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Armenian Jazz Sextet

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The Armenian Jazz Sextet was an Armenian-American musical group who had a minor national hit in the United States with the song "Harem Dance" in 1957.

History

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The group was started in 1954, by a group of six Detroit, Michigan natives who were of Armenian descent. It was formed for the purpose of performing at Armenian dances and weddings. A friend of the group gave them an opportunity to make a record, and they waxed two original compositions, "Harem Dance", an instrumental, and "Pretty Girl", a vocal. At a local performance a Detroit disc-jockey asked the group if they had any records, and they provided a copy of their record. Upon receiving airplay the disc proved highly popular locally among teenagers, and Kapp Records bought the master and distributed it nationally across the United States.[1]

Chart success

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Released on Kapp single 181, the "Harem Dance" was reviewed by Billboard as a "swingin' original weirdy" that would draw disk jockey attention.[2] The record entered the Billboard Hot 100 on April 29, 1957, and remained for six weeks, peaking at number 67.[3] The record performed exceptionally well in disparate regions of the United States, as it was among the top 10 sellers in Boston, Detroit, and Los Angeles.[4][5] Ralph Marterie recorded a cover version on Mercury Records re-titled "Shish-Kebab".[3]

At the time the group was receiving national exposure it was a regular Thursday night feature at Haig's Bar in Detroit.[6][7]

Instrumentation and personnel

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The instrumentation used by the group was a combination of American and Armenian. They used clarinet and saxophone on the American side, but used the Armenian instruments oud, two dumbags, and a tambourine.[1]

The group consisted of:[1]

  • Eddie Arvanigian
  • Aram Manougian
  • Arthur Melkonian
  • Berge Minisian
  • Tom Minisian
  • Cory Tosoian

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Armenian Jazz Group Is Latest In Detroit". Arizona Republic. Phoenix, Arizona. June 16, 1957. p. 45 – via newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Reviews of New Pop Records". Billboard. April 20, 1957. p. 55.
  3. ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (2000). Top Pop Singles 1955-1999. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research, Inc. p. 21. ISBN 0-89820-139-X.
  4. ^ "Territorial Best Sellers". Billboard. May 13, 1957. p. 60.
  5. ^ "Territorial Best Sellers". Billboard. May 6, 1957. p. 48.
  6. ^ "After Dark". Detroit Free Press. Detroit, Michigan. April 9, 1957. p. 18.
  7. ^ "After Dark". Detroit Free Press. Detroit, Michigan. May 14, 1957. p. 16.