnist for the Armenian Weekly wrote a touching tribute about Roger that is featured in the CD packaging. The CD set features over two hours of music featuring many of the performers Roger frequently work with including Mal Barsamian, Leon Janikian, John Berberian, Bruce Gigarjian, Ken Kalajian and much more.
This week I finished my first draft of the narrative script for the film documentary which is crucial to finish the film. I had to review all twelve interviews and put clips that I thought could be used in the film. This was a bit daunting because many times I had to re-watch the interview a few times to decide is a clip was worthwhile to include or not. In total, over 15 hours of video had to be condensed into around 100 clips. Once the clips were gathered, the work was even harder because I had to put them in order. Fast forward…I finished my first draft and my wife is reviewing so that I can clean it up for a final version.
I gave her a deadline as I want to have this completed this week in order to give Brian enough time to put this together. Every two minutes I will ask her “how is it??” like I was a high school kid asking the teacher if I past. I fully admit this part is not my forte, but it was a great learning process.
The light at the end of tunnel is starting to show itself, but I am not done yet. I still need a title for this film and that is haunting me each day. I also need more photos. This part is actually fun to do as I feel like its a scavenger hunt of sorts. Just last night I played for over 120 people at the St. John’s Armenian Church Women’s Guild and I partially played music but I also was given the opportunity to speak to them about the film, the process and what it means to me. I explained the need for photos and gave each of them my email and cell number and asked for their help. I had about six women approach me afterwards telling me they would help and look for pictures. That made me feel pretty good. I am hoping more will come forward.
Here is a local cable program that aired in Farmington Hills, Michigan on SWOCC Studios. Hosted by Sunitha Ananthaswamy Ramappan, she has a monthly cable show entitled The World Musician. I first did an episode for her over two years ago about music, this concentrates on the film documentary.
Since my last blog entry, I have spent the better part of my time in reviewing all of the film footage interviews and capturing nuggets of information I feel I can use in the final film. This was not only time consuming, but difficult in picking and choosing the right clips. I thought in many cases I asked good questions and solicited good responses from musicians, but you always have that back view mirror perspective of “I should have asked that question like this…”
The next phase is take those note cards and translate them into a script. Hell, lets call it a book at this point. It certainly seems like the same process. I give all writers credit at this point as this isn’t my specialty. What gets me through it and gives me the fortitude to push forward is – the project. I am anxious to finish to release and pay homage to the music and musicians. This is the main drive, always has been from the beginning.
So…today, I had set the alarm for 3am on this Thanksgiving eve in order to get a few hours in putting the narrative script together. Yes, I am a morning person…but two cups of strong coffee does add to the mix!
This is a short blog today as I said…I need to get back to writing. I do want to wish all of you a very happy and healthy Thanksgiving. Spend time reflecting and as my wife always trys to get me to do all the time — enjoy it. I have much to be thankful about and I am sure you do as well. Happy Thanksgiving!
Enjoy one of the funniest scenes from “Cheers” …lets hope your Thanksgiving goes better for you…!
It’s the beginning of November, 2014 and I seem to be completed with the filmed interview portion of the documentary. That was the easy part. (a lot of fun too!) The hard part is re-listening to all of them and capture nuggets or in some cases, several minutes of information that will fit into a stream of thoughts.
Brian Golden, Director of Photography and Editor for my documentary
Brian Golden, my Director of Photography on this project suggested I take index cards for each interview conducted and jot done those favorite nuggets (or great quotes) with the time they appear on screen. Tedious…yes, but very helpful. It allows me to put some different thought patterns in my mind on how the documentary should flow. It also was enjoyable to listen to all of the people I interviewed to really focus on their facial expressions and interest level in certain questions. Great suggestion Brian!
I used to think that filming documentaries were fairly easy projects and I have a renewed respect for those that can produce films of this nature. Not easy – that’s for sure.
Whereas I am still struggling with different aspects on the films flow, I have a clear picture of the finished film and that’s the most important part of this project.
