Various Artists - Mezze a la Azzam - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

The whirling twisting music form known as Klezmer, which originated among the Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern Europe, can have a sad or festive climate. Here it has all the sweat of a swing club in Harlem during the Depression, as the Gefilte Swing band, led by Alexandre Litwak, plays it's own festive brand of jazz that borders on world music, with occasional forays into the world of pop. They nonchalantly borrow from the zoot-suit subculture with a shameless desire to live for swing and the result is hedonistic, generous and invigorating. And like the Carte de Séjour group in the 80's, they also have their own version of Douce France, which Charles Trenet wrote during the war, only this time it's sung in Yiddish. Album Tracks 1. Le Poste Parisien Vous Annonce 2. Frankraykh Mayn (Douce France) 3. Benny's Freilach 4. Freilach À la Litwak 5. Du Shaynts VI Di Zin 6. Lebedik Un Freilach 7. Mitsve Tentsl & Bughici Freylakhs 8. Yid Meets Goy 9. Mashav 10. Ikh Zing 11. Mayn Swingin' Tate 12. Yid Un Goy Fantasy 13. Tchiribim, Tchiribom 14. Al Capone

Michael Terzis is one of the most important contemporary Greek composers. He studied piano and music theory at the Macedonian Conservatory in Thessaloniki and in Athens with A. Ainian and K. Chronopoulos. He started his music career in 1973, playing piano and songs by Mikis Theodorakis, Manos Hadijdakis and New Wave as well as his own compositions at music theaters in the historic part of Athens beneath the Acropolis. He recorded his first piece in 1976 using the lyrics of the great Greek poet Yannis Ritsos. His works have since been performed and recorded by the most famous Greek musicians in the world. This features delightfully varied instrumental Greek music reflective of a beautiful and proud nation. It presents new and authentic bouzouki music by Michalis Terzis.

Alan Shavarsh Bardezbanian was the unparalleled master of the oud, the Middle Eastern lute. Here he showcases many styles of oud playing, with fourteen folk songs and original compositions from his homeland of Armenia, as well as Turkey, Lebanon and Greece. InchOud at lightning speed with incredible sensitivity to the melodyInch - Allmusic. Com InchAn earthy, elevating sound... Inch - Elsewhere New Zealand InchThe improvisational work is world class... Inch - OmRadio USA ALAN SHAVARSH BARDEZBANIAN was born into an Armenian family in the thriving ethnic community of Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1950. Musically gifted from an early age, Al began playing the oud as a child, modeling his playing on the versatile dance band musicians like George Mgrditchian and Richard Hagopian who performed in the local clubs every weekend. By his teens, Al had already mastered the Armenian dance hall repertoire, which he continued to perform for the rest of his life, and began exploring a wide range of other musical idioms, particularly the contemporary jazz scene of the 1960s. Album Tracks 1. Rampi Rampi 2. Siseler 3. Dari Lolo 4. Shek Mazerov 5. Itia 6. Nihavent Taksim 7. Bint Al Shaliba / Shetti la Dunya 8. Zeytoun / Cheynir Boyov 9. Kale Kale 10. Sevan Uncles 11. Tamara 12. Hüseyni Taksim 13. Hüseyni Saz Samai 14. Farahfaza Longa