#george katsaros

[phantasmagloria]

Storm Stereo 117: FM Trölli, Nov. 7

Nov. Storm Stereo show with new music by Icelandic double bassist Tómas R. Einarsson feat. Chet Baker and Óskar Guðjónsson, plus new cosmic crossover jazz, new indie, and revisiting the recently repressed rebetiko legend Giorgos Katsaros.

Listen back to the Storm Stereo show for Trölli FM, that aired on November 7, 2024.Featuring new releases by Icelandic double bass player and composer Tómas R. Einarsson; one featuring Chet Baker from their live show together in Reykjavik c. 1985 and another with Icelandic jazz saxophonist Óskar Guðjónsson, plus new cosmic jazz gems by Nubya Garcia and Maruja, new indie music by Sweden’s Goat and…

[indoraptorgirlwind]

Wesen Moodboards

Indole Gentile (Italian: Nature Kind)

Unlike most Wesen, they do not appear to possess any physical enhancement whatsoever. However, there is a small group of Indole Gentile who experience a genetic disorder during adolescence called Kallikantzaroi. Indole Gentile were referred to by Monroe as "very nice people", and even Grimms consider them completely harmless. All the families shown in "The Grimm Who Stole Christmas" were Greek-American members of the Greek Orthodox Church.

Notables: George Katsaros, Sophia Katsaros, John Katsaros

[resistance765]

“To Kaimeno To Gaidouraki (The Poor Donkey)” - George Katsaros

[canaryrecords]

A collection of early 20s Armenian-American indie recordings by the same name was issued by Canary 5 years ago, but having so swollen, we have broken it into 2 parts. This redux (20 songs) focuses on the MG Parsekian label; the other (now renamed A Diamond Ring) is now 23 tracks. New, more vivid transfers and restorations have been produced of all of the material as well as 1,500 words of notes with major contributions by Harry Kezelian . A significant snapshot of the moment in the development of Armenian and Greek musics in the U.S.

Margadich “George” Parsekian (b. present-day Diyarbakir, May 1883) arrived in the U.S. about the age of 14. By 1905, he was settled in northern New Jersey and working as a salesman. Among his streams of income was importing disc recordings from Turkey for the immigrant community. In 1912, he apparently approached Columbia Records in New York City with the prospect of recording a handful of immigrant musicians from present-day eastern and southern Turkey, resulting in three sessions in September and October of that year that yielded a total of 10 discs issued as part of Columbia’s “E” (ethnic) series. These were the first commercial recordings made in the U.S. in the Turkish language. (See the Canary release And Two Partridges for 14 of those 20 sides.) Both Columbia and Victor issued several dozen more discs in Turkish during World War I before essentially ending recording of Turkish and Armenian (and Arabic) language domestic recording in 1919, although they kept some of the discs in print for more than a decade and occasionally produced recordings in Turkish, particularly by Greeks, notably by Achilleas Poulos.

In the early 20s, Parsekian capitalized on the expiration of patents related to the technology of disc recording, launching his own recording label and disc-manufacturing facility in what was then West Hoboken (now Union City), New Jersey, just across the river from Manhattan. Parsekian’s label issued about 40 discs between about 1923 and 1926, the first 30 of which were recorded acoustically (that is to say, mechanically, without the use of electricity or microphones). It stands to reason that Parsekian’s factory was also responsible for manufacturing recordings by other independent Armenian-owned labels that sprung up at the time, including Sohag and its Oriental subsidiary, and and the "vanity" labels of Hovep Shamlian and Harry Hasekian. (See the Canary album A Diamond Ring: Armenian-American Independent Releases ca. 1922-26) Coincident with the introduction of electrical recording, Parsekian handed off his masters and artwork to the Vartestian Brothers who ran a jewelry and watch repair shop on 3rd Avenue in Manhattan. They used much of the Parsekian catalog (as well as Mugerdich Douzjian’s Yildiz vanity label) to launch their own Pharos label, which lasted two or three more years, issuing several dozen more titles. (See the Canary album Very Sweet: Armenian-American Recordings from the Pharos Label ca. 1926-29.)

Parsekian’s flagship artist was Karekin Proodian (b. present-day Diyarbakir, ca. 1884) who recorded about half of the label’s catalog. Proodian immigrated to the U.S. in 1903 settling in the West Hoboken, New Jersey neighborhood populated by a community of others from his native region called Dikranagerd in Armenian, including Parsekian. A photoengraver by trade, he became a citizen in 1910 before returning to his hometown where he married 19 year old Haiganoush (“Annie”) Akmakjian. In 1912, the couple returned to the U.S. with their child Vahan (Frank). Two more children arrived, Siranoush (Sara) and Setrag (who later became a clarinet and saxophone player, appearing on several LPs. He published a memoir called Brothers Abroad. We are actively seeking a copy.)

Between February and December 1916, Proodian performed as a vocalist and kanunist on 18 sides for Columbia and Victor Records, all of which were in Turkish except for the revolutionary ballad “Ipreve Ardziv,” which was in Armenian. (6 of them appear on the Canary album And Two Partridges II and 4 more are on the album If I Were a Nightingale.) In the 1920s Proodian adopted the thinking of a movement among Armenians to present Anatolian music in the Armenian language advocated by the Dikranagerd-born northern New Jersey songwriter Hovsep Shamlian. When Proodian recorded again for M.G. Parsekian’s label, 18 of the 22 sides he cut were in Armenian, only 4 in Turkish.

Parsekian, Proodian, and Shamlian formed a kind of Dikranangersti musical ecosystem in West Hoboken. All three having come from the same region, each contributed his own skills. Parsekian had the record business; Proodian had the voice; Shamlian had the songs. (The rather elaborate labels on some of the discs including photos of the artists may, we can speculate, tie back to Proodian's work in the printing business.) The first two songs Proodian recorded for Parsekian’s label were not only Shamlian’s songs (including his “greatest hit,” “Hasagt Partsr”) but were also accompanied by Dikranangersti accompanists. 16 of Proodian’s 18 recordings for Parsekian in Armenian were Shamlian compositions, albeit accompanied by objectively superior musicians, Harry (Haroutiun) Hasekian of Marash on violin and Edward (Yetvart) Bashian who emigrated Constantinople on oud. Harry and Edward also released instrumental discs as a duo on the Parsekian label as well as on Hasekian’s own label, which, again, were likely produced by Parsekian. (Only the traditional folk song “Ouy Janem” and the revolutionary ballad “Keriyin Yerke” weren’t Shamlian creations.)

