Armenian Music Podcast with Raffi Meneshian

S1E8 Sylvia Alajaji: Of Memory, Music, and the Armenian Diaspora

Ethnomusicologist and author Dr. Alajaji joins the podcast to discuss the connection between memory and music as it relates to maintaining ethnic identity. Alajaji recounts her own personal experiences being raised as an Armenian in Tulsa, Oklahoma while listening to mix tapes, Adiss Harmandian, and Harout Pamboukjian. She also touches on the  “estradayin”, Ottoman influenced “kef”, and pop genres of music produced and consumed within Diasporan Armenian communities.

Guest Biography

Sylvia Angelique Alajaji is an Associate Professor of Music at Franklin & Marshall College, where she also teaches in the International Studies program. She is the author of “Music and the Armenian Diaspora: Searching for Home in Exile” (Indiana University Press, 2015), a multi-sited work that examines the construction of diasporic Armenian subjectivity in the years since the Armenian genocide (recently published in Turkish translation). Her published work centers on the relationship between music and exilic identity, focusing primarily on Armenian diasporic communities in Lebanon and the United States. In the spring of 2021, she will serve as the Dumanian Visiting Professor of Armenian Studies at the University of Chicago.

Featured Music

Adiss Harmandian- “Nune” (1988, Voice of Stars CD, Greatest Hits- Grand Success)

Adiss Harmandian- “Karoun, Karoun” (1972, A Disc 45)

Richard Hagopian and the Kef Time Band- “Konyali” (1968, Saha LP, Kef Time Las Vegas)

Harout Pamboukjian- “Ghapama” (1983, Pe-Ko CD, Heratsadz Engerner)

Joe Bedrosian- “Yankee Doodle” (1939, Library of Congress, field recordings by Sidney Robertson Cowell)

All songs featured on this podcast are either public domain, by express permission by the label, and/or licensed for the express use on this podcast episode.

S1E6 Andre Simonian: Full Circle

Andre Simonian is an artist, musician, and producer based in both London and Yerevan. Since 2006, he has fronted the English language rock band The Beautified Project, which has become one of the most popular bands in Armenia. In addition to his work with The Beautified Project, Andre has done high profile collaborations with the likes of Nemra, Sevak Amroyan, Adana Project, Sibil, Melody for Harmony, Sona Rubenyan, Mick Moss as well as others. Deeply committed to his homeland, Andre has had a major impact on the development of new artists- in both music and the visual arts. 

Featured Songs:

Beautified Project- "Lost Innocence" (Andre S.S Simonian, 2016)

Beautified Project- "Kilikia" (St. Mongoose Entertainment, 2012)

All songs featured on this podcast episode are with express permission from the recording artist. 

S1E5 Ian Nagoski: Resurrecting Ghosts, Part 2

Ian Nagoski is a researcher and record producer from the Baltimore, MD area who specializes in music of the early 20th century in languages other than English. In the finale of a two part episode, Nagoski describes the detective work involved in piecing together a narrative for each recording he comes across. Artist/recording highlights including Edward Bogosian ("Soode Soode") , the curious case of Dr J.K. Sutherland, and the majestic beauty of the recording "Groung" by Zabelle Panossian. 

This two part episode focuses on the beginning of the recorded music industry in the United States, with particular attention toward ethnic Armenians recording music in the early 20th century in the languages of Armenian and Turkish. 

Music Featured

Komitas Vartabed- "Hov Arek" (Orfeon, 1912)

Zabelle Panossian- "Groung" (Columbia, 1917)

All music presented in this podcast is shared with the permission of Canary Records. Please go to https://canary-records.bandcamp.com/music for more information on these and other reissue recordings produced by Ian Nagoski.

