The Saturday night dance at the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) Olympics has always been a challenge for the organizing committee. Once upon a time—I am guessing in the 1940’s and 50’s—the Saturday night dance featured an American band. Imagine that! In most of the years that I can remember, the Saturday night band was like the Sunday night band—just not as popular and talented. As a result, the dance was also not as well attended.
There have been other experiments with varying degrees of success. One year there was a band from Armenia and a variety of choices from California. These options might have gotten a crowd, but at a cost. The big name California entertainers are, well, big names, and thus command very large fees.
Last year in Providence, R.I. the organizing committee had a brilliant idea: a cultural program to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. It was a phenomenal success. They featured the Arev Ensemble, the Sayat Nova Dance Ensemble, and Armenian patriotic singer Karnig Sarkissian. It was a phenomenal success and everyone enjoyed the evening—a special evening that I thought would be hard to beat.
This year, the Saturday night dance was called the Saturday Night Spectacular. “Kevork Artinian and his incredible band will provide non-stop entertainment for the evening! A mix of modern and traditional Armenian music that everyone can enjoy,” stated the AYF Olympic website. OK… Sounds good. It also sounds like ad copy. But it was also the truth.
I was impressed to walk in and find both the hall and the dance floor at full capacity. Kevork Artinian and his incredible band were indeed supplying non-stop entertainment. They were rocking the joint! The dance floor was not only full of people—it was full of youth dancing and having the greatest time. It reminded me that we were at the Armenian Youth Federation Olympics. It was, indeed, very energetic and very youthful.
Kevork Artinian is a great singer and great entertainer. He knows how to get the crowd dancing and how to keep them there. He and his band are what I would call a fusion band. They have brilliantly infused the kef and modern styles or as the ad copy said: “a mix of modern and traditional Armenian music that everyone can enjoy.” They sing and play it all very well and everyone indeed seem to be enjoying themselves.
Beyond Kevork Artinian, the band featured George Tebrejian (keyboard), Jim Kzirian (Drums), Raffi Massoyan (Oud & Doumbek), and Steve Vosbikian (Clarinet). Raffi Massoyan is an amazing versatile musician on oud, saz, and doumbek, playing them all effortlessly and at a very high level. Steve Vosbikian is simply the best clarinet player of his generation… and perhaps the one before it!
Given two years in a row of successful Saturday night events, let’s go for a third next year in Milwaukee, Wis. They will have big shoes… er… halls to fill.
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