After Parsekian’s label was sold to Pharos company around 1926, many of Proodian’s recordings were kept in print by them for several years. Although he did not record again, he stayed active in music singing in Greek and Armenian nightclubs, coffeehouses, and restaurants on Manhattan while still working for Scientific Engraving Inc.” (later Scientific Engineering) at 406 W. 31st on Manhattan. In 1942, he copyrighted a song called “This Is Our Heaven” with lyrics translated by Joseph Stamboolian for use in a movie, although we have not yet traced the film. He died in Fort Lee, New Jersey in 1977.

Maksoud Karabed Sariyan (b. Bursa, Turkey April 17, 1897) arrived in the U.S. on Oct. 22, 1920. He recorded only six sides with clarinetist Hovsep Takakjian (b. Palu, Turkey ca. 1895), four of them for Parsekian and two of them pseudononymously as Karakash (“Black Eyebrows”) along with violinist Vartan Margosian for Margosian's label. By 1928, he had settled in Detroit where he married a Bulgarian-born woman and worked as a professional musician. He died on Jan. 10, 1946. Takakjian moved shortly after making their recordings for Parsekian to Fresno, California for his health, having contracted tuberculosis by loaning his instrument to another musician. Takakjian performed and recorded prolifically with Oscar Kevorkian for several decades. (See the Canary album The Undertaker’s Picnic: Armenian Kef Music in Fresno ca. 1940s-50s.) He died in Fresno in 1976.

The first non-Armenian to have recorded for Parsekian’s label was the Romaniote Jew Mazeltov Matsa (b. Janina, present-day Greece, 1897) who performed first under the name Amilia Hanoum and later as Amalia Bakas. A definitive biographical study was published by David Soffa on the 2002 Arhoolie label CD Amalia!: Old Greek Songs in the New Land, 1923-50 and summarized on the Canary album No News From Tomorrow: Greek and Turkish Speaking Women in New York ca. 1942-50. She was, in the mid-20s a young garment worker and mother of two in the Jewish Lower East Side moonlighting as a singer of Turkish and Greek folks songs in restaurants and coffeehouses. She cut her first five discs for Armenian-owned independent labels (three for Parsekian; two for Sohag) before an acrimonious divorce, a brief stint running her own little nightclub around the corner from Marika Papagika’s place on 8th Avenue, and then nearly 30 years on the road as a nightclub performer. She recorded for the Victor label in the late 20s (likely introduced to them by Marika Papagika with whom she became very close, George Katsaros with whom she regularly toured in the 30s, or perhaps Marko Melkon who also first recorded for Parsekian in the early 20s and then operated on the same circle of performers in the 1940s-50s.)

Likewise, Parsekian was likely the first to release discs by the Greek singer and oudist Achilleas Poulos (b. July 1893 present-day Balikesir, Turkey) a close friend of Marko Melkon (see the Canary albums of Melkon, I Go Around Drinking Raki: ca. 1942-51 and HiFi Adventures in Asia Minor) who had already cut his first disc for Parsekian accompanied by Harry and Edward. Poulos was in a fury of recording activity in the mid-20s, cutting a total of about 125 performances for Parsekian, Pharos, Columbia and Victor as well as the short-lived Oriental label (related to Sohag) between 1925 and 1927. His best-selling 12” disc for Columbia of “Nedem Geldim Americaya (Why I Came to America),” a folk song he’d rewritten about his personal experience as an immigrant, differs from his performance for Parsekian notably in that it benefits from the violin playing of Nishan Sedefjian. Sedefjian, who performs on nearly all of Poulos' Victor and Columbia material was a diamond setter at the Vartesian Brothers shop. Poulos was the lead performer on the last dozen Parsekian releases and on several of the first Pharos discs. Pharos even issued two discs of Poulos' niece Soultana when she visited from Balikesir. (See the Canary album Why I Came to America: More Folk Music of the Ottoman-American Diaspora ca. 1917-47.) It seems likely that he was the bridge between the two labels. After ’27 Poulos simply ceased recording and moved to Connecticut, where he worked at a coffee roaster and died in 1970. Like Parsekian, his influence on the scene of Turkish, Armenian, and Greek speaking immigrants in New York outlasted his activity for more than a generation.

[musicnewsgreece]

TEREZA feat George Katsaros "Santa Claus is Coming to Town"

TEREZA feat George Katsaros “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”

Η γνωστή Ελληνοαμερικανίδα performer TEREZA, τραγουδάει με την αισθαντική φωνή της το αγαπημένο σε όλους “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” Στο σαξόφωνο, ο μεγάλος μαέστρος ΓΙΩΡΓΟΣ ΚΑΤΣΑΡΟΣ. Έχοντας συνεργαστεί στο προηγούμενο single της (“Σε Αυτό το Δρόμο”) αλλά και σε πολλές συναυλιες και live εμφανίσεις, αυτή τη φορά συναντήθηκαν στο στούντιο για να δώσουν μια γιορτινή…

[kwebtv]

Shoulder to Shoulder  - BBC  -  October 5, 1975 - November 9, 1975

Period Drama (6 episodes)

Running Time:  60 minutes

Stars:

Sian Phillips as  Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst

Patricia Quinn as Christabel Pankhurst

Angela Down as  Sylvia Pankhurst

Georgia Brown as Annie Kenney

Sally Miles as Flora Drummond

Sheila Allen as Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence 

Fulton Mackay as Keir Hardie

Maureen Pryor as Dr. Ethel Smyth

Suzan Cameron as Jessie Kenney 

Claire Davenport as Nurse Pine

Peter Geddis as Lloyd George

Michael Gough as Dr. Richard Pankhurst

Sheila Grant as Teresa Billington 

Robert Hardy as Asquith

Ronald Hines as Mr. Pethick-Lawrence

Andonia Katsaros as Melvina Walker 

Lans Traverse as  Zellie Emerson

Judy Parfitt as Lady Constance Lytton

Bob Hoskins as Jack Dunn

[radiojazzweb]

City Of Stars - La La Land cover // GEORGE KATSAROS

[enlightenedrobot]

Listen/purchase: Magical Boy by Enlightened Robot

Submitted for your approval, my I present Magical Boy, a somewhat lonesome mashup mix supposedly about finding an identity unique to yourself and seperate from those you follow. Or at least that’s what I was thinking of while I made it. Interpret it how you like.

