Last night was interesting. The Harvard Near East Department and Armenian Society hosted Gor's mini- concert at Dudley Hall. Oudist John Berberian and jazz pianist Vardan Ovsepian were on hand to back him up along with longtime bandmate Aaron Stayman. Aside from the very good performance, I was very surprised to see a great cross-section of people there. The organizer, Rachael Goshgarian did a great job. After the show, Gor and the crew hit Grafton Street Bar and Grill in Harvard Square and then went over the the Hong Kong and we had a few Scorpion Bowls.
Today, I go to the wedding of a very close friend of mine, Baykar Dervishian. He's marrying a great girl in Narine Patrikian and I wish them the best. This party weekend will continue tonight. I get married next month here in Providence, RI and then head off on my honeymoon somewhere on the West Coast. It's about time to hand over the keys and pursuit married life. Can't wait. Marrying a non-Armenian has ruffled a lot of feathers in my own family, which I am sure a lot of you can relate to. But, in the end, you have to go with who makes you happy and have enough confidence that you will carry on the Armenian identity from generation to generation.
Back to my Pomegranate news. Our 6th album is now in in production and I am happy to say that it is our most important release yet. Taking nothing away from our fine current roster of musicians, "Shoror: Armenian Folk Music for Guitar" by Iakovos Kolanian of Athens, Greece is a groundbreaking piece of music. Taking Armenian folk tunes and breathtakingly transcribing them to guitar is remarkable. Iakovos has created something for the ages. Our producer on this project, Kevord Imirzian, pulled off the impossible in getting Iakovos to record for our label. Iakovos is considered the top classical guitaris in Greece and one of the most respected guitarists in all of Europe. He used to travel to Armenian quite often to play with the Armenian Philharmonic. Cooincidentally, I heard him in 1998 at the Aram Khachaturian Hall at Opera House and he played some of the same encore pieces he has recorded for us. I did not know of him at the time. As an added bonus, Arsineh Khachikian has agreed to join me on our 6th project together and we have the honor of accepting the work of Alik Arzoumanian for cover art. www.alikart.com As you will be able to see on her website, she is blessed with prodigious talent and will do a great job for us.
I've decided to cut back on the number of releases on my label. One, maybe two a year at the most only putting out groundbreaking and unique music. As many of you know, there is no money in the business, just pride. And, our team doesn't like to sacrifice quality for a quick buck.
As a sidenote, I am sorry to hear what is going on in Armenia. I've read a lot of the logs and responses. My general rule is not to comment on things I have really not seen first hand in the Armenian community. At the very least though, human rights and democracy should prevail and people should be able to make their feelings known in a public forum without brutality.
Today, I go to the wedding of a very close friend of mine, Baykar Dervishian. He's marrying a great girl in Narine Patrikian and I wish them the best. This party weekend will continue tonight. I get married next month here in Providence, RI and then head off on my honeymoon somewhere on the West Coast. It's about time to hand over the keys and pursuit married life. Can't wait. Marrying a non-Armenian has ruffled a lot of feathers in my own family, which I am sure a lot of you can relate to. But, in the end, you have to go with who makes you happy and have enough confidence that you will carry on the Armenian identity from generation to generation.
Back to my Pomegranate news. Our 6th album is now in in production and I am happy to say that it is our most important release yet. Taking nothing away from our fine current roster of musicians, "Shoror: Armenian Folk Music for Guitar" by Iakovos Kolanian of Athens, Greece is a groundbreaking piece of music. Taking Armenian folk tunes and breathtakingly transcribing them to guitar is remarkable. Iakovos has created something for the ages. Our producer on this project, Kevord Imirzian, pulled off the impossible in getting Iakovos to record for our label. Iakovos is considered the top classical guitaris in Greece and one of the most respected guitarists in all of Europe. He used to travel to Armenian quite often to play with the Armenian Philharmonic. Cooincidentally, I heard him in 1998 at the Aram Khachaturian Hall at Opera House and he played some of the same encore pieces he has recorded for us. I did not know of him at the time. As an added bonus, Arsineh Khachikian has agreed to join me on our 6th project together and we have the honor of accepting the work of Alik Arzoumanian for cover art. www.alikart.com As you will be able to see on her website, she is blessed with prodigious talent and will do a great job for us.
I've decided to cut back on the number of releases on my label. One, maybe two a year at the most only putting out groundbreaking and unique music. As many of you know, there is no money in the business, just pride. And, our team doesn't like to sacrifice quality for a quick buck.
As a sidenote, I am sorry to hear what is going on in Armenia. I've read a lot of the logs and responses. My general rule is not to comment on things I have really not seen first hand in the Armenian community. At the very least though, human rights and democracy should prevail and people should be able to make their feelings known in a public forum without brutality.
posted by Raffi at 9:23 PM
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