The rare film footage, never before heard recordings of some of the earlier musicians and old photographs are really going to stand out in this film and I am excited to be able to unveil this next year. Its difficult for me because I want to share these photos now..but restraint is a good thing and I am saving these for the film!
Kelly Kuchukian was one of my first interviews and he is seen here holding his oud.
Speaking of photos…I still need help. Still looking for photographs of musicians and dances in Detroit that pre-date 1965. Ideally I would like to get photos from 1955-1965 as this appears to be a period of time where music was free flowing and plentiful in Detroit. If you have any leads or you have photos, please email me directly.
Finally..don’t let the title of this blog entry fool you, I still need a good name for this film. The trouble with using ‘hye’ in the title will be the misconception of the word to the non-Armenian audiences that will see this film. I tested it out with some folks and they think of marijuana! HA….well, I guess that word wont fit.
This past weekend at St. Johns Armenian Church, I had the privilege of sharing the stage with over twenty Armenian musicians, most of them from the Detroit area.
Organized by the Nor Keghi Association in Detroit, Kef Time Keghi II had over 350 patrons this year. The goal of the evening was simple – enjoy pagharch and tass kebab, dance to live Armenian music and help raise funds for a community development project in Nor Keghi Villlage. Mission accomplished!
Over twenty Armenian musicians took to the stage at St. Johns for Kef Time Keghi II.
The event was extra special for me as a musician because as part of the twenty or so musicians invited to perform that night, several were musicians that played back in the 1950-1960s. Musicians like Harry Najarian, Kelly Kuchukian, John (Jiggy) Sarkisian, George Nigosian Sr., Sandi Nigogoghosian, and Ned Apigian were on hand and you can tell – enjoyed the evening.
The music was tight which one would not expect with so many musicians on stage at one time – but it was and the music flowed throughout the night. Much of the credit for organizing the musicians together goes to Greg Nigosian, a member of the Nor Keghi steering committee who also led the musicians throughout the evening.
On the left, Harry Najarian playing the djembe
Other musicians throughout the evening included Kirk Kuchukian, George Nigosian Jr., John Harotian (Chicago), Craig Kuchukian (Chicago), Margaret Lafian, Michael Kazarian, Vaughn Masropian, Jerry Gerjekian, Vahan Kamalian (Wisconsin) and son Michael, Armen Boyajian, Bedros Kudanian, and Craig Harabedian.
In my blogs you have read how I refer to the musicians of “yesteryear” and the importance they had on the Armenian music scene in Detroit. Well, it was great to have some of them on stage playing with some of the younger generation. You can see that they still love the music.
A special highlight was Vahan’s son Michael who at 13 years old is playing clarinet and loves our folk music. I can only hope (and I am not alone in this thinking) that Michael’s generation will continue the Armenian tradition. He brought smiles to our faces that night.
To learn more about the Nor Keghi organization and to read an article in the Armenian Weekly by one of its committee members, Mitch Kehetian, follow this link.
Congratulations Nor Keghi Association for hosting yet another wonderful kef!
I just learned today that one of the last of the masters of the kanun from the last century has passed away. (Mehmet) Emin Gunduz, passed away yesterday while visiting his hometown in Turkey and only a few days after his birthday.
For the last several decades, Gunduz lives in the United States and was an active musician in the Maryland area up until his death. He not only played kanun, but sung in several languages including Armenian. Credited for recording many LPs in the 1950s, you could hear his mastery on both folk dance albums as well as belly dance albums.
Here is a song he recorded with the great blind Armenian oudist and composer Udi Hrant Kenkulian and Greek clarinetist Tassos Halkias.
I never had the opportunity to meet Gunduz in person, but we had several mutual friends and he did reach out to me several years ago via the Internet.
I think it is important to note that musicians like Gunduz promoted the cross culture of performing with Armenians, Greeks, Arabs and other ethnicitices that shared the same type of music.
HYE Times 