ouddavid - 11-27-2004 at 11:54 AM
Congratulations on your 2 YEAR ANNIVERSERY This is a very great site for all oud players. No matter what style
Turkish or Arabic.What a wonderful forum
Thank You
I was just wondering what you guys thought about this site?
Just go on the site
http://larkinthemorning.com/product.asp?pn=RCE636&Udi+Hrant+Ken... 
Jonathan - 11-27-2004 at 12:14 PM
David, that is a cd, and not a video. If you don't have it, I think it is well worth getting. The recording quality, and musical quality, are
both excellent.
Don't be thrown off by description of it as being Udi Hrant giving lessons on the oud. These are not lessons in the typical sense. He is just
demonstrating certain makams. For example, at the start of rast taksim, he says "Rast taksim". That's about it. He does not go into
any details about it. The cd is extremely listenable. And the recording quality is so good that you are able to grasp how absolutely superb
Hrant's playing was. About half of the tracks have vocals, but in all cases, Hrant's ud is the only instrument. I don't think that I
have any cd that I listen to more than this one.
I think that there may be a perception that Hrant's material was not quite as good as he got older. Perhaps the material on the later albums of
his was not up to par, but this cd shows that his playing remained brilliant--perhaps at its peak. And here he is picking out the material. Every
track here is great.
Jonathan - 11-27-2004 at 12:23 PM
David, you titled your post "Udi Hrant Video". I wonder if anybody out there knows of any actual video of Hrant playing. I do not know of
any, but I would certainly love to see some.
In an earlier post, I mentioned that Traditional Crossroads also put out a tribute video tape to Udi Hrant by Richard Hagopian and Ensemble. Well
worth seeking out. Not listed on the website, but it is available if you call them up. Most of the material is Hrant's, but there are also some
other pieces of that era, and, appropriately, a track written by Hrant's brother-in-law, Udi Bogos (Vart Kaghelen Ghukas Yar). Hagopian's
playing shines (some brilliant taksims), as does his son's playing (Harold) on violin. Sound quality is superb--I like the tape so much that I
actually downloaded all the music to my ipod.
One last thing--on the video, Hagopian plays an oud that his father bought off of Hrant in 1950. Clearly a heartfelt video. And very appropriate
that it was Hagopian that performed this tribute to Hrant.
I guess I could go on forever when I am writing about Hrant and Hagopian.
Does anybody have a discography on Hrant?
I beleive that's a CD.*
Meursault - 11-29-2004 at 10:15 AM
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