Samples include Undertale, Beck, Jurassic Park, Cinderella, Tom and Jerry, Mozart, Samurai Jack, Die Antwoord and many more, though most of the samples have been chopped pretty heavily.

Though not my first time working in the time signatures 3/4 and 6/8, it is the first time I’ve been able to successfully blend the signatures into a mix that’s almost seamless. 

At some point in th near future, I’m going to post a full found footage music video for the thing. But for what I hope are obvious reasons, I’m posting the actual mix today. Please support the Transgender Law Center.

Samples under the cut:

Radio Tuning Sound Effect (Radio)

Mark Ronson Ted Talk (Vocal Sample)

Jurassic Park Main Theme - John WIlliams (Bass)

An Ending - Tobyfox from Undertale (Piano)

Nicotine and Gravy - Beck (Bass, Percussion)

Cinderella OST (Choir)

Bring the Ruckus - Wu-Tang Clan (Drums, Vocals)

Funky Drummer - James Brown/ Clyde Stubblefield (Drums, Vocals)

Underground - Tom Waits (Various elements)

Piano Sonata 30 - Beethoven (Piano)

High Life - Daft Punk (Vocals)

I Am the Very Model of a Cartoon Individual - Paul Rugg/ The Warner Brothers and the Warner Sister from the Animaniacs episode HMS Yakko (Vocals)

Oskar isn’t Calling - Brian H. Kim from the SVTFOE episode Cheer Up Star (Music Box)

Carousel - Melanie Martinez (Accordion)

Living in the Plastic Age - The Buggles (Piano, Percussion)

Sound Effects from The Emporer’s New Groove (Pull the lever Kronk!)

Jaws Theme - John Williams (Strings)

400 Lux - Lorde (Sound Effect)

The Jetsons Theme - Hoyt Curtain (Sound Effect)

Breathing Sound Effect - The Graduate

Kids - MGMT (Bass)

Party in the USA - Miley Cyrus (Guitar)

Don’t Forget my Number - Milli Vanilli (Percussion

Various Sound Effects - Todd in the Shadows

Touch it - Busta Rhymes (Percussion, Sound Effects)

New Soul - Yael Naim (Piano)

Amagam - Aivi and Surrashu from the Steven Universe episode Giant Woman (Various Elements)

Father Would be Proud - Micheal Giacchino from Star Wars: Rogue One (Strings)

Where I’m From - Jay-z  (Percussion)

Cellestica - Crystal Castles (Strings)

My Favorite Things - Percy Faith & His Orchestra covering The Sound of Music (Strings)

Gravity Falls episode Headhunters (Soos’s keyboard)

Chop Suey - 20 Second Songs covering System of a Down (Vocals)

Is You Is or Is you Ain’t my Baby - Scott Bradley/ Tom covering Louis Jordan from the Tom and Jerry Short Solid Serenade

Daft Punk - Television Rules the Nation (Percussion)

Pour Some Sugar on Me - Def Leppard (Drums)

Will you be Fooled by this Musical Trick? By Andrew Huang (Piano)

River Flows Within You - Yiruma (Piano)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Vocal Samples)

Hateful Love -  Little Big (Music Box)

Moguera - Mochipet (Percussion)

For a Few Dollars More - Ennio Morricone from the film of the same name (Whistles)

Hardcore Vibes - Dunce (Percussion)

Word Up - Camero (Percussion)

Gymnopedie no 1 - Erik Satie (Piano

The Basement - Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth and Heavy D feat. Deda, Grap Luva and Rob-O (Drums)

Forever Young - Alphaville (Synth)

Lobster Turmoil - Brian H. Kim from the SVTFOE episode Lobster Claws

We Will Rock You - Queen (Hand stomps and claps)

Something to Tide You Over -  John Harrison from Creepshow (Piano) (R.I.P. George Romero)

Samurai Jack episode XCIV (Sound Effects)

Lapis’ Tower - Aivi and Surrashu from the Steven Universe episode Ocean Gem

Adventure time episode Evicted (Vocal chops)

Mice Circus - Bruno Coulais from Coraline (Horns)

Godzilla Theme - Akira Ifukube

Beuty and the Beast (Vocal Sample)

Gravity Falls episode The Time Traveller’s Pig (Screaming)

Scott Pilgrim vs the World (Sound Effect)

Back to the Future (Sound Effect)

I’ll be Seeing You - Jimmy Durante (Strings)

Good Little Girl - Rebecca Sugar Demo from the Adventure Time episode Bad Little Boy (Ukelele)

Ante Up - M.O.P (Horns)

Bye Bye Bye - N’sync (Strings)

Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Kirby sound effect)

Hunger Games - Death Grips (Percussion)

Vava Voom - Bassnectar feat. Lupe Fiasco (Sound Effect)

Hung Up - Salt (Drums)

Hey There Delilah - The Plain White Tees (Guitar)

Avatar: The Last Airbender episode The Blind Bandit (Laugh)

Lacrimosa - Mozart (Various Elements)

The Tick Theme - Doug Katsaros (Horns)

Little Black CUbe of Darkness - Andy Bean from the Wander over Yonder episode The Black Cube (Piano)

Sanctuary - Utada Hikaru from Kingdom Hearts 2 (Various Elements)

Inception (Vocal Samples)

Alien - Die Antwoord (Musicbox)

DOUBLE ON GENRE: VIDEO GAME + ISLAND MUSIC - Andrew Huang (Crying)

[swordcrownrp]

