Greece: Day 4- Athens

To be able to work on a musical recording and present it to the general public is my greatest professional joy in life. Owning a company (even though I am the only employee) is great because you answer to no one. Fusing the Armenian element into all of this is even more satisfying. I made the conscious jump "out of the Armenian market" this time around by accident in a way. Kevork Imirzian was the person who brought Iakovos Kolanian to my attention in 2003. He gave me a much heralded copy of Iakovos's earlier rendition of Armenian folk music for guitar published in 1993. When I asked Kev to develop a new project, he thought we should redo the same concept, add a few more songs, and see how it turns out almost 12 years later. He made the right decision and hit a home run on his first producing attempt. It doesn't get any better than that. While on tour with Iakovos in 2005, he included the music of Barrios on his playlist. Again, Kev mentioned that doing an all Barrios album may turn out to be a good idea given Iakovos's passion for this music. The music of Agustin Barrios is considered among the best in the guitar repertoire. It takes technical prowess and lyricsm to pull it off. At first, the thought of having a Pomegranate CD not include Armenian music seemed like a foreign concept to me. However, the Armenian link was still there in that Iakovos was Armenian. Still I had to think about this one. Ultimately, I decided to take up Kev's suggestion to move forward with the project due to the fact that 1. It was where the artist (Iakovos) was in his career, 2. There seemed to be an open market for an all Barrios album, 3. The music just plain moved me. Again, Kevork stuck gold in terms of a concept and I was more than happy to back the project. The other major reason for moving into the general classical music industry was because I have something to prove. While it can be argued that selling music from an ex-Soviet republic to the global market would seem harder (and it is), selling an artist that is talented, but overlooked in many markets is even harder in my opinion. The great thing about presenting tha artist is that if you know he/she is talented and they have a great product, then half the battle is over with. Then, the responsibility of having that album/artist be a success really falls on the shoulders of those marketing and representing them. I feel this way about Iakovos, and have brought in my heavy hitters to catapult him to modest fame. I cannot do it alone on this project, that is why Kevork Imirzian and Arsineh Khachikian have been brought in to help me create a star. It will be done, but, only in time and with some lucky breaks here and there. The CD producing process works like a track race. You pick your best, and then em rip. The process starts first with the musician creating the music, then the producer steps in and tweaks the program, after that we have the post production process with the photography and design, then it is time to market and sell the album with concerts being the main vehicle driving the sales.

Tuesday morning, Kev and I took the Metro into town. the plan was to meet up with some aquantances from both of our pasts. After getting off on the Syntagma Metro stop, we promptly asked around for directions to an old aniques shop owned by a Greek Armenian. He's been in business for years and is considered the dean of Armenian culture in Greece. In fact, almost 20 years before, Hagop J. had a very prominant role in helping Iakovos Kolanian collect Armenian folk music for what would become a multi year delving into his Armenian roots with the output being an LP in 1987 of Armenian Dances for guitar. In his late 60's, and perhaps early 70's, Hagop J. was indeed a central figure in Greek Armenian culture. Kev had met him years back when he visited Greece. So, for him I could feel the excitement, and for me I was just plain curious. After all, Hagop J. is a collector of fine art, antiques, and the largest single contributor to the Sardarabad Museum in Armenia to date. They have a wing named after him there.

After ringing the doorbell a few times, there was no answer. Suddenly, we walked a few feet to the right and noticed a couple of people sitting down and talking in the gallery. We had rung the wrong bell and all we had to do was just walk in. We did, then Kev and Hagop shook hands. The Hayastansi gentlemen that was in the store was on his way out, and we were coming in to sit and chat with a pillar of the Greek Armenian community. As Kev and Hagop chatted away, I reached into my bad and slowly handed him the first of four Pomegranate CD's I thought he would enjoy. He gave his approval and gave us a CD of Armenian patriotic songs in return sung by Vartouhi Vartanian. Hagop's place was what you think of when you have an upscale antique/finearts store in mind. His slender frame and long gray hair exhibited the characature of your "wise man", with a touch of eclecticism in this case. This guy was all about being Armenian and culture/arts. What a perfect place to start our Athens day off. After our visit, he promised to write some reviews in the Greek Armenian paper about our Karabagh and Hover CD's. "To make propaganda" as he said. I could tell Kevork was happy as well to meet the Dean of Armenian culture in Athens as one of his thanks in the Shoror album was to Hagop.

