John Bilezikjian (February 1, 1948 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

– January 19, 2015) was an

Armenian-American Armenian Americans ( hy, ամերիկահայեր, ''amerikahayer'') are citizens or residents of the United States who have total or partial Armenian ancestry. They form the second largest community of the Armenian diaspora after Armenians in ...

musician and composer. Most renowned as an

oud , image=File:oud2.jpg , image_capt=Syrian oud made by Abdo Nahat in 1921 , background= , classification= * String instruments *Necked bowl lutes , hornbostel_sachs=321.321-6 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded with a plectrum , ...

master, he also played the

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

and

dumbek The goblet drum (also chalice drum, tarabuka, tarabaki, darbuka, darabuka, derbake, debuka, doumbek, dumbec, dumbeg, dumbelek, toumperleki, tumbak, or zerbaghali; arz, دربوكة / Romanized: ) is a single-head membranophone with a goblet- ...

. He was also a traditional and contemporary singer singing in

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

, but also in Turkish, Assyrian/Syriac, English and known for his contributions to world music as a solo act and in collaborations with renowned artists. He established his own record company, Dantz Records in Laguna Hills, California making many recordings, and appearing in tens of film soundtracks. Collaborations included

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

in ''

Recent Songs ''Recent Songs'' is the sixth studio album by Leonard Cohen, released in 1979. Produced by Cohen alongside Henry Lewy, it was a return to his normal acoustic folk music sound after the Phil Spector-driven experimentation of '' Death of a Ladies' ...

'' (1979) after touring with him on his live concerts, resulting in ''

Cohen Live ''Cohen Live'' is a live album by Leonard Cohen released in 1994. The songs were recorded live in 1988 on the I'm Your Man Tour and in 1993 on The Future World Tour. Several of the songs have altered lyrics, which are printed in the liner note ...

'' album in 1994 and ''

The Smokey Life Tour Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

'' recorded in 1979. He played oud in Cohen's 1988 album '' I'm Your Man''. In 1992, he collaborated with British singer Robert Palmer in the latter's album '' Ridin' High'', where he played oud and dumbek in "Want You More". In 1997, he recorded with Mexican singer

Luis Miguel Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri (born 19 April 1970) is a Puerto Rican-born Mexican singer, often referred to as ''El Sol de México'' (The Sun of Mexico), which is the nickname his mother gave him as a child—"mi sol". Luis Miguel has sung in mu ...

in the latter's album playing mandolin in '' Romances'' and in 1994 with Plácido Domingo in ''

De Mi Alma Latina ''De Mi Alma Latina'' (also known as ''From My Latin Soul'') is a 1994 Latin music album by Spanish tenor Plácido Domingo. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album of the year. Most of the tracks on the album are medleys of, i ...

'' and in 1999 in ''Por Amor''. In 2002, he joined the world music band

Brothers of the Baladi The Brothers of the Baladi is a World music band based in Portland, Oregon, USA, that plays both traditional Middle Eastern music, and also combines traditional Middle Eastern and western sounds and instruments for a unique Worldbeat sound. Band ...

recording in their album ''Hope''. He also played with the Armenian-American musician

Armen Chakmakian Armen John Chakmakian (Western Armenian: Արմէն Չագմագեան; Eastern hy, Արմեն Չաքմաքյան) born (February 11, 1966) in Glendale, California) is an Armenian-American musician, composer, recording artist, and producer. Form ...

and singers

Roupen Altiparmakian Roupen Altiparmakian (born in Adana, Turkey) is an Armenian master of the violin and oud. Career When he was a child, Altiparmakian's family moved to Athens, Greece.Andy Madadian Andranik Madadian ( fa, آندرانیک مددیان, hy, Անդրանիկ Մադադյան; born April 22, 1958), better known by his stage name, Andy ( fa, اندی, hy, Անդի) is an Iranian-Armenian singer-songwriter and actor. He immi ...

He played with many orchestras including The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, The Los Angeles Mandolin Orchestra, The Pacific Palisades Symphony. In 2005 he played with the

Boston Pops Orchestra The Boston Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart. Founded in 1885 as an offshoot of the Boston Symp ...

as featured soloist, marking the first time the

was heard in a solo capacity with that orchestra on its stage. He later appeared as a

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...

soloist with The Pasadena Pops Orchestra. He has played in recordings by Alberto Mizrahi,

, Steve Young, David Such, Radim Zenkl. He died on January 19, 2015, from kidney disease aged 66.

Discography

(Selective) *1995: ''Music from the Armenian Diaspora'' *1999: ''Tapestry of the Dance'' *2007: ''Atlantis'' *2008: ''All-Time Armenian Favorites'' *2009: ''Sounds of the Middle East'' *2012: ''Pomegranate'' ;Live *''America's Oud Virtuoso Recorded in Concert Live at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles'' ;Collaborations *1992: ''Sephardic Songs of Love and Hope Canticas Sephardis de Amor y Esperansa'' (Gordon Lustig, John Bilezikjian & Judy Frankel) *2002: ''The Music of "La Danse Orientale"'' – John Bilezikjian and Aziz Khadra

Books

*2006: John Bilezikjian, ''Hal Leonard Oud Method'' (plus accompanying CD) (by Hal Leonard Corporation)

References

External links

Dantz Records

john Bilezikjian Foundation
* * Don Heckman

Obituary in the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

, January 27, 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bilezikjian, John Armenian musicians American people of Armenian descent 1948 births 2015 deaths Musicians from Los Angeles Oud players American world music musicians American male violinists American mandolinists Deaths from kidney disease 20th-century American violinists 20th-century American male musicians