RESERVES UPDATE

FACE CLAIM RESERVES

ADELAIDE KANE - shae

ALEXANDER DREYMON - kate

ALEXANDER VLAHOS - kate

ALICIA VIKANDER - iris

AMANDA SEYFRIED - kate

ANASTASIA TSILIMPIOU - shae

ANEURIN BARNARD - kate

ANGEL COULBY - laurel

ASHLEY BENSON - lee

ASTRID BERGES-FRISBEY - lyss

AUSTIN BUTLER - dolls

BELLA HADID - lyss

BEN BARNES - lyss

BEREN SAAT - iris

BERK CANKAT - halle

BOB MORLEY - iris

BOOBOO STEWART - halle

BRADLEY JAMES - laurel

BRIDGET REGAN - emily

BURAK ÖZÇIVIT - laurel

BYUN YO-HAN (1) - kate

CANDICE ACCOLA - halle

CAITRIONA BALFE - dolls

CHRISTIAN ANTIDORMI - lyss

CLAUDIA KIM - dolls

CLIVE STANDEN - laurel

COURTNEY EATON - joelle

DANIELLE CAMPBELL - halle

DAN JEANNOTTE - iris

DEEPIKA PADUKONE - laurel

DOUTZEN KROES - lyss

EOIN MACKEN - kate

ELIZABETH MCGOVERN - kate

EMERAUDE TOUBIA - shae

ESTELLA DANIELS - laurel

FAN BINGBING - dolls

FRANCOIS ARNAUD - iris

GABRIELLA WILDE - shae

GAL GADOT - emily

GEORGE BLAGDEN - laurel

HARRY SHUM JR. - sky

HOLLIDAY GRAINGER - kate

HOWARD CHARLES - halle

IVANA BAQUERO - halle

JAI COURTNEY - iris

JASON MOMOA - laurel

JESSICA PARKER KENNEDY - kate

JOE MANGANIELLO - halle

KELLAN LUTZ - dolls

KIT HARINGTON - laurel

KRISTEN STEWART - halle

LAMBERT WILSON - iris

LESLEY-ANN BRANDT - lyss

LILY JAMES - dolls

LOTTE VERBEEK - halle

LUKE EVANS - ani

MAHESH JADU - kate

MANU BENNETT - iris

MARIE AVGEROPOULOS - lee

MARIÉ DIGBY - dolls

MARINA NERY - shae

MARINE VACTH - iris

MATTHEW DADDARIO - halle

MAX IRONS - kate

MÉLANIE THIERRY - laurel

NATALIE DORMER - laurel

OSCAR ISAAC - ani

POLLY WALKER - kate

RANVEER SINGH - iris

RICHARD ARMITAGE - laurel

ROSIE TUPPER - iris

RUTH NEGGA - kate

SAM CLAFLIN - dolls

SAM HEUGHAN - iris

SIMON MERRELLS - laurel

SONAM KAPOOR - lyss

SOPHIE TURNER - shae

SUI HE - lyss

TOM HIDDLESTON - iris

TONY MAFHUD - lyss

ZHU ZHU - laurel

ZOE KRAVITZ - ani

ZOE SALDANA - halle

NOBILITY RESERVES

This list will be more subject to change as more lore and want ads are created. Currently there are some seats that are unnamed, and until the staff have come up with names and descriptions for them, members are more than welcome to come up with their own, as we want to give everyone a chance to reserve seats.

Families for each seat are up to the creation of the the person reserving them, so you can do what you want with them! If you see a house that has a want ad coming, feel free to contact the person reserving them on tumblr/discord to see if there are any slots that you could fill while you wait for a want ad.

More lore on already created seats will be revealed soon! I’m aware that this is very bare/messy for the time being but we do want to encourage player world building so we don’t want to dictate too much.

ELDURIAN SEATS

HOUSE GRÍMSSON of selurvík – reserved for halle, want ad coming! HOUSE VALDÍSSON of vorjfall – reserved for laurel HOUSE RUNISSON of hvalurströnd  - reserved for dolls & kate, want ad coming! HOUSE FALKENRATH of southgate – reserved for kate, want ad coming! HOUSE RAINIER of ravensreach – reserved for iris, shae & emily, want ad coming! HOUSE BRENHIN of deeplake  - reserved for laurel, want ad coming! HOUSE THORN  of goldhall – reserved for kate & halle, want ad coming! HOUSE HAXTHAUSEN of summerfield – reserved for iris & shae, want ad coming! HOUSE MONTFAUCON of longmeadow – reserved for iris, dolls, lyss & laurel, want ad coming! HOUSE ØSTERGÅRD of highkeep – reserved for iris, dolls & kate, want ad coming! HOUSE MORCANT of windemere – reserved for iris, kate, shae & halle HOUSE DARROW of oakwood – reserved for kate, want ad coming! HOUSE ANGHARAD of riverton – reserved for iris, laurel & lyss, want ad coming! OPEN HOUSE of westmoor - open HOUSE SHMONA  of dorsey – reserved for lyss, want ad coming! HOUSE HOWLAND  of oldport – reserved for ani, want ad here HOUSE ZANIN  of whitehaven – reserved for kate & shae, want ad coming! OPEN HOUSE  of stoneacre - open HOUSE ZUDAYNE of ashworth – reserved for laurel HOUSE CORONA of spurling – reserved for lyss HOUSE SANSONE of tavola – reserved for kate, want ad coming!

BAIZHENGESE NOBILITY

HOUSE CHEN, EMPERORS OF BAIZHENG – reserved for dolls, want ad coming! OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open

GADHAVIAN NOBILITY

OPEN HOUSE of open, KINGS OF GADHAVI - open HOUSE MADHUR, LORDS OF AMRITA – reserved for laurel, want ad coming! HOUSE JOHAR, LORDS OF OPEN – reserved for iris, want ad coming! OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open

UTAWALAN NOBILITY

MÜCEVHER HOUSE ZÜLFIKAR of fiqar, KINGS OF MÜCEVHER – reserved for laurel & lyss, want ad coming! HOUSE SADIK OF SAMARA – reserved for iris, want ad here OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open

THIBIA OPEN HOUSE OF ANKHAIS, KINGS OF THIBIA - open OPEN HOUSE OF LYDO - open OPEN HOUSE OF KHABAI - open OPEN HOUSE OF SATIFH - open

OPEN COUNTRY #1 OPEN HOUSE of open, KINGS OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open

OPEN COUNTRY #2 OPEN HOUSE of open, KINGS OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open

OPEN COUNTRY #3 OPEN HOUSE of open, KINGS OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open

