Andy - 3-2-2006 at 07:56 AM
Last night at the Middle East Restaurant in Cambridge,MA. I walked in, did my rounds of hellos and I saw someone I thought I recognized but not sure
and heard hi Andy. To my surprise it was Joey Kouyoumjian. He sat in for an an hour or so and he was as great as ever. What a nice surprise! In case
you are not familiar with oudi Joey he played on the Eddie Mekjian recordings and Beautiful Belly with the late, great Esber. He was also on a
recording called the Road to Istanbul and some of the George Abdo recordings.
oudmaker - 3-2-2006 at 08:01 AM
I played wth him on one of Mekjian's recordings. I am glad tgat he is OK
Dincer-Garib the violin player
Amos - 3-2-2006 at 09:13 AM
that's quite fortunate andy, i wish i could have been there...joe is a favorite of my teacher al bardezbanian, and al studied with the late esber
koprucu, so he has played me many of the tunes from the albums with the both of them...again, i wish i could have been there!
amos
Andy - 3-2-2006 at 01:46 PM
Hello Dincer,
I didn't know that was you (Kemani Garib) on that recording Belly Dance Music from the Middle East, vol. 2. You are a man of many talents. What other
recordings have been on?
Amos,
I wish I had advance knowledge I would have videod it. Usually they have Garo Papazian on dumbeg Harry Papazian on violin and Costas Maniatakos on oud
with Gregory on def once a month. FREDDIE ELIAS was suppose to play too but I think he hasn't been feeling to well lately. I have enjoyed listening to
some greats like George Regalis and John Berberian. And of course Mal Barsamian, Harry Bedrossian, and Charlie Dermenjian play there too, they are
known as Hye Fussion.
mavrothis - 3-2-2006 at 04:49 PM
Andy,
What is Costas Maniatakos' playing like? I've never heard of him. Is he a younger guy?
mavrothis
Andy - 3-2-2006 at 09:17 PM
Mavrothis,
Costas is a few years older than me so he is about 64-65. He plays very good and has been playing in the greater Boston area for a long time. His
style is nightclub/dance, plays Greek, Arabic, Turkish and Armenian, equally good in all and usually plays with violinist Freddie Elias and an all
around great guy. I believe he has been to your site but like many others, they visit quietly and don't sign up. I will let him know you inquired.
mavrothis - 3-3-2006 at 04:44 AM
Thanks Andy, I appreciate the info. There aren't that many Greek oud players in the States, so it always interests me when I hear of someone for the
first time. Hopefully before long I can come up to the Boston area again and listen to some of the many musicians there.
Take care,
mavrothis
Andy - 3-3-2006 at 07:00 AM
Mavrothis, you are welcome. There is a direct link to the Middle East Resaurant there is a schedule on there site of who is playing. Costas plays with
the Garo Papazian's band. If you go there let me know. Also, of course, you do know that Peter Kyvelos plays a real mean oud too, be sure to add him
to your list of Greek players. There has to be more Greeks who play oud. Maybe by reading this someone will come forward with other names. It would be
nice if you started a list on your site exclusively for oud players & builders of Greek decent, similar to Jonathan's site on oud makers of
Armenian decent.
mavrothis - 3-3-2006 at 07:15 AM
Hey Andy,
That's a good idea, I will try and do something like a catalogue of US players when I update the site. I'm waiting to get my hands on a better kind
of web editing software, and hopefully there will be a lot of improvements before the summer.
About Greek players in the US, there are also some old Greek players out in the Ohio/Western Pennsylvania area that I met while in college. These
guys are rabid Udi Hrant fans, when I played them some Batzanos recordings they almost stoned me! hehehe...it's interesting that b/c the Greek guys
grew up listening only to Hrant, they totally rejected the style of Batzanos, who happened to be Greek.
Kyvelos is a great guy, I met him a while ago and really enjoyed my visit. I like his playing a lot too, not to mention his ouds. 
Take care,
mav
Andy - 3-5-2006 at 08:01 PM
Good luck Mav when I see Costas I'll ask if he knows of any other Greek American oud players. Oh BTW do not forget to list yourself.
Andy - 3-9-2006 at 04:04 PM
Hi Mav,
I saw Costa Maniatakos last night. He knows of one other Greek American oud player. His name is Arthur Spirou from Lowell, MA. There has to be more
out there. I think the ones you would have to ask are the oud builders starting with a Greek American oud builder.
Andy
mavrothis - 3-9-2006 at 04:08 PM
Hey Andy,
Thanks a lot. I have family near Lowell, I wonder if they've heard of him.