Ian Nagoski Biography: Ian Nagoski is a music researcher and record producer in Baltimore, Maryland. For more than a decade, he has produced dozens of reissues of early 20th century recordings in languages other than English for labels including Dust-to-Digital, Tompkins Square, his own Canary Records, and others. His enthusiastic talks have been hosted at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C., the Onassis Cultural Center in Athens Greece, the University of Chicago, University of California Los Angeles and Santa Barbara and New York University, and he has presented his work in installation at the Museum fur Naturkunde in Berlin Germany, the Wellcome Center in London England, and the Peale Center in Baltimore Maryland. A fragment of his work is included on the MoonkArk, the first object to be permanently installed on the moon, in 2020.

S1E4 Ian Nagoski: Resurrecting Ghosts, Part 1

Ian Nagoski is a researcher and record producer from the Baltimore, MD area who specializes in music of the early 20th century in languages other than English. In the first of a two part episode, Nagoski takes us from the beginnings of the recording industry in America (late 1800's) into the 78rpm record era (early 1900's) focusing on the recordings of Armenian immigrants from the Ottoman Empire sung in both Turkish and Armenian. Ian's ability to bring recordings to life by giving us detailed backstories on the artist, the song, and the era with which they were recorded provides the listener with a captivating look at recordings otherwise neglected for decades. In this episode, Nagoski describes "Eghin Havasi (Melody of Eghin) by the mysterious Kemany Minas in what is perhaps a reference to the 1894-1896 Hamidian Massacres. A brief overview of Udi Hrant Kenkulian, the blind oud master from Istanbul is also discussed. His version of "Agin", sung in Armenian (which was rare), is also also featured. 

Music Featured

Udi Hrant Kenkulian (oud/voice)- "Anush Yarin" (Smyrnaphone OH-3, 1950's)

Kemany Minas (voice)- "Eghin Havasi" (Columbia, 1917)

Udi Hrant Kenkulian (oud/voice)- "Agin" (Smyrnaphon OH-4, 1950's)

All music presented in this podcast is shared with the permission of Canary Records. Please go to https://canary-records.bandcamp.com/music for more information on these and other reissue recordings produced by Ian Nagoski. 

Ian Nagoski Biography: Ian Nagoski is a music researcher and record producer in Baltimore, Maryland. For more than a decade, he has produced dozens of reissues of early 20th century recordings in languages other than English for labels including Dust-to-Digital, Tompkins Square, his own Canary Records, and others. His enthusiastic talks have been hosted at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C., the Onassis Cultural Center in Athens Greece, the University of Chicago, University of California Los Angeles and Santa Barbara and New York University, and he has presented his work in installation at the Museum fur Naturkunde in Berlin Germany, the Wellcome Center in London England, and the Peale Center in Baltimore Maryland. A fragment of his work is included on the MoonkArk, the first object to be permanently installed on the moon, in 2020.

S1E3 Ara Dinkjian, Part 3- An Armenian In America

The conclusion of my conversation with composer/musician Ara Dinkjian. In this third and final part, Ara discusses his multiple performances in Jerusalem, his unique relationship with Turkey, and a brief but poignant account of his performance in Armenia in the 1990's. Ara also keeps us up to date on his newest project, The Secret Trio. 

Night Ark- "Fly Away" (Emarcy, 1999)

Ara Dinkjian Quartet- "In Wolf's Clothing" (Krikor Music, 2013)

All music featured on this program is done with permission from the sound copyright owner and publisher (Krikor Music). 

S1E2- Ara Dinkjian: An Armenian In American, Part 2. 

Considered one of the foremost proponents of the oud, composer/musician Ara Dinkjian shares the events leading up to, and including, the Night Ark years in the 1980's. Additionally, Ara describes his meteoric rise in Greece during the 1990's with his collaboration with Eleftheria Arvanitaki, whose rendition of "Homecoming" called, "Dinata" becomes an international hit. 

Featured Songs

Night Ark- "Going with Abandon" (Emarcy 1997)

Ara Dinkjian w/The Secret Trio & The New York Gypsy All Stars- "Common Spirit" (Krikor Music, 2020) 

All Songs Published by Krikor Music. Song selections broadcast with permission form the sound copyright holder and music publisher.