VOLUBISIAN NOBILITIY

MYRMIAS HOUSE MEGALOS, IMPERIAL FAMILY OF VOLUBISIA – reserved for kate, want ad coming! HOUSE TIMAEUS, OF CAMBRIA – reserved for laurel & lyss, want ad coming! OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open

LACEDAE HOUSE ATHANASIOS, KINGS OF LACEDAE – reserved for dolls HOUSE XENOCRATES OF OLIVETO – reserved for iris, lee & lyss, want ad coming! OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open

SIPHNOS OPEN HOUSE, KINGS OF SIPHNOS - want ad coming! OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open

AMMURIA HOUSE KATSAROS, KINGS OF AMMURIA - reserved for shae, want ad coming! OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open

OPEN KINGDOM OPEN HOUSE, KINGS OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open OPEN HOUSE OF OPEN - open

[newyorktheater]

Four musicals in the 2018 New York Musical Festival tied for the most awards, five apiece: Between the Sea and the Sky, Emojiland, Interstate and Pedro Pan. Below the list of winners and nominees.

  Josh Lamon as Prince and Lesli Magherita as Princess

Between Sea and Sky

Jon Viktor Corpuz and Sushma Saha

Pedro Pan

OUTSTANDING OVERALL DESIGN

Winner: BETWEEN THE SEA AND SKY – Joshua Warner (Scenic Design), Jessica Creager (Lighting Design), Heather Carey (Costume Design), Josh Liebert (Sound Design)

  Nominees:

AN AMERICAN HERO: A NEW WORLD WAR II MUSICAL – Amber Marisa Cook (Scenic Design), Christopher George Haug (Lighting Design), Deana Leutkenhaus and James M. Miller (Costume Design), Philip Nacy (Sound Design)

EMOJILAND – David Goldstein (Scenic Design), Jamie Roderick (Lighting Design), Sarah Zinn (Costume Design), Ken Goodwin (Sound Design), Anthony Freitas (Prop Design), Lisa Renkel (Projection Design)

IF SAND WERE STONE – Darren Joel Diggle (Scenic Design), Adam Honore (Lighting Design), Machel Ross (Costume Design), Emily Gardner Xu Hall (Sound Design), Jess Medenbach (Projection Design)

OUTSTANDING MUSICAL ARRANGEMENTS AND ORCHESTRATIONS

Winner: Thomas Hodges, SONATA 1962

  Nominees:

Luke Byrne, BETWEEN THE SEA AND SKY

Keith Harrison, EMOJILAND

Kyle Acheson, THICKET & THISTLE’S WHAT’S YOUR WISH?

  OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY

Winner: Kenny Ingram, EMOJILAND

  Nominees:

Jim Cooney, BETWEEN THE SEA AND SKY

Sidney Erik Wright, PEDRO PAN

David Rossetti, PETER, WHO?

Jeff Davis, THE GUNFIGHTER MEETS HIS MATCH

  OUTSTANDING BOOK

Winner: Justin Moran and Jonathan Roufaeal, PETER, WHO?

Nominees:

Luke Byrne, BETWEEN THE SEA AND SKY

Keith Harrison and Laura Nicole Harrison, EMOJILAND

Rebecca Aparicio, PEDRO PAN

Patricia Loughrey, SONATA 1962

  OUTSTANDING LYRICS

Winner: Kit Yan and Melissa Li, INTERSTATE

Nominees:

Luke Byrne, BETWEEN THE SEA AND SKY

Keith Harrison and Laura Nicole Harrison, EMOJILAND

Justin Moran and Jonathan Roufaeal, PETER, WHO

Thomas Hodges and Patricia Loughrey, SONATA 1962

  OUTSTANDING MUSIC

Winner: Luke Byrne, BETWEEN THE SEA AND SKY

Nominees:

Keith Harrison and Laura Nicole Harrison, EMOJILAND

Melissa Li, INTERSTATE

Thomas Hodges, SONATA 1962

Abby Payne, THE GUNFIGHTER MEETS HIS MATCH

  OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Winners:

Alexis Floyd, IF SAND WERE STONE

Natalie Toro, PEDRO PAN

Nominees:

Jessie Alagna, EMOJILAND

Kiet Tai Cao, INTERSTATE

Zoe Farmingdale, PETER, WHO?

Sarah Jane Shanks, BETWEEN THE SEA AND THE SKY

Chris Evan Simpson, PETER, WHO?

Romelda Teron Benjamin, SONATA 1962

  OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE IN A LEADING ROLE

Winners:

Trish Lindstrȫm, IF SAND WERE STONE

Sushma Saha, INTERSTATE

Christina Maxwell, SONATA 1962

Nominees:

Jenny Rose Baker, BETWEEN THE SEA AND SKY

Keith Harrison, EMOJILAND

Lesli Margherita, EMOJILAND

Travis Nilan, PETER, WHO?

Joshua Stenseth, THICKET & THISTLE’s WHAT’S YOUR WISH?

  OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE

Winners – tie:

BETWEEN THE SEA AND SKY. Cast includes: Anna L. Baker, Jenny Rose Baker, Jordan Bell, Thaddeus Kolwicz, Caroline Lellouche, Barbara McCulloh, Jason Moody, Sarah Jane Shanks, Jessica Turk

EMOJILAND. Cast includes: Jessie Alagna, Brandon L. Armstrong, Jordon Bolden, Chloe Fox, Keith Harrison, Laura Nicole Harrison, Cooper Howell, Megan Kane, Alex G. Kunz, Josh Lamon, Lesli Margherita, Angela Wildflower

Nominees:

PETER, WHO?

THICKET & THISTLE’S WHAT’S YOUR WISH?

  OUTSTANDING DIRECTION

Winner: Michael Bello, BETWEEN THE SEA AND SKY

Nominees:

Thomas Caruso, EMOJILAND

John Treacy Egan, PETER, WHO?

Katherine M. Carter, SONATA 1962

Jonathan Eric Foster, THICKET & THISTLE’S WHAT’S YOUR WISH?