Then, it was time for me to make a quick stop and say hello to the father of one of my old friends I used to room with in Boston when I was in college. As you may recall, he climbed Mt. Ararat last September 2005. His dad is the top diamond dealer in Athens and also a leader in the Armenian community there. I wasn't sure if he would remember me as the last time I saw him was in Greece 15 years ago. But, Hagop walked us there to the office and the meeting was brief and friendly. Getting in there was like Fort Knox with the steel doors, cameras, etc. By the end of the conversation, he remembered me and was talked a bit about his son. After about 5 minutes, it was time to go and eat some lunch. The Plaka is the section of Athens knows as the "old town". It has narrow streets, and is meant for pedestrian strolling and shipping in the markets. You can find anything there. Mostly tourist stuff, but, still very fun. Kev and I decided on a late lunch at a very touristy restaurant where they served up some gyros and Greek salad. It was good, not great. But, the relaxed Greek hospitality was again evident. After we were done with the meal, the waiter served us up some Halva on the house. However, I hate that stuff and kindly declined his nice offering. Undeterred, he said he had something else if we didn't want the Halva, and out came two shot glasses with Ouzo poured in. It was free, on the house, and completely spontaneous. Again, it was what Greece was about. Living in the moment. I downed the strong stuff and it was time to hit the Plaka and look for something to get our wives as gifts back home.

We all have our vices. Among my many, is Coca Cola. Can't stand beer, like the hard stuff when in Rome as they say, and enjoy Coca Cola with a meal now and again. At night as we were about to head home on the Metro, I was one of those convenience stands with cigarettes, porno mags, calling cards, and candy, went to the back of it where I picked up a broom, and had to do a quick pose for the camera. The American presence in almost any country is pretty overwhelming in terms of products. As you all know in Armenia, Coca Cola in Armenian was pretty cool when it first came out. I know friends here that saved the first few bottles when they first were out. How, it is no big deal. However, the capitalism that makes the world go round was alive and kicking in Greece. And without a doubt, in Athens.

As I headed toward the Monasteraki Metro stop headed toward our Metro stop in Gerakas to go back home to Iakovos's place, that feeling of needing to pull off something big on this trip aside from the photo shoot was still in my head. While it was nice to globe trot, I knew I was here on business and creating some action would be neccesary. When the business funds are limited and nothing can be wasted, you tend to want to be as productive as possible when in a place where business is to be created. The Greek music market was a strange one. No company wants to even touch an import CD as the taxes in imported goods for CD's are around 30% of the invoice price that needs to be paid upfront. Thus, a decision had to be made if Pomegranate was going to start printing CD's in the EU and shipping them throughout Europe, including Greece. That is a whole new game plan that needed to be explored. And an expensive one. This being Iakovos's market and hometown, his products would be fine here, but, how about my others. Live and learn, I guess.

As we exited the last Metro stop and headed for the bus to Iakovos home, we had to wait about 5 minutes for people to get on. I was completely exhausted after running around all day, and the pressures of being productive while in Greece. We boarded the 407 bus we were told to take to get to Iakovos's neighborhood. It was the wrong bus, and in the middle of the route, the bus was blocked by cars parked in a narrow and residential street. Finally, everyone had to get off the bus and walk to a major street. We took the cab home and Iakovos and his wife welcomed us home with the patented Greek dinner we were getting quite used to. At 11pm, it was late, I was tired, and just as I went up to hit the sack, Iakovos quickly mentioned that he had some news for me. He called the daughter of a famous composer in Greece and there was a better chance we may be able to meet with him on Friday, right before we left on Saturday. The condition was upgraded from an outside chance to a 50%-50% chance. I asked if he was kidding, that this guy was a Greek icon and legend. Really, the most famous man in all of Greece. He nodded and said, "Be patient, I will get you this meeting". I was in disbelief. Also, Iakovos mentioned that we would be meeting the best known Greek impresario tomorrow. We were going to go over the rules tomorrow. But, this would be a chance to cut through all the red tape in Greece and talk to the top tier of the music business in terms of getting talent. It seemed as though Iakovos was more well known in the music circles than he led on. It was part of his modest demeanor.

And just like that, the big break was coming sooner than expected. Could Iakovos really pull off this meeting? The impresario was one thing, the Greek composer for the ages was quite another. Yet, the impresario manages the Greek composer. It is all interconnected. Holy Sh*t, everything is falling into place.

Wednesday would have me going to a couple of Greek distributors to see if they were interested in my products. Kev would have a free day to shoot some photos that are featured above. News on the composer and the meeting with the Greek impresario.

All photos taken by Kevork Imirzian