Raffi Hakopian

General discussion about Leonard Cohen's songs and albums
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TipperaryAnn
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Re: Raffi Hakopian

Post by TipperaryAnn »

Caz , thank you so much for the 1979 clips. I only discovered the Window lately and listen to it over and over again, it is gorgeous, and the violin playing is superb. Sad to see from other posts that Raffi may be dead now. I prefer the violin solo on the recorded version, less showy and suits the song better I think, but I am delighted to get the 1979 video thanks to you. Best wishes !
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Gerry
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Re: Raffi Hakopian

Post by Gerry »

Yes Ann i agree with you, i really love that period of Leonard. The Window is so beautiful but so hard to figure, i think we all have our own memories of that song and what it means for each of us. But love The Gypsy Wife. Have you seen the version from I Am A Hotel? Absolutely gorgeous.
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TipperaryAnn
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Re: Raffi Hakopian

Post by TipperaryAnn »

Thanks Gerry. No, have not seen that but will look it up now! :)
Forget your perfect offering -
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Cedar
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Re: Raffi Hakopian

Post by Cedar »

Sorry, misclicked and posted too early- y'all can ignore this post.
Last edited by Cedar on Wed Jun 10, 2020 10:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Cedar
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Re: Raffi Hakopian

Post by Cedar »

I honestly have no clue if anyone on this thread is still active on here, but if so, I have some updates as to Raffi Hakopian. I was rather disappointed in the lack of information about Hakopian available online, so a while back I managed to find and contact his grandson in California. I wasn't sure how much he'd be willing to tell me, but it turned out he was quite happy someone was interested in his grandfather, and told me a lot more about him.

Raffi Hakopian was born 16 December 1932 in Tbilisi, Georgia. His father, Yeghishe, was a Turkish-born Armenian who fled to Georgia at the age of 15 to escape the genocide. Raffi's father played the tar, and his mother was a singer- Raffi also played tar. He began taking violin lessons at age 6, but they were short-lived, and otherwise he was mostly self-taught. When he was about 16, he played at a wedding in Tbilisi, and I believe that was his first gig. He lived in Tbilisi until 1967, at which point he moved to Moscow, where he regularly performed at nightclubs and places like that. In 1976/77 he traveled through Rome on his way to Los Angeles, where he lived next for eight years. One evening while playing at a club (presumably in LA) alongside an Armenian singer w/ a band, the bass guitarist tells him that he has some contacts- people who know Leonard Cohen, and says that they were looking for a violin player; bass guitarist asks Raffi if he's interested. Raffi, of course, said yes and was given the phone number of someone w/ Leonard. This, of course, resulted in Hakopian's work on Recent Songs and a number of later albums, as well as touring w/ Leonard for two months in 1979.

Also in 1979, Hakopian released an album of his playing called 'Veratartzir,' which consisted of a great many traditional Armenian songs w/ his own improvisations on both violin and tar.

In 1985 he moved to New York City for two years before moving to Yerevan for three. He spent four years in Moscow after that, another four in LA and then eight more in Moscow. In 2006, he moved for the last time back to Yerevan, where he passed away on 28 Feb 2015.

Hakopian released a few albums of his music; the first was Veratartzir, but he would later release 'Enchanting Violin Music' and 'Gypsy Fever with Eva' in 1996, and a pair of albums, 'Husher' and 'Sirvats Parer' in Armenia, which I don't believe were ever available in the United States. In addition, he recorded a couple sets of music titled 'Unique Violin' and '2007,' which features him playing a mix of Armenian, West European and jazz style music on electric violin.

Hakopian's grandson actually sent me all of these albums, along with some video of Raffi's live performances in Yerevan, Moscow and NYC, and a LOT of photos. With his permission, I've been able to upload some of this music to YouTube for anyone interested to enjoy. Parts of the 'Veratartzir' album can be accessed here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... oUqjfWrGxx

If anyone wants to know anything more about Raffi, please ask- I'd be happy to answer what I can, and inquire about what I don't.
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vlcoats
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Re: Raffi Hakopian

Post by vlcoats »

I love this!!!!
Thank you so much!!!!!!
Vickie
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tomsakic
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Re: Raffi Hakopian

Post by tomsakic »

Thank you very much, Cedar.

CD "Gipsy Fever with Eva" was actually circulating (burned and copied) among Cohen fans here on the forum 15-20 years back (yes, it's a long time).
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pe swijngedouw
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Re: Raffi Hakopian

Post by pe swijngedouw »

I was watching an "old" (1992) flemish short movie called "artikel 140" on tv, about half an hour ago and was very surprised to hear a short piece of violin, that i immediately recognized as the violin from "the guests".
I do not know if this is registered somewhere, as a contribution from LC to music in films, or something like that ; i doubt it, because there is no mention of LC, or of Rafi Hakopian in the credits at the end.
The fragments are very short, in 10th minute, and near the end, and it's only the violin, no voice from LC.
I did not know where to report this, and stumbled upon this topic, while searching ; i found it very touching that a topic started so long ago is still alive today, and so i thought it would be ok if i posted here.
The first time i went to a Leonard Cohen concert was in 1979, in antwerp, Belgium, and as far as i can remember, Rafi Hakopian was playing the violin then, and Sharon Robinson was there, too ; these two have never gone out of my mind, since that first time. When the violin reappeared in recent concerts, i was very happy about that, but i must say i preferred the "original", and missed Dino Soldo, master of winds, very much.
Pe
... precisely ...
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