  BEST MUSICAL SPONSORED BY PLAY-BY-PLAY

Winner: BETWEEN THE SEA AND SKY –Book, Music, and Lyrics by Luke Byrne

Nominees:

EMOJILAND – Book, Music, and Lyrics by Keith Harrison and Laura Nicole Harrison

INTERSTATE – Book and Lyrics by Kit Yan and Melissa Li; Music by Melissa Li

PETER, WHO? – Book and Lyrics by Justin Moran & Jonathan Roufaeal; Music by Doug Katsaros & Adam Podd

SONATA 1962 – Book by Patricia Loughrey; Music by Thomas Hodges; Lyrics by Patricia Loughrey and Thomas Hodges

  THE FOLLOWING RECEIVED OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE AWARDS:

Taylor Caldwell, PEDRO PAN

Gregory Diaz IV, PEDRO PAN

Kristen Di Mercurio, THE GUNFIGHTER MEETS HIS MATCH

Esco Jouléy, INTERSTATE

Josh Lamon, EMOJILAND

Adam Schween, AN AMERICAN HERO: A NEW WORLD WAR II MUSICAL

Julian Silva, PEDRO PAN

Uton Evan Uneyjekwe, ‘68: A NEW AMERICAN MUSICAL

Angela Wildflower, EMOJILAND

Andreas Wyder, INTERSTATE

  SPECIAL CITATIONS

University Excellence: Southeast Missouri State University for their production of AN AMERICAN HERO: A NEW WORLD WAR II MUSICAL with Book by Kenneth L. Stilson and Music and Lyrics by Cody Cole

  Festival Achievement in Lighting Design, Jamie Roderick for EMOJILAND

  Mental Health Awareness: Carly Brooke Feinman and Cassie Wilson, IF SAND WERE STONE

  Representation and Inclusion: Melissa Li and Kit Yan, INTERSTATE

  Political Relevance and Impact: Rebecca Aparicio and Stephen Anthony Elkins, PEDRO PAN

  Arts Advocacy: Thomas Hodges and Patricia Loughrey, SONATA 1962

2018 New York Musical Festival Awards for Excellence Four musicals in the 2018 New York Musical Festival tied for the most awards, five apiece: …

[snackpointcharlie]

SNACKPOINT CHARLIE for MAY 2018 is archived here. Hey that was fast! Now go here to play all previous installments. No time to lose!

Transmission 013 - 2018.05.02 PLAYLIST

1) L'Orchestre National De Mauritanie - “Oumletna ("La Mone”)” from L’ORCHESTRE NATIONAL DE MAURITANIE (1968-1975) https://lorchestrenationaldemauritanie.bandcamp.com/album/lorchestre-national-de-mauritanie

2) Lehakat Tzliley Ha'oud - “Meafula (Hanale Hitbalbela)” from HAFLA! - A ROUGH GUIDE TO JAFFA'S 70'S SOUND http://www.fortuna-records.com/product/various-artist-hafla-a-rough-guide-to-jaffa-s-70-s-sound-compiled-by-fortuna-records

3) Khruangbin - “Maria También” from CON TODO EL MUNDO https://khruangbin.bandcamp.com/album/con-todo-el-mundo-excluding-n-s-america

4) Epee Eugene Solgary - “Ewusu” from EWUSU / PROPIÉTÉ PRIVÉE https://www.discogs.com/Epee-Eugene-Solgary-Ewusu/release/9440735

5) The Funkees - “Point Of No Return” from DANCING TIME: THE BEST OF EASTERN NIGERIA'S AFRO ROCK EXPONENTS 1973-77 https://amzn.to/2HXiA7s

6)  Melike Demirağ ‎– “Hadi Canım Sen De” from HADI CANIM SEN DE / MERHABA https://www.discogs.com/Melike-Demira%C4%9F-Hadi-Can%C4%B1m-Sen-De-Merhaba/release/4609406

7) Sidi Touré - “Heyyeya” from TOUBALBERO https://amzn.to/2HZNnki

8) Kishore Kumar - “Mehbooba Payee Hai Maine” from MOHABBAT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pfMAFrNiAo

9) Ammar El Sheriyi - “Asmar Ya Asmarani” from MUSIC FROM THE SONGS OF ABDEL HALIM HAFEZ PLAYED BY AMMAR EL SHERIYI IN HIS OWN STYLE https://www.discogs.com/Ammar-El-Sheriyi-Music-From-The-Songs-Of-Abdel-Halim-Hafez-Played-By-Ammar-El-Sheriyi-In-His-Own-Sty/master/1182327

10) Taher Elies - “Trha” https://soundcloud.com/taher-elies

11) Mdou Moctar - “Achinane” from ANAR https://mdoumoctar.bandcamp.com/album/anar

12) Wangaro ft. Diego - “Aibaka” from GAO RAP https://sahelsounds.bandcamp.com/album/gao-rap-hip-hop-from-northern-mali

13a) Mansoor Hassan - “Ya Ali (original mix)” https://soundcloud.com/sixdegreesrecords/sets/global-grooves-travels-world

13b)  Earl Nightingale ‎– “The Strangest Secret” https://www.discogs.com/Earl-Nightingale-The-Strangest-Secret/master/410059

14) Grotto - “Bad Times” from AT LAST https://odionlivingstone.bandcamp.com/album/at-last

15) Orhan Gencebay - “Ask Pinari” https://www.discogs.com/Orhan-Gencebay-A%C5%9Fk-P%C4%B1nar%C4%B1/master/1103285

16) Adem Harun - “Track 1” from ADEM HARUN V-4 https://www.awesometapes.com/adem-harun/

17) Piri - “Wame Igini Kamu (Papua New Guinea)” from THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF CHARLES DUVELLE http://www.sublimefrequencies.com/products/590766-the-photographs-of-charles-duvelle-disques-ocora-and-collection-prophet

18) Ephrem Tamru – “Akal Gela” from CASSETTE CHICHIKA – DANCE-FLOOR HEAVY http://shebasound.com/2015/04/cassette-chichika-dance-floor-heavy/

19) Samai Onvong / Plern Promdan - “Noom Lum Plern / Kaow Huk”

20) Roongped Ramsing / Samai Aonvong - “Pong Pang / Look Aey”

21) “Ahun Demkesh Abedaye” from AMHARA WEDDING SONGS OF ETHIOPIA https://www.discogs.com/Various-Amhara-Wedding-Songs-of-Ethiopia/release/3652514

22) “Radio Niger with a little distortion” from SAHELSOUNDS http://sahelsounds.com/2017/12/radio-niger/

23) Ibrahim Boyati - “Solo Dotara” from THE TRAVELLING ARCHIVE - FOLK MUSIC FROM BENGAL: FIELD RECORDINGS FROM BANGLADESH, INDIA AND THE BENGALI DIASPORA http://www.sublimefrequencies.com/products/576384-the-travelling-archive-folk-music-from-bengal

24) George Katsaros - “Fonias Tha Ghino (I'll Become a Murderer)” from GEORGE KATSAROS: GREEK BLUES IN AMERICA, VOL. 1 https://deathisnot.bandcamp.com/album/george-katsaros-greek-blues-in-america-vol-1

25) Boubacar Traore - “Mariama” from MARIAMA https://www.discogs.com/Boubacar-Traor%C3%A9-Mariama/master/318017

26) Ramesh - “Nefrin Shodeh” from BEST OF 70'S PERSIAN MUSIC, VOL. 8 https://amzn.to/2JpVPc0

27a) Nebiyu Hamdi - “Yisare Hinena (Dub mix by Nick Manasseh)” https://soundcloud.com/sheba-sound/gurage-sabat-bet-extended-dub-mix

27b) Ould Médi & Ould Manou (voices & Tidinit lute) - “Traditional” from MAURITANIE - CHANTS D'HOMMES - CHANTS MAURES VOL.2 https://music-republic-world-traditional.blogspot.fr/2018/04/mauritania-chants-dhomme-par-ould-meni.html

27c) Daniel Steven Crafts ‎– “The Essence Of Melodrama” from SOAP OPERA SUITE / SNAKE OIL SYMPHONY http://www.dscrafts.net/recordings.html https://www.discogs.com/Daniel-Steven-Crafts-Soap-Opera-Suite-Snake-Oil-Symphony/release/1237311

[whavradio]

Nicholas S. Katsaros, 62, Helped Manage George Kay’s Lounge

Nicholas S. Katsaros, 62, Helped Manage George Kay’s Lounge

Nicholas S. Katsaros, 62, of Haverhill, died unexpectedly of a heart attack Thursday, Oct. 12, at Holy Family Hospital at Merrimack Valley, Haverhill.

He was born in Haverhill, Dec. 30, 1954, son of Effie (Sarbanis) Katsaros of Haverhill, and the late former Mayor of Haverhill George K. Katsaros.

Educated in the Haverhill school system, he graduated from Haverhill High School, class of 1972,…

[kedidirokedi]

George Katsaros - Abrazame

[canaryrecords]

Amalia Bakas was born Mazaltov Matsa in 1897 in present-day Ioannina, Greece (then Janina, Turkey). She was part of a 2,000 year old community of Romaniote Jews from Ioannina. Since the holocaust, their population there has dwindled to only dozens of individuals. Amalia was apparently the only Romaniote Jew to have ever recorded, albeit in the New World.

A beautifully researched biographical essay by David Soffa appears in the notes of the CD that he produced of her, Amalia!: Old Greek Songs in the New Land, 1923-50 (Arhoolie, 2002). Despite my best efforts to add to his work, I have largely failed to improve upon it. What follows is drawn almost entirely from his research.

She was sent to the U.S. at 15 years old in 1912 and just under a year later, she was married to Jack Saretta with whom she had two daughters Esther and Diamond (b. July 23, 1918). They lived in the Jewish Lower East Side, close to the Romaniote synagogue on Broome Street (the only one in the Western hemisphere). Mally, as she was known to her friends and family, worked initially in a garment factory, but by her early 20s she was earning a living singing in the emerging coffee houses and nightclubs patronized by Greek and Turkish speaking immigrants.

By about 1922, she had started recording under the names Amilia or Amelia, initially ten sides for the small independent labels for the New York Armenian-owned Parsekian and Sohag labels and then six sides for the Chicago-based Greek Record Company. Her career as a performer was far removed from the traditional role of a woman in her community, and her husband divorced her and sent her daughter Esther away to Greece. Diamond later used the word “kidnapped” to describe her sister’s removal. Diamond and Amalia remained very close, often working together in nightclubs and touring as a duo. In her younger years, Diamond’s babysitter was an emerging star of Greek music in New York, Marika Papagika. (Amalia had a short-lived cafe of her own on 8th Avenue around 1930, just around the corner of Papagika’s club.)

It is not out of the question that it was Papagika who brought Amalia to Victor Records, where she recorded 10 12” discs between April 1927 and February 1928. By that time, Amalia had converted to the Greek Orthodox Church to marry Gus Bakas (b. 1889; arrived in the U.S. 1910) and had taken his surname. In early 1929, she made three more 12” discs, this time for the Okeh company, accompanied by the brilliant violinist Nishan Sedefjian (with whom she worked off and on for decades) and cymbalom player Louis Rassias.

Amalia and Diamond spent the Depression playing the “oriental” nightclubs of 8th Avenue and touring - Detroit, Gary IN, Philadelphia, the Catskills, and Chicago - often with the guitarist, singer, and composer George Katsaros. An exceptionally independent woman, Amalia lived the nightlife, gambling and swearing with the men and performing flirtatiously. By 1940, she was living in Chicago’s Greektown, but within a couple of years, she moved back to New York and started recording again for the Balkan/ Metropolitan circle of labels for whom she made at least seven discs with a rotating cast of accompanists. She and Diamond performed as a mother-daughter act until 1960 when Diamond moved to Tarpon Springs, Florida where she opened a restaurant. Amalia retired from performing in the early 1960s and joined Diamond in Florida in 1974. She died there in 1979. Diamond died March 13, 2013.

======= Sarah Behar recorded only two songs - one disc - some time in the 1940s. At least three different women by that name, all born in Turkey between 1899 and 1910, appear in the 1930 and 1940 census records in the Bronx and Brooklyn. Two of the three were native speakers of Ladino, the uncommon dialect of Spanish specific to Sephardic Jews of parts of Turkey and Greece. (The language was brought to the Ottoman Empire during the late 15th expulsion of Jews from Spain.) For the time being, we remain unclear who she was.

======= In the 1940s Victoria Hazan recorded eleven songs in Turkish (plus one as a backing vocalist for Marko Melkon), two in Greek, and ten in Ladino. The Ladino language discs remain relatively scarce but fortunately can be heard on YouTube and were issued on a CD of her complete works titled Todas Mis Esperansas (Global Village, 2001). The thumbnail biography of Hazan at the sephardicmusic.org remains the best published source, although we hope to expand on it in the near future.

She was born April 15, 1896 in Salihi, Turkey. Her family (two siblings and her parents Moshe and Rivka Ninio) moved 100km due east to the port city of Izmir when she was 15 and then to New York City in 1920, shortly before the September 1922 catastrophe killed tens of thousands of Greeks and Armenians. From about 1925 to ’36, she was married to Israel Hazan. She sang and played out in her synagogue in the Bronx. When it was initially suggested that she should make records, she saw no reason to, saying that her husband “made a good living.” After her first husband’s death, she remarried Joe Rosa, and with his permission, she recorded for the Kaliphon and Metropolitan labels with Marko Melkon (who was just a year or two older than her and from Izmir himself) and his circle accompanying her.

She continued to sing within her community until her death in Brooklyn, November 21, 1995. She’s buried near family in Cincinnati, Ohio.

[canaryrecords]

The circumstances of the recording recording of Marko Melkon's 1958 swan song LP are cloudy. Credits on the jacket erroneously give composition credits for five of the tracks to Melkon and authorship to at least eight of the tracks to Jack Zareh or Roger "King" Mozian who appear to have been the album's producers and likely young men looking to capitalize on the fad for bellydance music. Melkon, then in his mid-60s and coming to the end of 40 years as one of the most prolific performers of Turkish-style folk music in the U.S., plays on the session, as he always did, beautifully. The arrangements are hard, fast, and loud, suitable for a harder, faster, louder America where rhythm and blues had become rock n roll and rural "hillbilly" music had become bluegrass and the Nashville. sound - an America where all folk music had been fitted with V8 engines and tailfins.

On Novemer 10, 1922 in Boston, Melkon Alemsherian (his birth name) formally filed his Declaration of Intent to become a naturalized citizen of the United States of America. His paperwork showed that he was born May 2, 1894. (He later gave his year of birth as 1895.) He had, he said, arrived at Ellis Island on February 10, 1920 from Piraeus, Greece, having been born and raised in the cosmopolitan port city of Smyrna (now Izmir), Turkey. His daughter Rose later said that he had fled Smyrna as a teenager in order to avoid military conscription and had worked as a musician in Athens before arriving in the U.S. Although he was Armenian, through much of his professional life he used the Greek-sounding stage name Marko Melkon. By this late teens, he was already a professional musician.

He made a few appearances on discs in the early 20s, recording three sides for M.G. Parsekian’s West Hoboken label and one side as the flip side for a self-released disc by the Boston violinist Harry Hasekian. And he befriended the Turkish-born Greek oudist and singer Achileas Poulos who had also recorded for Parsekian’s label. When Melkon returned to Greece in late 1928, he brought back with him a wife from Thessalonika, Karnoogian, an Armenian ten years his junior and also from Smyrna. In the notes to Harold Hagopian’s 1996 CD release of Melkon’s recordings on his Traditional Crossroad label, Melkon’s daughter Rose recounted that Poulos was best man at their wedding. When the couple arrived home to New York City, on January 2, 1929, Melkon gave his address as 383 3rd Avenue in New York - the address of the Vartesian Brothers jewelry and watch repair shop, where his close friend and collaborator violinist Nishan Sedefjian was employed as a diamond setter, and which was the home office of the Pharos Record Company (which, as it happens, had acquired and reissued the M.G. Parsekian catalog from earlier in the decade.)

In the early years of the Depression, Melkon ran the Dexter Music and Radio shop on Mt. Auburn St in Watertown, Massachusetts, where he sold records and equipment as well as repairing vacuum cleaners. On February 15, 1937, he recorded a single disc under the supervision of Tetos Demetriades for Victor Records’ Orthophonic subsidiary. (Demetriades, a fascinating character himself with an excellent ear, was a key figure in the publication and proliferation of Greek music in New York during the 1920s-50s, publishing discs on Orthophonic and Victor recorded locally by Marika Papagika, Alexis Zoumbas, George Katsaros, Kostas Gadinis, Anthony Sakellariou, and the Cretian singer Charilaos whom Melkon accompanied, as well as issuing imported recordings by Rosa Eskenazi, Rita Abatzi, Kostas Roukounas, and many others.) That disc, “Oglan Oglan” backed with an oud improvisation in maqam hijazkar, sold well and paved the way for the next stage of Melkon’s recording career.

In the early 1940s, the Albanian singer Adjin Asllan re-started his Me Re label, quickly changing the name to Balkan and forming a partnership with the Bulgarian violinist Nick Doneff and, for a short time, the Greek accordionist John Gianaros. Melkon recorded at least 48 sides under his own name for the network of labels that they founded - Balkan, Metropolitan, and Kaliphon - and performed on scores of discs as accompanist for other performers including Virginia Magidou, Victoria Hazan, Vahit Artan, Zeki Arikan, Ali Fasih Tekin, and others.

Through the 1940s and early 50s, his fame grew, and he performed constantly at the “oriental” nightclubs on New York’s 8th Avenue - the Brittania, Egyptian Gardens, and Port Said - as well as at the Armenian resorts in Asbury Park (the Fenimore Hotel) and the Catskills (Tannersville Bar, Washington Irving Hotel, Clinton Hotel) and in Wayne County, Michigan.

A heart attack in 1952 curtailed his playing significantly. He was forced to take a full year off work and to quit drinking and smoking. A consummate entertainer and a life-long denizen of the nightlife with a strong affinity for alcohol and marijuana (a close pal of Ioannis "Jack Gregory" Halikias, the bouzouki player, bookee, and weed dealer), it was a blow. He found himself performing mainly at weekend picnics of aging Armenians.

In 1958, his final burst of success with the release of an LP, HiFi Adventures in Asia Minor, released by the Decca label not only in the U.S. but also in Canada and Brazil. Although the cover capitalizes on the bellydance fad of the time, with Melkon looking distinctly out of place and a little silly, the performances, including the standard Jazayeer and Edward Bogosian’s “Sood E Sood E” are strong.

His heart failed at home in Astoria, Queens in April of 1963.